Teaching Philosophy

Beliefs:

❖    I believe that learning should be fun.

❖    I believe in empowerment through storytelling and art.

❖    I believe that a classroom is a community in which culture and empathy should be upheld.

❖    I believe that all students have an inherent right to a classroom experience that welcomes their diverse and unique needs.

❖    I believe that true learning occurs when students discover their voice by taking ownership of what is created, whether it is intellectual, physical, or spiritual.

Strategies:

❖    I teach through direct instruction and guidance before giving learners the opportunity to try things out for themselves.

❖    Since research is inquiry, I attempt to uphold the rights of my students to learn and understand through intelligent questioning.

❖    I endeavor to engage students in the first five minutes of class using a relevant hands-on learning opportunity or on interactive online activity.

❖    I try to assess and determine prior student knowledge and confirm the basics are known before building on or introducing new concepts. Sometimes this means being flexible or altering a lesson plan to meet the unique needs of the class. After all, just as searching is strategic exploration, instruction may not be linear if it reflects student requirements.

Impact:

❖    I agree with Maya Angelou that “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Therefore, my classroom is a place where students know they are respected. That spirit of respect will, hopefully, stay with students and teach them that they and their education have value. Similarly, knowledge is not a one-way road; I can respect and learn from my students.

❖    Information has value both in the classroom and beyond. I endeavor to create an environment of equal knowledge exchange that instills a passion for lifelong learning.

❖    By using the final five minutes of class as a salon of knowledge exchange and introspection, I create a time for reflection and synthesis of new knowledge.

Future Goals:

❖    Just as information creation is a process, I aim to build peer observation and evaluation into my lesson planning process.

❖    Scholarship as conversation does not just apply to student learning; I plan to stay in dialogue with current library and educational trends by reading peer reviewed journals, attending conferences, and engaging in professional development as necessary.