Teaching Philosophy
In the space below you will learn about three facets of my teaching philosophy:
fostering community, literacy skill building, and critical thinking.
Fostering Community
My primary goal in any classroom I teach is to create a space where students feel safe to share their thoughts and ideas with each other. I want my students to see themselves in the content I teach, to hear from and learn from each other as well as from me, and to look at ideas different from their own both critically and respectfully. By focusing on building community, I am hoping to create a space where students can do the kind of thinking and work necessary to truly grow and development as young members of our society.
Literacy Skill Building
When students leave my classroom, I want them to leave knowing that they have gotten better at something over the course of my class. I am heavily invested in the literacy education of my students, hence why it was the focus area for my master's program, so I try to put a lot of emphasis on development of literacy skills in my classroom. Reading and writing are skills that will always be useful in our modern society, and I want my students to be able to do both effectively. I also want students to know that there's no one way to be literate and that "reading something" doesn't just mean words on a page in a book. I believe it's important for us to be able to read books as well as videos, music, artwork, people, and everything else in between. When students leave my classroom, I hope they'll be able to develop the skills to express their thoughts and ideas effectively regardless of the medium with which they choose.
Critical Thinking
Too often, I think we as a society take what is front of us at face value, but rarely are first impressions enough for us to understand complex topics. In my social studies classes, I want students to be able to think critically about the world and their place in society, and I want them to be able to form their own opinions based on the evidence that available them. When it comes to thinking critically, students in my classroom will be given amply opportunities to connect events from the past to their own experiences, they'll be looking at multiple perspectives on key events, and they'll have the creative freedom to express those ideas in a variety of different ways.