Equity, Engagement, and Inquiry
As an educator, I believe that teaching should be rooted in the student’s journey, encouraging excitement, inquiry, and wonder about our world, not just the memorization of information. I design my learning environments based on the local place, cultures, and passions of students to connect to spaces and people beyond a curriculum. This means creating opportunities to learn outside the traditional classroom, whether in a museum, outdoors, or in our community. I work to achieve this by building partnerships with community groups and families and uplifting cultural and linguistic diversity.
My approach to teaching centers the student through activities that foreground their questions and interests in connection to the learning goal. Math lessons can become building robotics and code, and science lessons can become nature journaling to understand scientific observations.
I want to make my students excited to learn enough that they also want to share their knowledge with others. I challenge my students to grow beyond their expectations and celebrate their achievements as a product of their ability and individuality.
I expect my students to come out of my classroom with an understanding of what they learned and why they learned it. A curriculum that is hands-on, inquiry-based, and scaffolded with student engagement is the key to fostering these moments. Learning takes place best when a diversity of learning styles is recognized. For instance, as a museum educator, I created different versions of ceramic-based art lessons to adapt to individual mental and physical learning needs. Similarly, I strive to foster student collaboration. I use strategies such as peer-sharing and group work to ensure the participation of students at a variety of levels. As an environmental educator, I assisted struggling students in a large classroom by highlighting their skills and employing peers as support. A core principle of my teaching philosophy is a classroom that encourages resilience. I know I am an effective teacher when a student feels safe enough to correct my mistakes, or courageous enough to aid a friend falling behind.
I became a teacher because I love learning, and I love the earth. I want others to see just how interconnected we all are, and to become as motivated as I am to protect the planet. My philosophy is grounded in the idea that learning takes shape in many forms, and that any student, regardless of age, background, or ability, should be given the opportunity to pursue a deeper connection with our world.