Sasha Sivan

                     “We leave traces of ourselves wherever we go, on whatever we touch.”       
                        - Lewis Thomas
                                                                                             

                  As a teacher, I know that I have an immense impact on every child who enters through my classroom door.  With this realization, my hope is to produce well-rounded individuals who are better prepared for the real world.  By building positive relationships and serving as a role model, facilitator, motivator, and supporter of my students, I am teaching them life-long skills that are needed for further growth and development.  Ultimately, I want to prepare my students to educate themselves throughout their lives.  Helping children make personal connections enables them to experience the joy of learning, while also inspiring their desire to learn.  Furthermore, by differentiating my instruction while targeting multiple learning styles, I strive to meet the diverse needs of all my students ensuring their successes in the classroom.  However, not only do I want my students to be academically successful, I want them to be able to apply their learning to everyday life and be ready for the challenges they will inevitably face in the future. 

 

                  I believe all students are capable of learning and that effective teachers can reach every student. Students should not be thought of as mindless individuals just waiting to be filled with knowledge by their teachers. Quite the opposite; students should be viewed as individuals who can contribute to the classroom, sharing and gaining knowledge from each other. Teachers should guide students not lecture them. An education is not solely academic; the teacher must also educate her students mentally by teaching them the skills needed to solve problems and socially by teaching them the skills needed to communicate and work productively with others. Students must be able to function in the real world which not only requires academic knowledge but social skills as well. I believe teachers should not be alone in educating students but that parents, families and communities need to work together to support and enrich the lives of their children, who are the future.

 

                  I believe that each child is a unique individual who needs a secure, caring, and stimulating atmosphere in which to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially. It is my desire as an educator to help students meet their fullest potential in these areas by providing an environment that is safe, supports risk-taking, and invites a sharing of ideas. There are three elements that I believe are conducive to establishing such an environment,  the teacher acting as a guide,  allowing the child's natural curiosity to direct his/her learning, and promoting respect for all things and all people. I will allow children to become responsible members of our classroom community by using strategies such as class meetings, positive discipline, and democratic principles. In showing children how to become responsible for themselves as well as their own learning, I am giving them the tools to become successful in life, to believe in themselves, and to love themselves.

 

                       Students should be taught to be global citizens to instill global consciousness needed to support human rights and ecological sustainability. Who could deny the importance of a safer, healthier, more peaceful, more just and sustainable world in which to live? In addition to these obvious long-term benefits to the world, there are also immediate benefits. Studying global problems and the various strategies for addressing them can generate a renewed sense of hope and optimism. Practicing active citizenship whether through personal changes, service learning, grassroots organizing, or a myriad of other activities, can provide meaning to the curriculum. Students will feel comfortable interacting with diverse groups of people. Students and teachers alike can see that they can make an impact to make the world a better place, far beyond the individualistic goal of getting a job. Students will understand more clearly what citizenship means and feel ready to make significant contributions for humankind in a sustainable environment.

 

                   I look forward to teaching and learning in my future classrooms and giving my students the experiences that down the line they will remember draw from, and build upon in their adult lives.