Teaching Framework

Habits of Teaching

Resiliency

I am certain that, during my teaching career, I will encounter multiple problems and possibly feel overwhelmed by some of them. However, I hope to be a model of resiliency for my students. If problems do arise, I will stay calm and try to determine which steps have gone wrong. Then, I would look for ways I could use to solve or, if the problem is too big for me to solve, lessen the effects of the problem. If I cannot think of ways to solve the problem, I will use resources around me and ask for help, working with other teachers and/or parents to solve the problem. I want to show the students that no problem can't be solved and that, through perseverance, nothing is impossible.

Empathy

In my classroom, I want to keep in mind that every student is unique in their way regarding their cultural and experiential backgrounds. “Every student, every family, every community has assets and strengths on which they should build (Milner, 2015).” Knowing that my students will mostly not feel the same way I am feeling, I will try to empathize with them and think through problems in their shoes. When planning for my lessons, I will try to notice if any students may feel uncomfortable with the activities I have planned. I will also make sure to monitor my students’ modes and talk to them often, asking about how they feel about certain activities of my lessons. Thus, when a problem does arise, I will empathize with them faster and easier.

Anti-oppressive

In my classroom, I hope to provide a safe environment for students from all kinds of backgrounds. While the students may have difficulties outside of classrooms that I do not know or understand I hope to protect those students who may be oppressed and prevent those who may attack others from doing so (Alvarez et al., 2016). I will start by setting up clear expectations for my students, informing them from early on which kinds of behaviors are allowed in my classroom and which aren’t. I will look out for signs of trauma and make sure that my classroom can be a safe environment for students (Alvarez et al., 2016). If I notice that a student’s ideology is faulty, I will try to address it before any of my students are hurt by it. When I notice that some students are hurt by other students, either verbally or physically, I will make sure to stop the behavior before it evolves into something more harmful for my students.

Habits of Learning

Problem solving

Problems arise all the time, and most humans are unable to predict and prevent these problems from happening. Hence, I hope to inspire my students to be problem-solvers, knowing how to identify existing problems and having the skills to solve them. If a student is frustrated about something, I will ask them to identify what they are frustrated about and, if they are yet unable to identify the cause, I will try to direct them by asking questions, leading them to identify the problem and the steps needed to solve the problem. After identifying the problem, I will ask students how their experience may assist in solving this problem (Dominguez, 2016). I hope that students can use their background knowledge to solve everyday problems and develop a growth mindset in terms of becoming a problem-solver.

Curiosity

I once heard a saying that I enjoy: the world’s knowledge is like a beach of sand, and my knowledge of it is a little circle on the sand. I believe that the ultimate goal of learning is to be a lifelong learner, and I hope that my students can always be curious about the world around them. In my lessons, I will allow my students to wonder about the world and motivate my students to share their wonderings. I will facilitate these wonderings by implementing an Experiment First, Formalize Later teaching framework (Stecher et al., 2023). I will greet their wonderings and discoveries with excitement, encouraging them to find joy in identifying the unknowns and making the unknowns known. In my classroom, I will acknowledge that I am not all-knowing and lead my students to find out about the world around them by doing so myself.

Confidence

Having grown up as a child who does not have a lot of confidence, I hope that my students will become confident with themselves. I will validate my students for their attempts, strategies, and accomplishments. I will increase my students’ confidence by complimenting their attempts and “process” to success, pointing out the small details that I find impressive and useful. I also plan on inviting students to practice “conscious guessing”, as they practice coming up with hypotheses and proving or disproving their hypotheses (Lampert, 1990). I also hope to create a classroom that is safe for my students to share thoughts. I will make sure that different opinions will be heard and shared in the classroom, inviting people and parents from different backgrounds to share their experiences in the classroom, thus building my students’ confidence.

Habits of Community

Independence

While I do hope to construct a community where we all have each other’s best interests at heart, I also want to acknowledge that we are all independent human beings and that we are free to make decisions individually. I hope to create a community where students want to share their experiences and decisions but would not invade each other’s spaces, feeling upset when things don’t go as they want. When someone comes to me for advice, I will model a good adviser: giving sincere and candid opinions but not making people’s choices for them. I will also model for my students in being a good listener, listening to people’s experiences and possible complaints but not giving advice unless asked to do so.

Respect for self and others

Within a community, it is hard for individuals to accomplish the principles that I mentioned above with support from others. Hence, I hope to develop a classroom environment where students and teachers respect each other, acknowledging that we are all human beings, thus fallible, and that we can help each other in becoming a better person. I hope that students understand that failures are learning opportunities, rather than representations of one’s inability (Battey & Stark, 2009). I also hope that my students will respect themselves equally, knowing when and why they may feel uncomfortable about a situation, and be willing to voice their concerns. To achieve this goal, I will work to be a model for my students, respecting my students and peers’ identities and opinions.

Compassion

In my classroom, I hope to create a compassionate community, where everyone can empathize with each other and be a good listener when one wants to share his or her feelings or thoughts. I hope that the students all understand how everyone comes from different backgrounds, and something they treat as normal can be traumatizing for other students (Alvarez et al., 2016). To create such an environment, I will work to be a good listener for my students and my peers, acknowledging that I am listening during conversations and, while I may not always able to feel the exact emotions that they felt, express my worries and concerns for them. I will also teach my students how to be good listeners during the lessons, asking my students to practice being good listeners by thinking how they want their peers to react to their thoughts.