“Schools are like airport hubs; student passengers arrive from different backgrounds…their particular takeoffs into adulthood will demand different flight patterns” –Dr. Mel Levine
Ms. C. Truong's Grade 1 Class Gladys McDonald School
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Cathy Truong and I have the privilege of being the grade one teacher at Gladys McDonald. Our class is lucky to have a very talented lady; Ms.S.Kowaniuk who will be interning in the classroom until December when she will be returning to the University of Regina to finish her studies in attaining her Bachelors of Education.
My family immigrated here from Vietnam when I was 6 years old. I have learned the English language here in Canada and have internalized the importance of Literacy in our everyday lives. I went on to university getting my first degree in English with double minor in History and Anthropology. I wanted to share my passion of Literacy with my students hence going on to get my second degree in Education at the University of Regina. I also have received my Masters in Education-Curriculum and Instruction from the University of New England. In the summer of 2016 I completed 21st Century Leadership course in Seattle, WA.
My personal philosophy of education is that I must teach the way students learn. As students are all diverse and different, I must teach to the individualities of my students. My philosophy of teaching is that I must teach to the needs of the student and not to the needs of what a paper suggests. I believe that every student is different and unique, so my teaching must be just as varied and diverse in order for my students to have a great chance to develop their potential to the fullest extent. As students are all diverse and certainly do learn differently, the teachings should directly address the unique and diverse nature of the student’s learning. Education is to act on the belief that each individual is worthwhile and to aim to teach students to interact and feel comfortable with others who are different in race, religion, status or personal attributes, so to develop a sense of responsibility toward others.
“Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” -Plato
I strongly believe that education should strive to teach students and adults alike to act with honesty, integrity, compassion and fairness. Education is to better prepare students for the realities of the outside world so that they can participate in the democratic process of government and perform the duties of a contributing citizen in society. I hope to provide my precious students with some tools and methods to express themselves creatively, emotionally, and functionally as they deserve to have their inherent worth and value recognized. I firmly believe that I am blessed with a career that I am passionate about in having the opportunity to share an education with my students that allows them to seek and value learning experiences, act as self-reliant learners, and base actions on the knowledge that it is necessary to learn (both individually and as cooperating teams) throughout their wonderful lives.
Cathy Truong
The secret in education lies in respecting the student. -Ralph Waldo Emerson