Who's Mister D? Experience and philosophy on teaching

Philosophy on teaching
My name is Daniel D'Silva, current education certificate candidate at Drexel University.  Ever since taking a cultural anthropology course on a whim during my first year of undergraduate school nearly 20 years ago, I realized that my true interest lies in social studies — which I see as simply the human world and how we live in it — how my own culture and others understand it, and how we've done so in the past.  I love studying history and anthropology and teaching them, but what I love most is when students show me that they're learning.  To take part in the human world, one needs a good grasp of history and preparedness to comprehend differing worldviews and values.  Young people are naturally surprised and interested to learn how not everything has been the same across places and ages.  My goal is to use this curiosity to get students participating in this fascinating and important field with engaging learning experiences that will leave them informed and prepared to be part of our global society as they grow up.

Education

Drexel University, post-baccalaureate teaching certification (2020-present).

Ithaca College, bachelor of arts, journalism with minor in history (2003-2007).

Work experience

Pennwood Middle School:  Student teacher, fall 2023.
- Observed, assisted in classroom, planned lessons, assisted with teaching, and taught full-time from October 27 through December 1.

Saint Katharine Drexel Middle School:  Pre-student teacher, fall 2022.
-  Observed, assisted in classroom, planned and taught two lessons; total class time 36 hours.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Views of my classroom

Image
The classroom where I'm doing my student teaching is carefully laid out for ease of teaching and movement around the room. The teacher uses an interactive Promethean board for slideshows, videos, and when reviewing written work.  To make it easier to view, students' desks are arranged into two blocks, both angled toward the board, with a few seats between the two that face directly forward. Gaps are provided that are sufficient to move between desks.  There's enough maneuvering space that, with a few minutes' work, desks can be rearranged into pairs or groups for cooperative work. The room is richly decorated with historical artefacts, including copies of antique posters and genuine antique clothes and appliances collected by my mentor teacher.  These frequently figure into our lessons; for instance, propaganda posters from World War I and II are used to teach students about how the government cultivated public support and contributions to the war effort.
Read more

Samples of student work

Image
An example of a student's completed homework for the lesson U.S. Power in Latin America.  (The student's name is redacted.)  This work shows how an answer that contains plenty of true information related to the topic still isn't necessarily the information the student's being tested on.  In this case, while the student's answer to question 3 is a very good description of the Panama Canal's purpose, it doesn't explain why the canal was built on an isthmus (the answer is that an isthmus is by definition narrower than the surrounding land, allowing the canal to be shorter).  In my classroom, homework is checked live by the teacher, which requires other students to wait while the teacher goes around the room.  This poses a challenge to time management and forces the teacher to choose between grading for accuracy or completion.  In this case, students were graded on completion.  This student received full credit.  On a test, this answer would be marked...
Read more