Katie Tapio
5th Grade Teacher
Rosa Parks Elementary
“As a classroom community, our capacity to generate excitement is deeply affected by our interest in one another, in hearing one another’s voices, in recognizing one another’s presence.”
― bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom
My Why
When you know your why then your what has more impact because you’re working toward your purpose. - Michael Jr.
I teach because I believe that children are unique beings that bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience to the classroom. It is my role as an educator to cultivate a space in collaboration with my students that recognizes this reality. I endeavor to create a space where children feel at ease being themselves, where they feel supported, connected, and heard so that the whole child experiences immense cognitive, social, and emotional growth. School was haven for me as a child. It was the place where I felt the most supported and truly valued. It is my hope that each student that I have the pleasure to work alongside has that very same experience
I lead because I believe that each of us holds influence and it is through the act of collaboration and sharing ideas that we find a path to deeper understanding and collective growth. My hope is to create a space where all stake holders' ideas are heard and valued especially those individuals whose knowledge, experience, and voices have been traditionally excluded.
My Philosophy
It is my belief that every single child is a capable mathematician and it is my role as a mathematics educator to create space where students can both grow and thrive. This can be accomplished by providing all students with access to relevant, high cognitive demand tasks that are appropriately sequenced to establish strong conceptual understanding. It is through strong conceptual understanding that procedural fluency and eventual complex mathematical reasoning occur. In order for students to establish complex mathematical reasoning students need to participate in meaningful mathematical discourse and work in collaboration with one another to construct meaning which is the direct result of purposeful planning. It is all of these components working in concert coupled with equity based teaching practices that will support the growth of all learners in mathematics.
It is my belief as a mathematics leader that my work should begin in collaboration with my community to understand our specific needs. Once we have established our needs then I can build upon the work already being done to support teachers in maximizing student understanding. It is important that my community is aware that my role as a mathematics leader is non-evaluative and that my role is to support and enhance the work that is already occurring. I can support my teaching and learning community by introducing equitable teaching practices, analyzing data, determining next steps for instruction, enhancing meaningful mathematics discourse, and by planning relevant high cognitive demand tasks. This support may come in the form of whole staff professional development, facilitation of professional learning communities, and by meeting one on one with specific educators. Finally, I must continuously seek opportunities to grow as a mathematics educator and leader through professional development and additional courses to continue supporting my community.