My philosophical belief of successful teaching strategies is a combination of existentialism and progressivism.  I believe first, that a child should become a happy and healthy member of society.  The first step is to develop ones own values and characteristics, through personal experience and good choices.  This is one of the main goals of the existential classroom.  Secondly,  I believe that, while subject matter is essential, I feel that education should focus on the child.  Teachers should place significant importance on the thoughts and feelings of the children to encourage thinking about things in different ways.  This strategy will also help them to appreciate other peopleís views which will be crucial to their adult lives.  These are some of the underlying principles of progressivism.
     Donít misunderstand, I feel that it is also important to teach subject matter.  However, I feel that oftentimes, teachers get so caught up in ìteaching to the testî that the best interest of the child is lost.  The classroom then becomes a place full of desk rows and children who regurgitate information.  These students become a group of individuals with no value in their own opinions and thoughts.  There must be effective ways to integrate subject matter and  individual thought and expression.  I feel that helping a child to develop knowledge about their own beliefs and characteristics is just as important as developing their knowledge of factual information.  When both of these strategies of teaching combine, the classroom becomes a place of actual learning instead of memorization.
     Up until my sophomore year of high school, I had been in one of those rows of desks repeating facts and formulas.   I enjoyed school for the most part, but at the same time had no other experience to compare it to.  I had no sense of how to apply anything to my world outside of school.  That is not to say that I wasnít learning things in school, but I wasnít yet making the connection between school and life.   No one had really asked for my thoughts or opinions on things.  If I knew an answer, I raised my hand and spit it out.  So, I had no idea of what to expect from this long haired, Bob Marley T-shirt wearing, opinionated man standing in front of me ready to teach World History.  His name was Mr. Johnson, and his style of teaching was very unconventional.  He would ask us questions about what we thought and why we thought that way.  I was lost for the first quarter of the year and got a D in the class.  I would go home and complain about the class and how much I hated it.  I ranted and raved to my Dad about the fact I wasnít learning a thing and how it was irrelevant to my life why some old dead guy did what he did, and whether I thought it was the right thing to do.  After I finished my temper tantrum, my Dad explained to me that I should give the class a chance and try to get something out of what the teacher and my classmates were saying.  I went back to that classroom bound and determined to hate the class for the rest of the semester.  I failed.
           I ended up with a B in the class and a true appreciation for both Mr. Johnson and all those old dead people.  Through an abundance of heated class discussions, group projects, and readings  I learned to speak my mind and listen to and accept others for doing the same.  I formed an educational foundation for the person and learner I have become.  That is what I hope to provide for my students.  If , at the end of the year, all my students can do is fill the air with facts and formulas I have embedded in their brains, then I have failed as a teacher.  If each child leaves my classroom with confidence, a desire to learn, and knowledge about themselves and their peers, then I have done my job successfully.