Miss Retkwa's Portfolio

My Educational Philosophy

My Perspective

My drive to be a teacher relies on creating and fostering crucial connections with my students. The history I carry with education comes from a place with supportive teachers who make personal connections with their students. This inspired me to become a teacher because I wanted to provide for children the support and care that my teachers provided me which made me love learning and want to go to school every day. My goal as an educator is to create a community within my classroom that allows a connection between all of my students and me that fosters a more positive learning environment. My classroom will give my students the opportunity to take control of their learning by offering them opportunities to express their learning in different modalities. They will be able to kindle their own learning as they will be in situations where they can use exploration and active learning to ask and answer questions on their own. 
In terms of classroom behavior, my outlook relies on more restorative justice practices. Practices like these create a true bonding sense of classroom community and also keep my students within the classroom environment, rather than pulling them out. Too often are students disciplined by being pulled out of their learning settings which does not encourage them that they belong in the classroom. To keep my students in a better mindset increasing positive behavior, I would offer different opportunities to keep them engaged in different outlets of their learning. I have found that flexible seating in my clinical classrooms does not distract students as many think, but actually makes them more comfortable in their learning. I also believe that opportunities for movement and kinesthetic learning should be incorporated as often as possible to allow students some hands-on movement connecting to their learning.