2nd Grade

Introduction

Welcome to 2nd Grade at ILM Academy!

Assalaamu-Alaikum. My name is Anna Alcantara and I’m extremely excited to start the new school year at ILM Academy in August 2009. I anxiously look forward to meeting each of my students and their families! For my complete bio, please click here.

Goals

My goals for the coming year are to reach out to each of my students and to instill in them enjoyment and love for learning subjects such as Math, Language Arts, Phonics, Science, History, Arabic, Art, Physical Education, Quran and Islamic Studies. I want to provide for my students the best education possible to develop strong and successful Muslims in our community. I’m also looking forward to work closely with each parent to help achieve their child’s personal and educational goals in achieving excellence, insha’Allah.

Philosophy

My philosophy of teaching is a student-centered one. I strongly believe the teacher should serve as a facilitator for student learning. I believe in focusing on the individual needs, and involving students in the process of their learning. I aspire to embrace each student’s individual differences by recognizing, respecting, and even celebrating them just like Islam teaches us to love one another despite our differences. I believe that all students have strengths and weaknesses, and that it is the goal of education to assist students in identifying and building upon them. I believe in measuring student success through differential means and situations and not just by emphasizing on standardized student test results. I understand that students learn best through real-world experiences which are meaningful.

My philosophy of teaching also incorporates ideas of social interaction. Students should be given opportunities to relate their learning and critical thinking skills to social challenges and problems outside of the classroom walls. Not only do students have the potential to make a difference within our society, but to also grow as individuals in the process. This approach has the benefits of empowering students and building their self esteem and problem solving skills.

I enjoy teaching as a whole class group as well as forming collaborative learning groups in my classroom for learning specific objectives. I often design group activities which necessitate active learning, student-to-student collaboration and problem solving. My teaching style also involves an eclectic approach by using a variety of methods, techniques and strategies to meet the needs of my students.

Lastly, I see my philosophy as building a safe, loving and caring environment for everyone, while maintaining high expectations for my students and allowing them to experience natural consequences. For instilling classroom discipline, I feel that positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior is more responsive and effective. I believe that positive reinforcement can be more effective than a focus on negative consequences for inappropriate behaviors.

Curriculum for 2nd grade is currently being finalized. Stay tuned for more information!