Teaching Philosophy

Teaching Philosophy Statement

Quinn Levandoski

As an 8th-year high school English teacher that’s taught general 9th through 12th grade English, Creative Writing, Research Writing, and Speech/Debate classes, as well as an educator that values extracurriculars and meaningful uses of technology, I'm continually assessing and reassessing my classroom practices to make sure I'm being of the most benefit to my school, students, students families, community, and self. While more specific sample unit plans and classroom initiatives can be found elsewhere on this site, the below is meant to be a brief primer on my professional practices, teaching philosophies, and credentials.

An Overview

My teaching stresses the importance of critical inquiry and responsibility that makes content relevant across units and subjects. As I think you'll see in my sample lessons, the largest, most important overarching goal of what I do is to make sure the skills we practice in class have uses outside of a school setting. While I disagree with those that consider school separate from “real life” (school is a very real part of life for our students... and us!), I am of the opinion that too many days are spent on material with no use outside of students’ classrooms.

While homework has its place, I don't assign it except in instances of students not finishing in the allotted in-class time. Whether it's work friends, family, other responsibilities, or plain relaxation, we all have lives outside of school, and it's important to me that homework doesn't eat away at other important parts of life. While I acknowledge the benefits that extra practice can afford, I also acknowledge that no major studies have found positive causation between amount of homework given and student performance. I believe that the mental health of our students is a critically important element of helping them perform their best, and part of that means giving them time to have a life outside of formal education.

I’m a firm supporter of and participator in cross-curricular projects, and I prioritize designing lessons that consider complex relationships between different people and ways of thinking, in addition to promoting self-reflection and healthy debate. Whether it's teaming with the science department to create engaging presentations on local environmental practices or breaking down the language and flow of a long math problem, cross-curricular activities let students build connections between what can otherwise be isolated school experiences.

Technology

Something I believe sets me apart as an educator is my meaningful use of instructional technology. I pride myself in not only using modern tools and technology, but using them purposefully to enrich assessment, feedback, and learning. While a lack of proper exposure to tech resources can be a large detractor in a student's education, so too can overexposure without purpose. Moreover, in today's world, technology has fundamentally changed how we access information and form opinions. Today, learning and practicing healthy digital citizenship and skepticism is just as important as long-form writing or grammar.

A few ways we've used technology recently to enhance the classroom experience include transitioning from static to interactive and multi-modal texts, setting up digital discussion spaces to supplement in-class activities, and diversifying feedback to include text, audio, and video. I believe that each of these practices, as well as others that you can find across my e-portfolio, result in tangible benefits to student engagement, interest, and learning.

Extracurricular Activities

Education isn't only about learning classroom content, it's about growing as social, collaborative people capable of problem-solving, working together, and disagreeing civilly. While these are, of course, a part of in-class learning, they are further developed in extracurricular activities. Whether it's coaching, working school events, or attending school shows and performances, being seen and interacting with students in these diverse ways is a critical part of my role as an educator.

While I’m constantly striving to grow and change as an educator, these are the guiding principals on which my progress is focused. While these brief descriptions function as an introduction to my teaching style, please click around the various links on my e-portfolio to see specific examples of these principles in action.