BoscoS_Philosophy About Teaching LT 1

When I interviewed a kindergarten teacher about her philosophy of teaching, I realized that it was very similar to the way I feel about teaching literacy. As we talked, we both agreed that there are so many elements that are important in a balanced, effective literacy classroom. Joyce, the kindergarten teacher that I interviewed has strong opinions about this topic and has been teaching for over twenty years. She always tells me that in a Kindergarten classroom it is important to ensure students that writing is fun and is a way to be creative. She believes that students should be encouraged to think creatively and write about things that interest them. Students should be able to keep a journal about experiences and stories that they want to share. Journal writing should be what they want to write about and could be shared if the student has the desire. Joyce thinks this should be a time where the classroom is quite and students should be taught in Kindergarten that this is a time where they can be creative and write about anything they want. The teacher should share a piece of writing as well. This shows students that writing is important to the teacher and gives them more ideas of what to write about. She also mentioned that prompt writing can also be important but that students should carefully be corrected. She explained to me that especially in the primary graders, praise and excitement with student work should be done much more than correcting what the student did 'wrong.' The most important part of writing is to get students excited.

After talking with Joyce, I do agree with what she says about her writing philosophy. Even in first grade, I do think the most important goal with students is to get them excited about writing! I want students to get excited about writing and I always model writing in front of my class to show that I am a writer as well. As far as correcting student work, I feel the same way as Joyce. Of course it is important to conference with students and talk about their writing, but I always have positive feedback and suggestions for students. I also encourage students to phonetically sound out words when they are writing and stuck on a word. I do not want students to constantly worry about correct spelling, it takes the fun and fluency out of writing. I tell students to circle words that they are not sure about and we will discuss them together during conferences.

Joyce and I also have a very similar outlook on a reading philosophy. Just like in writing, she thinks that reading should be fun for all students. They should be able to read stories that they want, as well as books that are at their level. It is important for students to read at their level, but they also need time to explore books and just look at pictures. Joyce explains that not only is it important for students to be reading at their level and with books that interest them, but read alouds should be happening daily, more than once. She always says that teachers should teach 'thematically.' If we are learning about pumpkins, then you should have read alouds (fiction and nonfiction) about pumpkins, books should be out for students to look at during free time, etc. Again, the most important thing about reading and writing, is to get students excited about it.

After talking with Joyce about reading in the classroom, I felt the same way about a reading philosophy in the primary grades. I think that read alouds are so important and gets students excited about reading. My students love when I read a book that they are interested in. I also think it is important for students to have the opportunity to explore books and read what they are interested in, but it is also crucial that students are reading at their academic level. Reading should be fun for students and challenging.