TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Teachers. Students. Parents.

TEACHER

A good teacher will make a personal connection with every student (or endeavor to do so) to be able to relate to students as young adults. Once this rapport is built, the teacher will foster this trust and security in the classroom by being "real"--acknowledging mistakes, letting students see her Googling an answer to some unknown factoid, and sharing with the class what she is personally learning/reading at any given time. 

     This emotional comraderie will allow the teacher to facilitate effective small group activities and begin to incorporate blended learning strategies to further engage students. Furthermore, the rapport also allows the teacher to differentiate the instruction based on official and unofficial "labels" to best meet the needs of all learners.

STUDENT

The student should be working toward owning his own learning. This translates to a growing prowess in being a self-advocate, checking grades and online content independently, and slowly developing skills that will help him be a lifelong learner.

     While I am compassionate to my student's needs, they can be sure that once I offer clear expectations and a realistic timeline, they will be held accountable for meeting those expectations. 

PARENT

Parents are an integral part in the learning process. I seek to engage parents in their child's learning by communicating regularly about general class happenings (weekly Newsletters are sent home even in high school!) and, more specifically, sending progress reports when grades have been updated. I keep things to bulleted lists when possible to respect parents' time and make it easier for them to follow-up with their kiddos. 

     When possible, I will 3-way call with a parent and student so we can all be in agreement about what needs to happen going forward and what each of our roles will be to see the student is successful.