Crafting a Teaching Philosophy: A Portfolio Presentation

This presentation will explain how I went about discovering and crafting my teaching philosophy through spending a semester teaching kindergarten at Weybridge Elementary School. The three main points of my teaching... [ view full abstract ]

This presentation will explain how I went about discovering and crafting my teaching philosophy through spending a semester teaching kindergarten at Weybridge Elementary School. The three main points of my teaching philosophy are having transdisciplinary units, helping students to construct their own knowledge bases, and fostering a community in the school and in the classroom. I explain the importance of these three aspects of teaching and why they are the three most necessary steps to having a successful classroom and helping children discover and develop a love of learning. This presentation is adapted from my portfolio work completed in order to become a certified teacher K-6 in the state of Vermont. It includes video clips, case study examples, and research done on the best educational practices. It also has a basis in the IB curriculum, as the Addison County Supervisory Union is currently becoming one of the first districts to go full IB in the US, pre-k-12 and this influenced my time at Weybridge. Through this presentation, I hope to encourage people to think deeper about the way we teach and how we structure elementary schools to best support our youngest students at the beginning of their journey through the education system.