How does the knowledge of This We Believe affect your teaching statement and philosophy?

This we Believe can affect every teacher (and/or student) in many different ways. On the pledge we had to sign/read, it tells us that we believe that every young adolescent "has the capacity to learn, grow, and develop into a knowledgable reflective, caring, ethical, and contributing citizen". It also says " I believe that every young adolescent: Deserves educators who are prepared to work with this age group, who are themselves lifelong learners, and are committed to their own ongoing professional development and growth". These two quotes above sit with me because I believe that each student does deserves to have teachers are understand them and relate with them on different levels. I also believe that every student that is in a school has the abilities to learn and grow their knowledge into things they will use in the future. 

    We also read "The successful Middle school: This we Believe", and it talks bout the essential attributes and the characteristics for teachers need to adapt in their classroom settings. I think that the one that is really important to me would be the empowering attribute. I think that because each student should be able to take responsibility for their own learning and be able to contribute positive things into the world they live in. The ed puzzles gave us a nice insight on the founders of middle school levels. I think that it is important for our future teachers to know about who started such things and what their theory on it was. 

    While being at Phoenix, I have noticed that many students have challenging exceptions. They have questions that make them think harder and they have a high expectation of advancing in their topics. I think this is good for them cognitively because it is teaching them how to be a critical thinker. They should be able to know how to continue questioning their own questions. For example, Mr. Estice will ask them questions and when they respond, he follows up with "why do you think that" or says "I want you to go deeper". It's important for all students to know why they think a certain way instead of going with what they think is correct. 

    In my future classroom, I want my students to be able to learn and grow their knowledge. With the knowledge they have learned, I want them to be able to spread it with positive words, actions, etc. I think it is important for students to understand what they get out of positive actions/words within a society. I also want my classroom to be full of engaging activities. When students are engaged in hands-on learning, they have a higher rate of remembering the information being leaned. Having an engaging learning environment will help keep them awake and motivated.