My name is Caroline Shedd and I am a junior at the University of South Alabama where I am studying to be an elementary teacher. I plan to graduate in the Fall of 2011. I currently work with two third graders everyday where I help them with their homework and prepare them for their tests. Even though my degree is Elementary Education, my dream is to one day teach high school Math in an ADD program that my old high school St. Paul's School offers.

My Teaching Philosophy

It is very important for me as a teacher to give my students a sense of community, not only in the classroom but in the community as a whole. I believe that the true definition of community is a group that works together toward a common goal of education and personal development.

Classrooms are becoming more and more diverse and it is very important for me to incorporate a time for students to learn about and to appreciate each other. In order to grow into a well-rounded person, I believe children will need to be able to learn and accept other students’ cultural backgrounds. Diversity perspectives are becoming more important in the classroom as well as in the world.

Learning should be constant and I believe that every student should be learning all of the time. While it is my job to educate the children in the classroom, it is also very important that they learn how to educate themselves outside of the classroom. I will strive to deliver lessons in my classroom in a way that my students will be able to integrate the relevance of the lesson around them outside of school.

Not all children are good test takers, with this said, I will strive to assess each child’s abilities through many means. As a teacher it is my responsibility to give each child the opportunity to succeed and by grading many different ways, I plan to give each child that opportunity.

No two students are alike, so I will give each of my students any and every opportunity to learn. I will always teach things in as many ways possible so that I may help each and every student no matter what their learning style. Teaching styles should always be evolving with each year and I promise to take every opportunity I have to learn new ways of teaching and I will implement them into my classroom.

I believe that every child can succeed. With that said, I will make sure that every one of my students’ knows that I believe in them and that I know they can succeed. This will help them realize their own potential and help them see that I am on their side and that they can succeed.