Virtual Exploration Part One

For our first virtual exploration assignment our mentors had to answer the following prompt; What is your teaching philosophy and/or core values as an agriculture educator?

In each of my mentor interviews, they brought up the fact of respecting the students. Whether that was respecting them as individual learners and knowing their abilities or being honest with them and not beating around the bush when talking to them. 

One of my mentors mentioned that she believes in progress, not project-based learning. This ties in with Daniel Pink's book Drive that we read over the summer. We talked about how it's important for students to know that they are making progress and not just completing an assignment or project to just get the grade, but showing mastery of content. 

We also talked about inclusiveness in the classroom. In Ag ed there are so many different opportunities for students to be involved and have an active role in the classroom. One of my mentors mentioned building a community in the classroom, where students feel comfortable with working together and taking risks. 

Another thing that everyone mentioned was the three circle model and making sure everything they do ties in one of the three circles.

The last thing we talked about is how your philosophy will change as you teach, your core values may stay the same but the way you look at student success can differ. I am excited to see how my philosophy will change as  I grow as a teacher with my students.