My main philosophy as a teacher is for students to leave my classroom with more self-determination, more self-efficacy, and more drive to continue to gain new knowledge.  Not just knowledge that can only be applied in class, but enhancing their own understanding, develop their ability in both movement and critical thinking, and provide them skills to transfer knowledge onto everyday life.  To achieve these, I want to create an environment where students have a positive experience so that they continue to be involved in physical activity and continue engage in learning beyond the school setting. Steps I plan to take to create that positive experience and student-centered environment is by promoting individualism and inclusion, listening for change, and providing autonomy within the classroom to encourage students to take ownership of their own learning.  With tools that I have developed and experiences gained in my education, I want to create a positive environment that is safe where students are comfortable to display authenticity and show their true self, where students become intrinsically motivated and continue to have the thirst for knowledge.

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            First and foremost, I want to promote individualism within students.  I want to show care and respect to all my students by encouraging them to be the best they can be.  We all have unique functions, and I believe that there are multiple ways one can achieve a task. Therefore, as the teacher ways I plan to promote individualism is by developing the skills to adapt, be flexible, and have an open mind when creating and implementing lessons.  Secondly, with the new curriculum gearing towards inquiry and critical thinking, a great tool to promote individualism is allowing students to inquire around the aspects of their life that is most important to them while making connections to the big ideas within the curriculum.  In addition, implementing inquiry can also be achieved through utilizing outdoor education, experiential learning, and placed-based education.  I believe that it is important for us as teachers to guide students to discover their own individuality, and with these tools we can provide students the experiences and opportunities that will help guide them to their own unique discovery about themselves, others, and their environment.   

To increase self-efficacy, I believe that it is important for students to feel worthy.  I want students to find value in their ideas, opinions, and knowledge by promoting and creating an inclusive environment.  I plan to create inclusion through utilizing inclusive language, and eliminating labels within my classroom.  As the teacher, it is important to teach students to become aware of the barriers that society places on us and provide students with the tools to overcome these barriers through modifications, progression, and simulation activities.  Secondly, part of inclusion is to ability to celebrate diversity in the class.  Therefore, as a future educator I want to take the time to get to know each student, to start building community values, establish positive relationships, and establish trust between both the teacher and student and between the students themselves.   Lastly, I want to create opportunities for students to focus on similarities they share rather than their differences.  At the same time, I also want to help each individual student find what is most unique about them and encourage students to be proud of what makes them who they are. 

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            Listening, and making the effort to accommodate for the student’s input is a powerful tool for teachers to enhance the learning environment.  As teachers, we need to critically analyze why students are unmotivated to come to class, why students forget to bring gym strip, why there is a decrease in attendance, why students are misbehaving and unfocused.  If we as educators struggle to reflect on our own methods, we have stopped developing, and the best feedback I believe are those provided by the participants themselves.  Therefore, listening for student’s voice in what they want to say will help the teacher reflect in their ways, help re-create and re-invent practices that are ineffective, and encourage students to take ownership of their learning.  Listening for change does not only benefit the teacher but the students as well.  Part of listening and making that need to change allows students to be part in their education and in making the decision in what they will learn and how they will learn.  This autonomy will not only create a more student-centered environment but may increase student’s intrinsic motivation, encourage students to participate, and encourage students to be more engaged. 

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          If I can provide my students with a positive experience through an environment where, we celebrate diversity, have a student-centered focus, and an increase in autonomy.  I believe students will gravitate to learn more, and eventually become key agents to their own learning.  If students are involved, they will be motivated to participate, and this increase in participation, will increase student’s knowledge, which will help them develop, retain, and transfer their skills across their lifespan.  I want students to leave my classroom with self-determination, self-efficacy, and be motivated for continual growth and development so that they can be successful in the path they choose to walk in life.  The cherry on top would be having students entering society with these skills and values to help build a community and pass on these values, skills, and knowledge affecting others in a similar and positive way.