About Me

"Everything with integrity"

PRINCIPLES & VALUES OF MY CURRENT TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

A fundamental truth in my life is science and all that science encompasses. From a child observing a monarch emerge from its chrysalis to the department of fish and wildlife using ecological principles to identify how many deer tags can be sold the following year, everything in and around us is science. From the smell of an orange being cut across the room to the International Space Station harnessing satellite trash in space, all is ruled by science. When a group of scientists observes the movement of atoms, really it is just "a bunch of atoms looking at a bunch of other atoms" (a quote I have often heard but can't coin as my own). I hold the steps of the scientific process as the fundamental truth to find answers (or find a place closer to an answer) about the world and phenomena that exist all around us. The day we DON'T question where snow comes from, what love is, how climate change works, and how photons don't have weight - is the day we cease to be human.

My primary value is integrity. Integrity is a difficult thing to value and quantify because each person has a different code of ethics and set of moral values. When a soldier goes to war, she believes that it is honest and ethical to kill an enemy. The majority of the citizens of this country would also believe this. Others with a different set of moral values may say this is wrong. Regardless, I aspire to live a life full of integrity and truth in terms of how I best interpret honesty. Do not steal. Do not cheat. Do not lie. Do not sell yourself short. This value of mine fits hand and hand with my mentality of "no excuses". I don't make excuses for why I didn't do something that was expected of me. If one of my students fails a test, the dishonest thing would be to say that he/she didn't study enough. The honest action would requiring looking inward to what I could have or will do differently to make sure it doesn't happen again.

To a fault, I value hard work. I have always grown up believing that I am not smart - and thus I compensate with effort and hard work. My growth mindset got me through high school, college, two years abroad - essentially anything I have wanted to accomplish. If something isn't working, my mentality is to work harder at it. People often talk about a work-life-balance and how too much work burns you out. I've been working as hard as I possibly can since I was seven - and I haven't burned out yet. When someone loves work, it doesn't feel like work. However, with hard work, we must also learn to laugh.

I value laughter and having a good time. Although this may seem juxtaposed with the previous value, I believe that people need to learn to laugh at themselves. People do and will make mistakes forever - and we need to laugh at them and find humor in what we do in order to move on. You have to find the joy in the world around you, and laugh at the silly things that happen in order to get by.

WHERE I COME FROM

I am from a "good pen", from gala apples, and canvas bags.

I am from the house down the road, not too close or too far.

I am from the yellow daffodil, the sweet sap of spring.

I am from family trees embroidered into quilts, from hoarding, from gertrude's long and slender fingers, and george's brown honey eyes, and bill's love for genealogy.

I am from the sticks and the questions in the air that nobody asks.

From "if you're on time, you're late" and "it looks like you need to work harder".

I am from saying grace at dinner and off-tune hymns.

I'm from berlin, france, and berlin, vt, brie, venison, but never together.

From the time my dad was in the hospital at the same time my mom gave birth to my sister, the tonsils in sarah's throat that refused to heal, and the mosquito nets that protected me from palu.

I am from my mother's attic, beagles who died in the winter, singing in the car with the windows down, and love.

MY SUPPORT SYSTEM