This is a teaching philosophy that I wrote for Comm. 182, Instruction for the Classroom Teacher. It is written in the stance of an After School Center Administrator. It reflects my experience as a Co-Founder and Tutoring Coordinator for an After School Center.

1. Alexander M. Le
04/02/2009
Dr. Nicolas Zoffel
Comm. 182 Teaching Philosophy
K-12, providing an alternative educational acquisition site.
Concerning learning, there are two sites of educational acquisition. One being the
school classroom and the other is the students’ home. At school, the teacher is
responsible for creating a classroom environment that is conducive to learning. This
classroom environment houses learning materials, suggested readings, and tools that help
the student progress in school. To discipline the students to continue to be susceptible to
this classroom-learning environment, the same type of environment is required in the
student’s home. In the home, the student needs a space where he/she is able to do
homework comfortably and has access to help when needed. Having a comfortable space
to do homework helps the student stay on track with his/her work. Having someone
available to ask for help mimics how the teacher is the go to person in the classroom.
With two sites of educational acquisition working together, the student has a better
chance of doing well in school. The continual process of learning at school and at home
provides the better chance.
Unfortunately, not all parents are able to provide an environment for their child to
continue the learning process at home. For example, some families may consist of a
single parent who works mostly all day. Because of that, the child may not have anyone
at home to help him/her on his/her homework. Alternatively, the child may be required to
be an active participant in helping with matters at home, because of, being a part of a
large family. Because of this, the child does not have a comfortable space to do his/her
homework increasing the chances of getting off-track. Due to these mentioned conditions
and others unmentioned, it is hard to condition the student living under such situations, to
adhere to the learning environment taking place in the classroom. He or she may be
present physically in the classroom, but due to the stresses at home, in said environments,
he/she, may not function to his/her full potential.
Due to the importance of having both sites of learning acquisition, work together,
I as an administrator of an afterschool center, provide an alternate space for learning to
parents who are not able to provide their child or children with a comfortable learning
space and go to person in the home. Working with students from K-12, the same general
teaching philosophy applies…provide a comfortable space that reminds students the
importance of learning in and out of the classroom. The school can only go as far as
enforcing policies upon the student; it is up to the parent at home to continue the
enforcement. Again, it is an ideal case if the parent(s) is able to continue the educational
enforcing, but if it is not doable, our facility provides parental backup, so to speak.
Each grade level is provided with a college student intern who is required to fulfill
‘x’ amount of hours to acquire a teaching credential. Each intern is to come up with his or
her own lesson plans and procedures that somewhat mirrors what is taking place in the

2. actual classroom. To accomplish such a task, there are consultants who conduct
parent/student conferences discussing what their school is assigning and the policies set
forth in that particular classroom. Further, homework assignments are systematically
scanned in order to help student interns develop their lesson plans in accordance to what
is being taught at schools for each grade level.
Inside each provided learning facility, the college student intern has the same
tools that a teacher would have in their classroom. The amount of students in each
learning facility is determined by the amount of college student interns “employed” at
any given time. The college student intern is to do his/her best to be the “teacher” of the
learning facility they are assigned. Again, the college student intern is required to have
lesson plans and establish polices and procedures that provide a comfortable learning
environment with access to a go to person, at the same time, mirroring what is taking
place in an actual classroom.
With such a facility like ours, parents are given a piece of mind knowing that
though they are not able to provide a learning environment in the home, there are places
which provide an alternative. With such an alternative, students are able to acquire what
they need in terms of learning, in and out of the classroom, despite of the fact that the
home is not an ideal place to learn. With these measures taking place, the student is
continually reminded of the importance of learning. In closing, I believe it should always
be about continuing the educational progression between two sites of educational
acquisition. If the home cannot be the second place for educational acquisition, our
facility is the answer to that void.