It is my belief that everything you say and everything you do can have an impact on others so encouraging the positive influence one can have on the greater population is a key component of the environment I choose to create with my students. A classroom should be a safe, inclusive environment in which an individual is provided opportunity to flourish as their true and unique self. This is my vision and my goal as an educator to facilitate the development of such a community through upholding the ensemble to expectations of respect and responsibility while empowering individual voice and fostering the ability to think critically and creatively.
Once the basics of a community have been established, it's time to continue with expanding skills of collaboration and communication. Starting with the self, this comes from listening more often than speaking. As a role model, I want to find myself asking more questions than having final answers. The answer is already in the room even if it is not from my own base of knowledge allowing for personal initiative from students to arise as a quintessential guide for exploration. And while numerous leading prompts might come into play, the discovery of material through facilitating discussion and experiential activities are commonplace in my style of teaching.
It is my belief that every person has a special need of some sort and I want to assure that each individual is seen for who they truly are. My prior experience has led me to find that a teacher must have a general awareness and by using observation, an educator is able to more specifically identify the best strategies for support. This in turn promotes providing equity across a classroom by differentiating activities to engage each student with their own moment in the spotlight. Theater, specifically devising or playmaking, provides an excellent outlet for free expression while developing key life skills including literary analysis, writing ability, public speaking, interpersonal communication, improvisational comfort, and kinesthetic awareness.