Maybe before I talk about how I teach I should tell you why I do what I do, why I teach. For sure one reason that I became a teacher has to do with my excitement and passion for learning, in particular for the sciences, especially chemistry. However, the longer I teach the more I have realized that the reason I teach is to build community, create connections and relationships and to spread kindness. My hope is that when I am doing all those things that I am helping students to learn.
So how do I teach? I would describe myself as a storyteller. I teach through stories. Stories about what you ask? I use my own personal stories, stories from the past (history), stories about people doing these very things I am discussing in class right now and because I am going to do my best to know each student I hope to use some of my student’s stories as well. When a student comes to my class for Science 24 or Chemistry 20 or whatever the class may be, I’ll give each student a copy of the notes for the particular unit we are going to learn about. I do that so when I explain those concepts, often through stories, students can hopefully then engage with me and don’t have to be so focused about writing down everything that I say.
Why I teach and how I teach also has a focus on mental health. I want to remind my students daily of this by the things that I say and do during class so that they learn how important it is to look after their own mental health. I don’t want any of my students to spend all their time outside of my classroom studying and reviewing Chemistry or Science. I want my students to have time to also pursue their other passions and interests. I want my students to have time to be able to build connections and relationships with their family and friends and other members of their community. And most importantly, I want my students to have time to decompress, take a break, relax their brains. I want all my students to know how important all those things are in order to take care of their mental health because if they can take care of their mental health I feel that they then have the potential to do better in all aspects of their life including Science class or Chemistry class. What’s one way you would see that in my classroom? Every class I teach has 2 parts; instruction or activity and then time to practice that concept or skill. The second part, the time to practice is when I want my students to do their “homework”. I don’t want them to take the work home. I want them to do it now, in class. Working on the “traditional homework” now means that I can help them if they are struggling, they don’t have to find other time in their schedule for that to happen. It also means that when a student goes home, they now have time for all those important activities I mentioned earlier. The entire class also particpates in "Wellness Wednesdays" with me. What is this? Every Wednesday I begin class with 5min of silence. During this time I encourage students to close their eyes, relax, take deep breaths, day dream, think of someone who has been on their mind, silently pray......really just to quietly take 5min for themselves, a time to do nothing and focus on nothing, just time for a break. The feedback from my students has been very positive about this experience!
In all I do it is also my hope that my students see me living my out faith. It is my hope that in how I teach students about Chemistry or Science or Math that they are able see God’s work, God’s hand in all of it. Again, I will do that alot through stories but also in how I interact with each student and the environment I hope to create in my classroom.