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Teaching Philosophy
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Evaluations of Teaching
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When I recently made positive phone calls to two students' parents, I was startled and saddened that the parents seemed confused that I wasn't calling about trouble. I would like to initiate positive contact from the beginning, starting with a monthly newsletter about the class and what we will be studying. I would also have awebsite for students and their parents to peruse, for which (carefully revised) student contributions would be welcome. I am conversant with HTML and this would be an easy way to make information easily accessible by an alternate source. I am reluctant, however, to make a website the sole source for even supplementary material since not everyone has easy access to or is conversant with the internet, and would make hardcopies available as well.
In the newsletter I would like to invite parents to come and observe the class (preferably, though not necessarily, notifying me in advance) or speak to students about different ways in which they use math at their jobs or in the home. They would also be free to contact me by phone or e-mail about their children's particular needs or interests; if they can suggest ways to make mathematical topics more relevant to their kids, so much the better.
Throughout the year, I would call regularly to let parents know when their students have done particularly well or contributed meaningfully to class. My cooperating teacher has every student fill out a form at the beginning of the year with contaact information, language(s) spoken at home, and the best time(s) to call; this is something I plan to use myself. In addition, I would like to send postcards several times a year to students' homes to reinforce the message in writing, and get help including a translation in their native language(s) since I know a number of people who are conversant with diverse tongues.
Sometimes I would need to call when a student is having problems in class. This would be in order to enlist the parent's help and suggestions for dealing with the student at school as well as alerting them to the issue at hand. I might contact the student's other teachers beforehand to get a better sense of what is going on across all his/her classes. When possible, I would like to set up a meeting with the parent(s) to discuss possibilities before the situation escalates to the administrative level. |
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