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As a teacher I believe that it is my duty to teach the whole student. By whole student I mean that the student is a logical, creative, emotional, social, physical being and my instruction needs to include and adjust for each of these ways of being. I believe that it is also my responsibility to teach students to be independent learners. An independent learner has an intrinsic drive to learn and has the organizational and problem solving skills necessary to achieve their desired learning. Teaching the whole student to become independent will look like several things in my class, including: hands-on projects that get us outside, peer teaching, an organized and aesthetically pleasing classroom environment, adaptable “scripts” to aid in healthy communication, positive behavior reinforcement, process based lessons, as well as the use of portfolios and  sketchbooks to show growth and create a habit of making things. Other instructional tools I use and will highlight here include: storytelling, connecting across disciplines, and taking appropriate breaks for stretching or other activities to regulate emotions and restore inner peace. Learning and teaching in a Montessori classroom for one and a half years has greatly influenced the way I teach. Many of Dr. Maria Montessori’s learning structures as well as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are embedded in my own philosophy.

 

You don’t have to teach a child to listen to a story, they are born with this ability to listen and wonder. I use stories as a powerful tool to introduce subject matter and new materials. When reading a picture book in class, I like to use the whole-book approach, which gives students the vocabulary necessary to critically think about design and how pictures communicate a message. I spend time asking them questions as we read and spend time really looking at the pictures. This kind of instruction often easily gains a student’s attention and develops their logical, emotional, and social intelligences as they are asked to look closely, think critically, and ride the emotional wave of any story from beginning to end. 

 

In each lesson I try to make connections to other disciplines so that students can become fluent in thinking across subject areas when they are solving or discussing real world problems. I have asked my art students to look at the work of a biologist, an earth scientist, an astronomer, an author, or a anthropologist, and try to tap into what they already know about the subject or what they are curious about. We discuss any new information I present and then I pose a creative challenge. During a unit on illustrations of space, we spent time looking at Pluto, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune on the NASA website together. I shared some facts about what scientists know and what they propose to be true about the planets in our solar system. Students eagerly shared what they knew and most jumped right into creating their own space illustration. These lessons are exercising student’s logical, social, and creative intelligence. Teaching students to practice connecting disciplines gets them to explore the topic in depth and makes their learning more dynamic. 

 

Taking breaks for stretching, mindfulness, and peace appeals to physical intelligence and is vital because without good physical health learning becomes increasingly challenging. My favorite thing to do with students is quick yoga poses especially ones that focus on balance such as tree pose or airplane pose. This requires students to work on their gross motor skills which can also strengthen their fine motor skills necessary for writing and drawing. Perhaps more importantly though, practicing mindful moments--such as taking extended deep breaths or tuning into all the sounds you can hear for one whole minute--strengthens the prefrontal cortex used for reasoning and helps the body regulate the fight or flight alarm in the brain known as the amygdala. This kind of practice is necessary for students to grow their own ability to self-regulate.

 

To conclude, in my classroom the student is seen as a whole being working towards independence. They need to be engaged in ways that address their logical, creative, emotional, physical, and social intelligences.

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