The best advice I have ever gotten during my journey to becoming a teacher came from my college sophomore writing professor; she said, "you shouldn't be afraid to be nervous, when you stop being nervous is when you should be afraid," and I have taken this advice into my own classroom. I think that when a person is afraid and/or nervous, it means that whatever they are nervous or afraid about is special to them. It means that that thing holds a lot of value to them, and that is how I look at teaching.

     When I think ahead to having my own classroom and being responsible for my own students, I get nervous about the thought of it, and I have recently come to learn that that is okay; it is a kind of mentality that I want to bring into my own classroom because facing something new can be nerve-wracking, and in education, our students always encounter new things: new procedures, new content, new classmates, and a new teacher every year.

     These things are all very important to students at a young age, and it is something that I plan to challenge them with constantly because experiencing new things leads to discovery. Discovery, to me, is the best way for students to find out what they are passionate about and what they love, so incorporating that into my teaching will let my students find out about themselves.

     Growing up, I was always in the higher level classes. In elementary school, I was in Talent Development (or what is now called AIG), and in middle school and high school I was in the International Baccalaureate program. These programs have shaped my world view immensely and have, inevitably, shaped the way I would like to teach my own students because it shaped the way I learned. When I was in school, I was encouraged to self-evaluate, analyze information, be accountable and responsible for my actions (or lack thereof), and constantly investigate any and all options. These are all skills I would like to bring into my own classroom because it will help my students with real-life applications.

     I also plan to incorporate technology wherever I can in my lessons because it can help with enriching my students' education by diving deeper into the Bloom's Taxonomy levels. It can help them create products by using applications on an iPad or iPod, or it can help them with researching areas that interest them. Technology can also help with classroom management as there are many websites available to teachers that can include parents in the conversation of their child's behavior.

     Lastly, fostering a positive and open learning environment is the most important aspect of my teaching philosophy. Letting students share ideas and giving them options will give them autonomy with their education, and why not let them help decide how they learn when it's their education? Also, keeping parents involved and leaving an open line of communication with them will help to make my students more successful in the classroom, which is the end goal for all teachers.