Mrs. Stawisuck’s Teaching Philosophy

            Robert H. Shaffer said, “We must view young people not as empty bottles to be filled, but as candles to be lit.”  The old ideology was simply to fill the studentts' heads with information.  In contrast, teachers should help the students understand and be able to apply the information--application is what matters most.  At times, a candle will dwindle out and that is when an innovative teacher is needed to ignite it.  I want to be that teacher.  Ultimately, our lives are contrived of choices, and we don’t have to live it by guessing our way through it.  I want to teach my students to think critically and analytically!  This way they will be empowered to make betterdecisions and better equipted to understand the world around them.

My teaching philosophy can best be described as a belief that all students can learn.  It is essential to maintain an effective teaching style and a classroom environment conducive to students’ learning.  Teaching is a constant reflection, assessment, evaluation, and re-evaluation and endless reflection process.  Although I am a teacher, I am forever a student!  Continuing development and staying abreast of the latest information are the marks of a true professional.  Variety and trying different approaches is the key to success since uninspired teaching leads to unengaged students.  Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences is inspiring and invigorating.  The idea that everyone is intelligent and that everyone can improve their level of intelligence is my goal.  If every student believes this, every student can make significant progress. Positive belief and motivation can do miraculous things. 

A variety of subjects such as psychology, sociology, history, and philosophy, all appeal to me.  However, I chose to teach English because literature has all of these subjects to offer and more.  A book is a tool for improving and expanding thinking. A vigorous reader is always traveling through time, crossing ethnic, economic and social borders, and virtually around the world without physically leaving one’s occupied space.  A writer interprets and reflects on his or her own world.  The book is man’s only time machine; a book is man’s brain food!

Not all the answers are in the back of the book, or in someone else’s (not even the teacher’s) hands.  Sometimes one has to take the long journey inwards to find them.  That journey led me here to this classroom to help my students feel intelligent and empowered to make their own journey of self discovery and knowledge.  Knowledge cannot be memorized or drilled into someone’s head; it comes from inward discoveries, outward discussions, critical thinking, and applications.  I’ve been teaching for over twenty years and still loving every moment of it.  Each new day is a new challenge and a new opportunity--who could ask for more?  

A true teacher is forever a student!  That’s me.