As an educator, my philosophy of learning is constantly evolving to meet the needs of my students and reflecting on my own development as a teacher. It is my goal as a teacher to help all my students learn and grow in ways that are developmentally appropriate and efficient in shaping my students to be not only great learners, but wonderful people as well. I believe that while there is a general pattern for how students learn at each age range, there are also special considerations for the individuality of each student as they are growing into adults. Therefore, I believe that students should be considered not only as a whole class, but also as their individual selves. I am firm believer in Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory. I believe that every student learns in their own way, and that no way is right or …show more content…
As a teacher, my goals are to help my students succeed academically, and to shape their behavior in a way that allows for them to have that academic success. Hence the use of reinforcement and extinction with my students to shape their behaviors. These principles, made known by B.F. Skinner are a part of encouraging certain behaviors and discouraging others (Ryan 2013). Behaviors I want students to continue will happen more frequently using positive reinforcement. If there are unwanted behaviors, I can extinct them by either ignoring them or using punishment to discourage students from continuing these behaviors in the future. Skinner’s approaches to instruction are also valuable for my classroom. He presents the idea of using clear objectives, teaching in small steps, and allowing students to learn at their own rate (Ryan 2013). I believe in using all these ideas for my students. They all make sense in the context of learning and allow for students to be successful in meeting their