HPRP 1

Telling the truth is not always the most popular thing to do; in fact, it is often frowned upon depending on the time and place. We should tell the truth anyway.

My teaching philosophy stems from a conviction to the truth and objective reality that I am comfortable sharing with all stakeholders. I engage in continual conversation with my peers, mentors, coaches, and students to develop and maintain an identity that is honest, yet cooperative, and always open to new perspectives and better modes of thought.

One of my main teaching goals is to help my students to become better critical thinkers. I want to teach them how to think, not what to think. Only then can they begin to examine, develop, and build confidence in the ideas and values that will shape them through their most formative years.

How can we capture the full story of our lives in the few minute details of our identity?

We are all greater than the sum of our parts. By telling my story in my own words, I am taking agency and responsibility for my actions - for my identity - rather than letting arbitrary (and often immutable) elements speak for me. Narratives are incredibly powerful forces that shape and change the way people see each other and themselves; as such, there is nothing more powerful than telling your own story and listening to others tell theirs. Only then can we build honest relationships with each other because as hear each others' stories we inevitably realize that we our similarities are greater - and more important - than our differences.

So what? What are my takeaways from this year?

If anything, I hope this reflection is an insight into my mindset about teaching this year as well as teaching in general. We cannot grow in comfort. If that be the case, we all ought to have grown by leaps and bounds this year! With growth in mind, I am simply trying to be the best version of myself that I can be. My students - all students - need positive role models in their lives, and we have a responsibility to be the people they can grow into. For better or worse, we are the ones who finished this year (strong?) and stuck around long enough for our students to see that they too are capable of perseverance in the face of adversity.