Teaching Philosophy
I believe that education plays a crucial role in any healthy community. As a teacher, I see my role as ensuring my students have an equal opportunity for learning and success, both in school and in life. Students must surely master content, but to become life-long learners they must also become excited by and engaged in their own learning. They must see the possibilities and believe in their own ability to achieve; I see my role as a facilitator to help them build and work toward realizing their goals.
A feeling of respect and safety is paramount in my classroom, as true participation requires trust and calls for a tremendous amount of risk on the part of the student. With creative and individualized motivational strategies, I work to engage students in the learning process and foster their natural curiosity and love of learning. As a teacher, I believe my role is to craft learning experiences with meticulous attention to each student’s zone of proximal development. With appropriate scaffolding, every child can learn and achieve and it is with these careful steps that confidence, engagement, and a positive sense of self-efficacy can return to the learner.
While supporting students, I also firmly believe in the need to develop responsible and independent learners. I work from a strengths-based perspective and work with my students so that they fully understand and leverage their strengths, as well as address their areas of weakness. I ask my students to play a large role in their own education and I work hard to help students see their own limitless potentials, as well as understand their responsibility in making their own dreams come true. Woven into my curriculum are elements of self-assessment, as well as planning and reflection. Meta-cognition is the key to success for so many struggling learners and as such, it plays a key role in how I organize my classroom and design my lessons. I encourage students to play an active role not only in developing goals, but often in the assessment process as well. With this approach, multiple steps become a team-effort, including recording progress, strategizing and problem-solving when progress is slow, and celebrating successes. As students take a more active role in their education, they become energized by their own potential and they develop the communication and self-advocacy skills so critical for success academically and beyond.
In addition to research-based instructional methods, I must also utilize a broad array of communication and collaborative skills every day. In order to be most effective, special education teachers must understand the importance of team building in truly supporting learners. I believe that parents and guardians are vitally important in creating a successful learning team and I strive to build trust and strong relationships with both students and families. My fellow teachers within the school are also a critical part of the learning team and I have found that thoughtful communication, together with collegial support, can result in motivated and successful teaching teams. I am continually learning from my peers and I welcome dialogue and resource sharing to improve learning outcomes for all students.
I believe that education can be transformative and I strive to remove barriers to learning. I wish to help students build not only the knowledge and skills for academic success, but also the self-awareness, independence and sense of responsibility required for success beyond the classroom. To better understand the world around you and to realize your own power within that world –that is a gift everyone should be granted and one I hope to share with each student with which I have the honor of working.
A feeling of respect and safety is paramount in my classroom, as true participation requires trust and calls for a tremendous amount of risk on the part of the student. With creative and individualized motivational strategies, I work to engage students in the learning process and foster their natural curiosity and love of learning. As a teacher, I believe my role is to craft learning experiences with meticulous attention to each student’s zone of proximal development. With appropriate scaffolding, every child can learn and achieve and it is with these careful steps that confidence, engagement, and a positive sense of self-efficacy can return to the learner.
While supporting students, I also firmly believe in the need to develop responsible and independent learners. I work from a strengths-based perspective and work with my students so that they fully understand and leverage their strengths, as well as address their areas of weakness. I ask my students to play a large role in their own education and I work hard to help students see their own limitless potentials, as well as understand their responsibility in making their own dreams come true. Woven into my curriculum are elements of self-assessment, as well as planning and reflection. Meta-cognition is the key to success for so many struggling learners and as such, it plays a key role in how I organize my classroom and design my lessons. I encourage students to play an active role not only in developing goals, but often in the assessment process as well. With this approach, multiple steps become a team-effort, including recording progress, strategizing and problem-solving when progress is slow, and celebrating successes. As students take a more active role in their education, they become energized by their own potential and they develop the communication and self-advocacy skills so critical for success academically and beyond.
In addition to research-based instructional methods, I must also utilize a broad array of communication and collaborative skills every day. In order to be most effective, special education teachers must understand the importance of team building in truly supporting learners. I believe that parents and guardians are vitally important in creating a successful learning team and I strive to build trust and strong relationships with both students and families. My fellow teachers within the school are also a critical part of the learning team and I have found that thoughtful communication, together with collegial support, can result in motivated and successful teaching teams. I am continually learning from my peers and I welcome dialogue and resource sharing to improve learning outcomes for all students.
I believe that education can be transformative and I strive to remove barriers to learning. I wish to help students build not only the knowledge and skills for academic success, but also the self-awareness, independence and sense of responsibility required for success beyond the classroom. To better understand the world around you and to realize your own power within that world –that is a gift everyone should be granted and one I hope to share with each student with which I have the honor of working.