#1. About Me

Greetings! My name is Miss Lydia Grote and teaching is my passion. I am currently a senior in the Teacher Education program at Iowa State University majoring in Elementary Education, with a minor in Educational Computing. My area of specialization is mathematics and I will be obtaining my Reading Endorsement directly after graduation in May of 2010. This coming Spring I will be student teaching in locations yet to be assigned.

Philosophy of Education:
I aim to bring high expectations, an open mind, and a positive attitude to my classroom each and every day. Students need a safe learning environment that fosters their exploration, experimentation and extension of concepts; this learning environment takes place in a student centered classroom where students are able to work both collaboratively and individually. My classroom will be an environment of openness and acceptance of each student’s strengths and weaknesses. I want to encourage all students to reach for their goals.

I believe all students deserve equal opportunities regardless of their race, socio economic status, gender, and ability. Not all students are going to grasp a concept with the same instruction and teaching method; I believe in using a variety of teaching styles and differentiating instruction to meet the ability levels and learning styles of all my students. Despite the students learning styles and ability levels, my expectations for each child will remain high. Through my variance in teaching styles and differentiating instruction, I hope to create self confident enthusiastic learners who are problem solvers and lifelong learners in their community.

Technology can and should be implemented in all classrooms regardless of grade level. Interactive technology enlivens the classroom and gets students involved. Students should have a hands-on experience with the educational technology and the learning should be student centered. All of the students in a classroom are not going to have the same expertise level when it comes to the different technologies and as a teacher my expertise level may be below some of the students. I will set up a classroom that allows students to teach students, students to teach the teacher, and teachers to teach the students. In my technology filled classroom, I am excited to be an expert in some areas of technology but most of all I am eager and enthusiastic to learn from my students’ expertise with technology.

Overall, I want to motivate students to want to learn. I want to ignite their fire to love to learn and help them become life long learners. I want to be the teacher who teaches the children to love learning because they know I love to teach.


With new education laws in effect, the rules and guidelines regulating the classroom, the teachers, and the students have changed tremendously. No Child Left Behind has put an emphasis on standardized testing and students achieving at close to the same level. With all of this said, I firmly believe the most important issue facing K-12 education in the next five years is the realization of ability levels and differentiating instruction to meet all students’ needs.


At Iowa State University, students in the teacher education program are not offered a course on classroom management. Classroom management is a key to a positive, learning experience for students in the classroom. With the lack of a course in classroom management my biggest challenge to my effectiveness as an educator would be creating an environment in my classroom where respect of one another and the teacher is foremost.