Philosophy of Teaching

I believe that each child is a unique individual who has the potential to blossom and grow. My philosophy stems from my belief that all children learn differently, but all children can learn.

Teaching provides an ongoing opportunity for learning and growth.  It is my desire to help each student meet their greatest  potential.  To accomplish this goal, I believe that there are 3 elements to consider: 
1.  Meet each child at their level of development.
2.  Create a stimulating environment.
                                                      3.  Promote respect.

As a teacher, I recognize that each child has their own unique learning strengths and weaknesses.  As I get to know your child, I will be better able to adapt my teaching style and strategy to meet their individual needs.  My hope is to build their confidence and focus on their strengths and encourage them to challenge themselves.

Learning is FUN!  I want to share my passion for learning and I will do this by creating a classroom sure to stimulate all of their senses while they learn.  After all, the more senses a child uses, the more they tend to remember about what they experienced.  Rest assured that your child will be actively engaged in their lessons, which makes the lessons all that more relevant to their lives. 

My classroom becomes a community of learners, where everyone feels safe, accepted and welcome.  I will use strategies such as classroom meetings and positive discipline to foster an accepting and respectful environment  My hope is that they will use these tools and become successful in life by developing a respect for themselves, others and the environment. 

My goals are for my students to think critically, improve problem-solving, work effectively in groups, and develop the confidence to explore all subjects with excitement.  Above all, in my classroom, students interact with one another to gain exposure to others experiences and opinions.  Together, we will put the diversity of the classroom to work to generate an engaging and adaptable learning experience.  My oath, is that I will strive each day to excite the unexcited, motivate the unmotivated, and make a child smile in times of sadness.  These are the true rewards of teaching! 

Traditional and Emerging Technologies in your Kindergarten Classroom

As a Kindergarten teacher, my goal is to bring learning to life in my classroom. I have made this my daily goal and a reality for my students.  When I use technology in my classroom, learning becomes exciting and I witness my students making many connections to learning.  Additionally, I am also giving my students the opportunity to become computer-literate in a society which demands these skills in order for them to become prepared for our world's competitive environment.  Although implementing, technology in a kindergarten classroom can have its challenges because of their young age, many children are easily adapting to these new and exciting ways of learning!  When teachers embrace emerging technologies, students will greatly benefit!  Check out this video on how this Kindergarten teacher uses multiple technology tools in her classroom....

m.youtube.com/watch?v=EC3hJrpNZk0

Traditional Technologies:

Computer with Internet Access - Used to implement and create lesson plans.  Having access to resources to aid teaching topics as well as the ability to communicate with other teachers.  Teachers can also quickly correspond to parents about classroom activities.  Students access will promote inquiry learners and give students the immediate feedback on their work.

Overhead projectors - used to display images during whole group discussions.  May be used during Math activities with manipulatives displayed to show one-to-one correspondence.

Smart Boards - great tool to handle simple record-keeping tasks, engage student interest, demonstrate complex information, assess learning and prepare students for an increasingly digital world. During SMART Board lessons, teachers may also help students gain digital and presentation skills by taking turns manipulating the equipment.  Because young children have short attention spans, they will respond better to instruction if it includes movement and hands-on action, such as getting up to answer a question. Kindergarten students will surely enjoy touching SMART Boards to answer questions and participate in lessons.

Emerging Web 2.0 Technologies:

Web 2.0 refers to the latest improvements of the World Wide Web. The following are some examples of Web 2.0 that teachers around the world are incorporating into their classrooms daily:

• Blogs
• Wikis
• Podcasts
• Digital Storytelling
• Social Bookmarking

Why use Web 2.0? Early childhood teachers can use a wide variety of  FREE Web 2.0 elements to help organize, expand, and support classroom instruction. Here are some of my favorite FREE Web 2.0 tools:

• Social Bookmarking
• Web Based Library Cataloging
• Web Based Documents (Word, PPT, Excel, PDF etc)
• Web Based Calendars
• Personalized Home Page (iGoogle)
• On-Line Photo Sites
• Video Sharing (Teacher Tube, You Tube, Vimeo)

Below are 2 Web 2.0 technologies that are ideal for Kindergarten classrooms:

Voice thread is a great way to integrate technology into storytelling. It creates a digital story where  voice, text, video, and images are combined.  Voice thread gives students a chance to collaborate with students from all over the world. Students love drawing their pictures and can talk about it, or create their own stories and record their voices while telling it to others. We can record our voices and read stories to kids to listen at home. This tool helps students improve their listening, speaking and writing skills.

Glogster is another favorite in our class.  Its a great way for me to introduce new topics.  I can write and even use audio and video files.  Uploading pictures and changing them in size and color is very easy to do. 

Evaluating Technology Use in Your Classroom

Implementing these wonderful technologies helps teachers and students on multiple levels. However, this can only be said if these technologies are effectively being used.  That is why it is very important to assess and evaluate your use of technology in your classroom.   The goal should be that you are using technology to elevate your teachings, learning and increasing student's knowledge.  As you make your evaluations, the following essential questions should be answered: 

1.  Are my students able to access the technologies in a useful and easy to understand way?
2.  Is the technology meeting the student's individual needs and learning styles?
3.  Is the material appropriate?  Challenging? 
4.  Are the technology tools working well and efficiently?


Professional Development - First and foremost, teachers must obtain the basic technology skills to be able to use the technology for personal productivity.

Create Objectives and Goals - As with all teachers lessons, using technology will not be effective unless appropriate objectives and goals are clearly outlined.  This means teachers must define it's use and clearly provide plans for evaluating its effectiveness. The technology must support the subject area.  Student management must be managed and student skills on subject matter need to be assessed.

Consider 2 types of Evaluations - Determining technologies impact means comprehensive evaluations should consist of both formative and summarize components.  Formative evaluations (during the course of the program) track the implementation of technology.  Summarize evaluations (at the end of the program), tell of the impact of the technology application. 


Teachers are on the cutting edge of technology and we are educating the 21st century learners.  In order to give our students the best opportunity into the future, making use of technology in our classrooms to have a deeper impact upon learning and more meaningful levels will grant these very students the chances to grow and learn like never before!