About Me

Teaching Philosophy

Having lived through difficult circumstances shaped the person and teacher that I have become, I understand the hardships that students can face when trying to obtain their education.  It’s for this reason that equity must be the core of the education, given that not all the students have the same resources available. I believe that every student must have an equal opportunity to learn and succeed. Culturally Responsive Teaching is key to achieve this, and to allow the students to be the leaders of their own learning. I am aware of the importance of each person's cultural experience and their own “Funds of Knowledge (FoK)”; hence I am devoted to contributing to achieving the maximum potential of the students by empowering them and giving them the most opportunities in the classroom to use their FoK. I am committed to persevering in improving the quality of life, our environment, and helping students visualize themselves as agents of change through education. 

Furthermore, as teachers it’s important to show that we truly care about our students not only to make them feel good, but to meet their academic needs.  It’s essential to implement culture into education, it's very helpful when we as teachers value the students skills and their abilities to guide them towards academic success. Additionally, the concept of humanizing pedagogy is also meaningful because sometimes as teachers it’s easy to hyperfocus on the material that we need to cover and barely allow the students time to be human, and I think that realizing that not everyone can work at the same pace is fundamental. We are all human and have different types of learning, for this reason in our classrooms we must have differentiated learning and a humanizing pedagogy where students can relate to what is being presented to them and appreciate its value. Finally, fostering a safe environment is essential as well, because throughout the years minorities students have perceived school as a place where they can't be themselves. Therefore, we have to show the students that what they had and where they came from is very valuable. This can be done with the help of the parents because they are a valuable resource, they know the community, and some might know the culture of a certain place better than me as a teacher this can allow for the students to create connections, and as a teacher we can learn from the parents and apply some of their skills into our classroom.

In my classroom, the assignments, assessments, and instructional resources I use allow my students to see themselves and see others; I foster a safe learning environment by letting students work in groups and they sit in tables that allow for collaboration with their classmates. In addition, my teaching is very student centered, they participate in front of the class if we are solving a problem and they get stuck I help them out without saying that they did it wrong, I just say that almost or we aren’t there yet and help them. In addition, to review for the exams they get to use sort of like a video game (blooket) and by their competitive nature it encourages learning. I review the assignments, assessments, and instructional resources I use for historical accuracy, stereotypes, cultural relevance, and multiple perspectives; I review everything to make sure that there is nothing in my instructional materials that would be detrimental in any way.  I also like to implement different ways of delivering content such as including videos for those students that find this more helpful. If there are students that struggle a bit more I help them one-on-one, or I try getting most of the students struggling in one table and that way I can explain the material to at least 5 of them at the same time, I also ask them questions and encourage questions, and let them help each other out. Moreover, I seek to learn about the students just by asking simple questions that can lead to further conversations, so open ended questions. Like what was your favorite thing of the weekend? Or some of my students stay during lunch in my classroom and we talk for a while. I think that also staying vulnerable and open with the students is important. For example, some ask me about WPI, and I tell them about my experience and help them to find more information about colleges and how to apply. In addition, just being nice to them and showing that I care and I really want them to learn helps because that way the students open up to you and tell you about themselves. I try to incorporate students' background knowledge, cultures, and family traditions daily as most as I can. It's a bit easier with the class where I have a lot of students that speak spanish the most and some don’t know english so I can help them by speaking spanish and also translating what i say into english so that they can improve their english. In addition, I provide them the opportunity to go and help out other students with difficulty on the concept and they feel as teacher.

Positionality Statement

I was born and raised in the countryside of Puerto Rico; in the basement of my grandparents' house, where without having much, we had everything: family, friends, neighbors, and a profound sense of community. The resources were scarce, but having experienced this has made me who I am today. From a young age I saw the value of education, during 5th grade I decided to change schools to the Specialized Bilingual Education School of Cidra LMI. I wanted to learn English, because I knew that being bilingual could open multiple doors. The school gave me an interview and exam required to be able to enter. Days later, my mom comes home with used uniforms of the school and surprises me with the news that I had gotten into the school. I jumped! I was extremely happy, regardless of the fact that we didn’t have the resources to buy the uniforms for school, because we had something more valuable... the joy of the possibility of a better future. The challenge of moving from a regular public school where all my classes were in Spanish to one specialized where the classes were in English, was very difficult. Here I was immediately immersed into English, and I didn’t have the tools most students had to succeed. However, I was determined to succeed and despite this, I continued to earn all A’s grades throughout my middle and high school career.

When I told my mom that it was important to learn English as a 10-year-old, little did I know what was ahead for me. Five years later, during my 10th grade in September of 2017, Hurricane Maria struck, changing our plans and lives. Right after this catastrophe my father moved to Massachusetts because he lost his job, and my mom, brother, and I stayed to complete our school year. Since we lived in the rural area, we were without electricity for nine months, and we didn’t have a generator. There was no other option but to wash our clothes by hand, put the food in a small cooler with ice, and even study with candles. In June of 2018 we moved to Massachusetts, these obstacles I faced proved to me that “querer es poder”. I thrived in adversity and was able to see the path I know I want to follow. After leaving everything in Puerto Rico behind, it was still difficult. I was in a completely different environment and school system. In Massachusetts, I attended a high school, where there were problems with the students' behaviors, because they were not very interested in school and disrupted the learning. I was coming from Puerto Rico, the school just assumed I didn’t know any English and put me in lower-level classes. I wasn’t aware of honor or AP classes, because it’s not something we had in Puerto Rico, and the academic counselor didn’t tell me anything about this. Thus, I had to advocate for myself. Nevertheless, the weaknesses I identified in this school allowed me to realize that I could improve it. Realizing that I can learn on my own and communicate knowledge with others provided me with a sense of mission. Guiding me to pursue the WPI Teacher Preparation Program to teach chemistry. 

As teachers we have the great opportunity of spreading knowledge, and helping the students have a growth mindset. We can change lives for the better and stir the students into a positive direction. Our job goes beyond teaching our subject matter, it is about listening to the students to get to know them to be able to best help  and support them in their career.