1. Kathleen Kelly Page 1
Teaching Philosophy
My goal as an educator is to encourage and promote avid problem solvers that
will be ready for the new scientific and technological advancements happening in
today’s world. Students should be able to critically analyze the surplus of information
that they will encounter in life beyond the classroom. These twoskills are easily
transferrable to students’ lives outside their science class, and I hope that students will
be able to apply their new knowledge to various problems and situations.
It is my hope that through building their academic language, students will be able
to develop their critical and analytical skills and gain a better understanding of science.
Many times students understand the content, but struggle with the language used to
communicate scientific ideas. I hope that in cultivating their scientific literacy, students
can succeed in further understanding the material. It is also imperative to focus on my
students’ strengths rather than only attempting to correct their weaknesses. Every
student has the potential for something great, and it is my job as a teacher to elicit that
part of them in order to further their scientific understanding of the world. Students
will be assessed on their ability to solve problems in the hopes that these skills can be
transferred totheir other classes, and also to their future work outside the classroom.
Science is often perceived as a difficult subject that a person must have an innate
ability to understand in order to excel. This is not the case, and I want my students to
experience the reward of overcoming whatever difficulties they may have. We are all
faced with challenges in the classroom and in life, and I want my students to leave my
classes feeling that they can overcome any obstacle. I never want my students to leave
my class feeling defeated. I will strive tobe an educational advocate for all of my
students.