Diamantis S.

My philosophy of teaching is to create an environment that allows for supervised exploration. I believe that the most significant learning occurs in situations that are both meaningful and realistic. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to know who my learners are, what kinds of knowledge and experience they bring to the group, and what they want to achieve so that I can deliver a curriculum in a way that fits their needs and keeps them motivated.

The first thing I will do is to try to establish a good relationship with the student. I will spend some time asking them about their interests, what motivates them, their life at their school, and their interests in their life out of school. Then I will ask them questions such as ''What do you like most in this subject?'' , ''What do you find most challenging about this subject?'' ''How do you study for this subject?'' to get a better idea about the strengths and weaknesses in this subject and provide customized tutoring to address their needs. After delivering some of the contexts I will ask questions to understand how do they approach the newly acquired learning and provide them with strategies to help them fully understand the concepts.

Independent learning is the concept where students set goals and monitor and evaluate their academic development, so they can manage their motivation toward learning. I help my students achieve that by asking them for their input in the lesson planning. Moreover, I encourage them to keep a learning diary which will enable them to keep track of their learning and monitor their progress. Finally, I help students to understand their learning styles. While I am planning my lessons I always consider that the course documents should take into consideration the individual needs of the learner. I assure you that the learning environment is conducive to learning and there is a variety of learning styles included in the teaching –auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. A good way to achieve that is the use of computer science tools, like presentations, to allow students to receive stimulation in all their senses.

To keep students motivated, I have found that it becomes imperative to be a creative teacher, by utilizing various active learning methods like group discussions, peer teaching or presentations, and “muddy points” cards, the latter of which allows students to write down what they think they don’t clearly understand. I am a strong supporter of the idea that individualizing learning creates an open and comfortable classroom environment where students can feel free to ask questions, make mistakes, and challenge themselves. It is by breaking down the barriers to learning that students can face their misconceptions.

When a student is struggling with learning a key concept or skill, I try to understand first why he/she is finding it difficult by discussing it with him/her. Then I am trying to present the material from a different point of view (maybe through a video or documentary). In other words, I am trying to understand their learning style and I adapt my lesson appropriately. I also try to connect the specific concept/skill with real-life examples and/or interests that they have in order to make them more interested/engaged in the specific concept. Finally, I break down the concept into smaller parts and I give them many opportunities to practice answering questions about this specific concept.

I advise my students to underline whatever they consider important in the text when they are reading through a topic. Afterward, I review what they have underlined and we discuss how to improve this skill. I tell them to think actively as they read and stop when it is necessary to watch a video or go through my PPT slides to fully understand what they have just read. Finally, I try to give a purpose for them to read by linking the context to fascinating examples or uses from real life.

First of all, I am trying to figure out what motivates them more. Do they see success as scoring better than their classmates or if they are improving their grades over time? And then I adapt my strategies accordingly. Moreover, the most important thing is to correctly scaffold the learning based on their level in order to give them work that is neither too easy nor too difficult for them. My primary goal in the classes I teach is to find out what students know, what they partly know, and what they do not know so that the follow-on activities including personalized learning can advance learning overall. I always have in mind that each school is interested in enhancing the performance data of their students but I also focus my efforts on formative assessment, which supports learning than judging achievement.

After classroom discussion about the subject in question is completed I provide them with further knowledge about this subject and how reflects daily life. For example, if students are learning about the evolution of species I usually ask them why the birds have their eyes to the sides of their heads. They are amazed to learn that they have evolved in that way so as to better watch for predators and try to promptly avoid them. I have found that when students are presented with these linkages between science and “real life” they are able to question their personal beliefs in a scientific context. In other words, students are thinking like scientists and are being engaged on a personal level.

I use entry tickets at the beginning of each lesson and exit tickets at the end of each lesson. These tickets include 1-2 short answer questions that focus on either the material taught in the previous lesson (entry tickets) or the material taught in this lesson (exit tickets). I assign regular homework in order to check if the student has fully understood the material and give back detailed feedback. Every three months I give them a reflection form where students write down what they have accomplished so far and what are their targets for the next 3 months.

I allow them to lead the discussion or activity during the lesson. By giving them a sense of leadership or importance they build their self-confidence. I create realistic expectations and I praise and acknowledge accomplishments. During my teaching career, I have been heavily involved with implementing departmental curriculum planning by designing lessons with specific strategies, frameworks, or initiatives in mind. For example, I have requested my students to prepare a biological subject that would like to learn more about, present the main principles in the class and then discuss it inside the classroom. I have found that when the students are given the opportunity to learn more about the theme of their choice they become more intrigued by science and they are able to question their personal beliefs in a scientific context.

I evaluate the student's needs by using various techniques. First of all, I ask the students some key questions regarding the important concepts of the lesson. I also use some written quizzes or past paper questions to understand if a student needs extra support regarding data-based questions, lab-related questions, multiple choice questions, short answer or extended answer questions. Also, I assign lab simulations to help them evaluate their research skills. I ask them to create a PPT presentation, mind maps, case studies summaries, and reports to evaluate if they have well understood the main concepts of the topic. Finally, I assign them tests that simulate the Final exams.

I know that even the best-written lesson plan will sometimes need redirecting, and it is at that moment an experienced teacher can demonstrate their flexibility and responsiveness by adjusting their lesson midstream. The main causes to demonstrate flexibility and adaptability are when an instructional activity is not working; a spontaneous event provides a learning opportunity, and when students display difficulties during the lesson. On such an occasion I present the material in an alternative fashion to clearly articulate directions and explanations to further achieve a high level of understanding for my students.

I use a variety of resources, including but not limited to PPT presentations, Kahoot, Lab simulation platforms, Youtube videos, documentaries, newspaper articles, Quizlet, In Thinking activities, and of course Past papers questions from IB question bank.