The state of education in the United States is in a crisis.  We graduate massive numbers of students who know very little, have never been required to perform academically, and who have expectations of life and society that are quickly dashed when they enter the "real world" and find that things don't work in the expected way.  Studies currently show that GPA's are on the rise, yet SAT scores and national test scores have continued to drop over the last 17 years.  Grade inflation is rampant, and despite media reports to the contrary, the academic standard continues to drop.  In the end, the students lose.  Many have no personal drive or ambition, low motivation, and have an expectation that everything will be either handed to them or that their learning is the responsibility of someone else and not their own problem.

My teaching philosophy was drastically affected soon after leaving college and getting a job at San Jacinto College South Campus.  I spent almost a year teaching Algebra I and Algebra II to students who had graduated high school but could not pass the TASP test.  At the time, this test had to be taken and passed for a student to be able to go to college.  During my time there I had a startling revelation:  many of the students had no idea how to do math that they had supposedly learned during their 10th or 11th grade of high school.  I was dumbfounded.  To compound my surprise, I was offered a full-time position teaching these remedial math classes to students because the college was overwhelmed by the sheer number of students that needed remediation on basic math.  Suddenly all of the media reports on university campuses regarding unprepared high school students made sense.

I believe all students can learn.  I believe they can even learn tough and abstract material.  I believe that with the right balance of teacher and student work, a student can excel in any subject.  If the correct balance is not achieved, however, disaster can occur. 

My responsibility as a teacher is to communicate information to my students in interesting and innovative ways.  I believe that I am supposed to address multiple learning styles (visual, auditory, tactile, etc), and I believe that I should provide my students relevant practice so that they can master the material.  I also believe that I should incorporate technology in my lessons and as an integral part of the student practice.  Over the last 5-10 years great advances have been made in web-based instruction, technology-based student assessment, and online visual aides.  All of these are tools that I believe I should use frequently to help students understand difficult material, as well as prepare them for the rigors of college where these same tools are frequently used.  I also believe I should be available at set and predictable times after class for student help.  Finally, I believe I am here to challenge my students to perform at high levels.  This especially holds for Pre-AP and AP classes, which are intended to prepare a student for college.  If I am doing this correctly, the student will probably be uncomfortable at times because they are being forced to think hard!

Regarding grades, I believe it is my job to assess student progress in a fair and balanced way that is realistic to a student's progress in class.  If a student performs well, their grade should reflect that.  If they perform below the standard I have set, their grade also should reflect their performance.  I believe I owe it to my students to clearly communicate the standard that will be used on their work.  After all, if you don't know what your target is, how will you hit it?  Grades to me are not a gift.  They are earned.  In an athletic event, I would be most similar to the scorekeeper.  Many students enroll in Pre-AP and AP classes to get extra GPA credit.  That certainly can be achieved in this class, but only with hard and high-quality work.

What, then, is the role of the student?  The student is there to learn, obviously, but there is a lot that goes into learning.  I believe the student should be the person that works.  In many classrooms you will notice one very busy person and 30 that are doing nothing.  This is wrong, and it ultimately results in no learning occurring.  The student should instead be engaged in the process which involves a number of factors.  It begins with paying attention in class and taking notes.  In my class, you will not simply "copy" a bunch of definitions from the overhead projector.  Instead, you should write down what I write down as well as things I emphasize, demonstrate, or explain.  Once you go home, you should spend time that day to reflect on what was said in class and add anything you think is relevant.  Sometimes this can be done by reading the section of the book that ties into the topic.  Additionally, the student will be expected to do homework at home.  It may take large amounts of time to attempt homework problems.  Examples will be worked in class and hopefully the student will have a copy to refer to.  Additionally, the book will provide a good resource.  Finally, the student should check their homework with the answers provided on the website.  If they get the wrong answer, it is their responsibility to go back and figure out what went wrong.  This process also is time consuming, but worthwhile!  In the end, if you can find your mistake (and you usually can), you have learned the material.  Finally, after homework has been briefly discussed in class, it is the student's responsibility to go look at the problem solutions and verify that they worked a problem correctly.  As you can see, most of the work is performed by the student.

Where do most students go wrong?  It begins with attitude.  Many walk into the room assuming that I should be the one doing all of the work.  If they don't understand the material, it is immediately my fault and I should do something to fix the problem.  Although this perspective certainly has merit for me if large numbers of people are struggling, it is not the rule to follow all of the time.  Second, many students simply copy homework from another student so they can get a good homework grade.  This happens frequently, but ALWAYS catches up with you on your first test or quiz when you are presented with a different problem situation.  This type of student is trying to avoid working in the hope that someone else's work will pay off for them.  This never works and can result in a failing grade.  A third mistake some students make is that they will quit trying because something is "too hard for them" and just completely give up.  These students feel that they must have someone to motivate them constantly or they will not perform.  I do try to motivate my students frequently, but if this is a frequent and lasting problem throughout the year, the student needs to reexamine their own attitude. 

If there is one thing I want my students to understand after taking a year of Pre-AP physics, it is that they ARE capable and CAN do anything they want to do if they will just work at it.  I want my students to learn the value of hard work BEFORE going to college so they can be successful when they get there.  I didn't learn this lesson until I was two years into my degree and flunking out.  I also want my students to learn that grades actually are an indicator of how well they know the material, and that grades are earned and not given.  This attitude can carry a person through even the toughest academic challenge.

I care very deeply about my students, but to some I have a funny way of showing it.  I intentionally make my class difficult and put them in situations where they don't immediately know an answer.  I continue to be tough on them throughout the year with the goal of forcing them to perform.  I provide many tools for my students to use in learning the material but put the students in situations where they have to take the time to use them.  I want to force my students to make tough decisions and make significant choices.

In nature, you will see numerous examples of the same principle at work.  If a baby bird is going to ever learn to fly, they have to try it and do it.  The mother bird will therefore push them out of the nest, knowing full well that they are capable of flying and just need to learn it by doing.  Before doing this, however, the baby bird is able to see numerous times how flight really is by watching the mother.  In a sense, I try to do the same thing.  I want my students to be excellent, and have great success in life.