I love teaching when I can observe the “light bulbs” of learning starting to light up in my students around the classroom: The visible glow in students’ eyes that denote making real-world connections to content and terminology that initially seemed distantly abstract. I mark these moments as teaching mile markers and habitually reflect on the vectors which led us to arrive successfully at each point so that I may recreate the journey again and again.  

I believe that education is the conduit through which students of all ages can fundamentally provide for themselves the opportunities that will increase their sense of worth academically, socially and economically. My educational philosophy embraces a foundation based in the ideologies of Progressivism that fundamentally exhorts that students should be encouraged as independent thinkers, creative beings, and expressive about their feelings. I believe that the inquisitive, active learning style of children must be optimized and that all children from all backgrounds, social and economic environments, have within them the capacity to learn and can learn to whatever degree realistically obtainable.  In my classroom, I  emphasize reading and promote the ideology that reading is essential to skill-building and problem-solving strategies.  

 I believe that every student brings into my classroom various perspectives, attitudes, and knowledge base that, with structured and interdisciplinary scaffolding coupled with their life experiences, can be developed into strategies that will lead to a successful academic experience and a rewarding life.  I believe that expecting the absolute best of my students and giving my best as a teacher is essential for establishing an effective teacher/student relati onship. This relationship incorporates positions of respect, empathy, and discipline enveloped in trust.