In considering what teaching is like, many abstract comparisons come to mind, such as how teachers need to be like sponges that need to absorb and learn from everything around them. However, there are also more literal comparisons that can be made, such as how teaching is like project management.

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While considering my teaching philosophy, I have been reflecting upon my own learning and how different teachers either worked or didn’t work for how I learned. When I look back on my time in elementary and high school, it was a time that I was simply meeting expectations of teachers. Although I did not dread going to school, I was not the type of student that enjoyed learning or that understood why we had to do certain things. As a very logical thinker, I simply did things that I knew I had to in order to move forward, not because I enjoyed doing them.

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As I look towards the start of my teaching career, there are certain elements that I envision incorporating into my classroom. With a focus on an elementary or primary classroom, it can be fun to think about how I will decorate the room, what types of plants I will have in the window, or what kinds of fieldtrips I’ll be able to organize depending on the competency of the class. However, what I intent to prioritize in order to meet students’ needs goes beyond surface level visuals. As important as a welcoming but not distracting room is, it is exceedingly important to consider the values that will be portrayed through my teaching and other actions. The vision I have for my future classroom includes meeting the physiological needs of my students, encouraging socialization of classmates, and teaching for the margins to improve the learning outcomes of all students while maintaining high expectations for all learners.

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Considering the combo of the past two lectures, the first being about gaps in students reading abilities created by the three-cueing system and the second being about the repeatedly reduced funding for schools in BC, it is a little deflating when thinking about entering into an education system dealing with both of these problems. The correcting of both problems individually requires changes within the system that can’t be made overnight. Both problems also require leaders that recognize the issues. When looking at the two problems together, it easily becomes a mountain that is too hard to climb.

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