Teaching Philosophy

As an environmental educator, my teaching philosophy centers around creating meaningful connections with students through sharing enriching material. Constructing genuine interactions and fostering a relaxed classroom environment where students feel comfortable to be themselves, allows me to effectively give students a sense of passion for our natural world.  I greatly value the importance of connecting with the material myself in order to relay it to the students. Effective teaching derives from preparation and practice beforehand as well as promoting excitement and awe. These factors encourage curiosity and further increase student participation.  

In order to remain adaptive and flexible while in the classroom, my philosophy includes recognizing that every student learns differently.  While support remains consistent, individual interactions and patience is integral to fostering an inclusive learning space. It is important to expect and embrace deviation from the planned out lessons as learning can go off in newly discovered directions during teaching. While remaining within the foundation of the overall lesson, this adaptability rooted in curiosity, can emphasize to students that learning is experimental and it can be an adventure to learn.   

I believe that students need time to reflect and take in information individually. Constantly checking in with students can sometimes deter them from engaging with the content. My teaching philosophy finds a balance between being a supportive instructor and also giving students time to articulate for themselves.  An important part of my teaching journey is also being a student. Just as I teach, I am also still learning. This comes from engaging with the content or discovering new things during lessons. Even more so, learning from my students, such as their personalities and hobbies. Mutual respect between myself and students cultivates a community of respect and inclusivity. I believe when students feel comfortable, they will be more inclined to participate and learn. On my side, when I am more comfortable with material and the classroom environment, I can discover new things as well. With the bilingual aspect of my teaching experiences, I have encountered students from various proficiency levels. With this, I am committed to taking time to recognize when students need more time or one-on-one interaction to understand information when a language barrier is present. I believe the different backgrounds of my students make our shared learning space unique and special as everyone can contribute their own ideas. 

Within the outline of the Teaching Perspectives Inventory, I rank highly in the transmission and nurturing perspectives. This emphasizes the balance between familiarity with the teaching material as well as creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for students to feel encouraged. The perspectives in the inventory also indicate my beliefs that students should be gently challenged in order to succeed. I remain empathetic to the students while I advocate for them to continue to push themselves beyond their normal comfort zone. This could be when shyer students participate aloud in class rather than students who answer more frequently. . 

Overall, my teaching philosophy can be summarized by the meaningful connections with students, the encouraging learning environment that makes students excited to learn, which comes from creating a diverse and inclusive space. Students should feel empowered to learn and make connections with the environment. 

Title photo credit: Thank you notes written by 4th grade students at River Road elementary school 

Photo by: Me