Teaching Philosophy

From the start of my experience in higher education, I have felt strongly that the focus of my practice would be place-based, environmental education that embraces the fun of learning in a variety of settings. Not only does nature provide a richly stimulating setting to learn, the way we choose to interact with it governs our world. I hope to foster and strengthen this relationship in the lives of my students. As I continue to gain more experience in the classroom, it has become clearer that interaction with the natural world lays a strong foundation for community building, stewardship, and engagement of a child’s mind, body and spirit. This relationship has been something I have explored deeply in my own education as well as my teaching experiences, and I hope to continue to cultivate this connection to nature in my future students.

Along this path, I have discovered the value of multilingual instruction in the creation of a strong and inclusive classroom community that transcends cultural barriers. I hope to one day obtain a dual-language teaching certificate so that I can effectively reach the growing population of Spanish speaking students in the U.S.. On my first day in front of the classroom as a guest teacher with Aves Compartidas, I taught a bilingual lesson in which students drew a map of the migration pattern of a bird we were studying. We then decorated these maps with personal drawings related to their lives and experiences. This assignment allowed me to get to know my new students while simultaneously reinforcing their understanding of their positionality in the world and natural systems, like the migration cycle. I used the information gained from this assignment to inform my lessons for the following 7 weeks and build meaningful connections to my students. It also provided students the assurance that their personal experiences were not only valued, but encouraged to be shared and embraced in the classroom. I aim to embed inclusion and identity expression deep within the pedagogy I implement so that all students are both represented in the classroom materials, and exposed to new ideas and ways of thinking. I believe the most valuable part of schooling is the exposure to a variety of perspectives and I intend to make this a central focus of my classes. In my teaching materials, this has been implemented through diverse representations in picture books and classroom materials, and cross cultural connections built within my time collaborating with Aves Compartidas.

From a young age, my love of learning has driven me though my schooling, and directly toward the teaching profession. I am eager to continue my learning with, and from, my future students as passions, interests, and entire personalities blossom before my eyes. Fostering a passion for learning within an inclusive and compassionate class community is the central focus of my teaching. For the duration of my career, I plan to continue to grow with and from my students as we explore the importance of the environments we inhabit and challenge each other and the status quo.