My philosophy ... And a little ranting...

"In learning you will teach. And in teaching you will learn." -Phil Collins

Teaching Philosophy:  “I am an agriculture educator by choice, not by chance.”  I have chosen to be an agriculture educator because I want to make a difference in young people’s lives.  I want to be able to inspire young people to go above and beyond what they think or have been told they can achieve.  They say that a smile is infectious, well I believe that the desire to learn can also be infectious if the subject is presented in such a way that the learner cannot help but be intrigued, whether by content matter or by the enthusiasm of the educator.  I want my students to be able to aspire to become responsible intelligent people who can be successful no matter what life throws at them.  I think it is very important that as teachers we assess and help students determine whether they want or are better suited for college or a vocational training.  I believe that not everyone has to attend college or university to be successful, and that an educator should work with their students to determine which post-secondary training is best suited for the student, whether it be attending a university or moving on to a post-secondary vocational school or training.  As an educator, it is our responsibility to ensure that our students are in a healthy learning environment that is free of negativity and violence.  There should be a mutual respect between student and educator.  Without this respect higher education cannot be achieved.  This respect will not only ensure a good learning environment, but it will also aid the student by teaching them real world skills that they will need when they enter the workforce, which I believe is our main goals as educators.  I strive to be the kind of teacher that students can easily relate to, but still respect.  I have an open door policy and will be my students guide to higher education and success.  I will provide inspiration to students to take initiative in their own lives the same way I was inspired to take initiative in mine.  

The more teaching I do, the more I learn. I have learned that my students are individuals.  They are each brilliant in their own ways. They want to be "perfect" but fear failure and in their mind, its better to not care than to attempt and fail. They all have issues.  They all feel they are inadequate at some point. And they all fear the "tests" more than we as teachers do.  Take a moment today and pray for our babies {because every student is someone's baby} that they might:

-realize how brilliant they are

-embrace that individual self that they are

-learn to look failure in the face and make the attempt to overcome it

-strive for their own personal "perfect"

-learn to improve their inadequacies, but learn to celebrate their skills

-and finally, that they are their best self for their tests

-BUT that they don't let that test score rule them or oppress them if it is less than "perfect"

That is my passive aggressive testing rant for today. I hate to see my students  constantly test. And I'm angry that we spend so much time preparing for and testing and that it takes so much time away from actual teaching. So while you are praying for our babies, say a little prayer for our government and lawmakers. That they realize what they are doing and start listening to the people who are actually in the classroom everyday. 

✌️

Annie