How to Write: Teaching Philosophy Statement

Since I complained about cover letters yesterday, I thought I'd be more positive about another piece of the application process--the teaching philosophy statement. Sadly, a lot of ads I see don't explicitly ask for one--I appreciate the universities that say they definitely want a statement of your philosophy for the classroom as opposed to the more generic "evidence of teaching effectiveness." The assistant professor positions I'm interested in are primarily because of the classroom opportunities, so I feel more comfortable knowing that the search committee is actually interested in what I'm bringing to the classroom (you know, those little rooms that keep universities from being a completely corporate building with a football stadium). Disgressing again. So far, I'm happy with the draft of my statement that I came up with. It still needs work, but it is organized creatively and captures the best parts of my teaching personality. I have a few samples that I received from my university's teaching excellence center that were EXTREMELY helpful. There are lots of nice links on the web too:

• Good advice from the Chronicle
  
• A more philosophical approach: Iowa State CELT
• Practical tips for brainstorming from University of Hawaii (Great website on portfolio preparation)
• Helpful ideas from Washington University
  

But really I'm curious to know what established academics think about teaching philosophy statements. Are they even read in the application process? How often do faculty members sit in on the classrooms of their peers? What is the level of assessment and evaluation and reevaluation of one's teaching philosophy once you reach "faculty status"? These are the questions that keep me up at night. Ok, not really but I'm at least a little curious as I finish up my teaching portfolio...