| Jamie Kasen’s Teaching Philosophy |
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Every child is unique and valuable, and each child’s thoughts, interests, skills, needs and potential deserves my care and attention.
For six hours a day, five days a week, 36 weeks out of the year, I am responsible for encouraging, teaching, loving, disciplining, and learning from my students. I will treat each child as if he/she is my own. The foundation of a child’s sense of self-worth is built with caring and kindness, and children should experience nothing less while being a student in my classroom.
Children should be actively involved in their own education.
Hands-on experiences are essential to engaging a student in a lesson. A child is more likely to retain information when experiencing it first hand, rather than reading someone else’s account of an experience from a text book. A child’s on-going reflection of the experiences he/she is having in the classroom provides an opportunity for the child to make connections to their world.
Creativity is the key to a successful education.
In an educational system that is based on standards and standardized testing, it is imperative that students are given every opportunity to learn the facts. I will teach these facts in a manner that is both educational and exciting. Students will experiment and explore so that they can find the information that they need to draw conclusions. Children are our greatest asset, and they deserve the best possible guidance in a lifetime of learning and opportunity.
A successful learning environment is enriched with literature and a variety of resources.
Our world focuses on asking the questions, “who”, “what”, “why”, “when”, “where” and “how”. Books, computers, magazines, and professionals are excellent tools for investigating these questions. I will provide as many resources as I can to my students so that they may feel confident in asking these questions, knowing that they have the tools to find out the answers.
Trust and respect are fundamental principles for developing learners and teachers.
Children need to have a mutual understanding with their educator regarding trust and respect. In order to receive respect, one must give it. In order to build trust, one must put effort into earning it. As an educator, respect for my students must define my actions, and it must never be compromised.
Parents and family provide the foundation for a child’s learning.
Prior to stepping foot in my classroom, a child comes from a home. It is my personal commitment to make connections from the classroom to each of my student’s homes. It is critical that parents understand what is going on in their child’s learning environment so that they can be an active, supportive part of their child’s education. Together we are putting together the pieces of a great puzzle.
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