Teaching Philosophy

I have spent the last 14 years as a research scientist in both academic and biotech settings. It has been an exciting career filled with many ups and downs, such as the thrill of solving problems and the frustration that comes with failed experiments. However, when I reflect on the years of scientific discoveries, completed projects, and academic achievement, my most rewarding experience as a science researcher has been the work of mentoring others. I find true joy in the unique and satisfying experience of watching a mentee successfully utilize skills that I encouraged in them - such as critical thinking, problem solving, and effective communication of their ideas. During these partnerships, I learned as much as I taught and these first-hand experiences have helped form the basic principles of my teaching philosophy.

 

Get to know your students and create a safe learning environment 

I believe that getting to know your students is critical to helping them realize who they are as learners, scientists and humans in this world. It also builds trust which can foster a feeling of safety that allows a learning partnership to form. It is my job as a teacher to connect with students through formal and informal check-ins such as empathy interviews or discussing weekend plans, in order to begin to build this partnership. 

 

As much as I can personally connect with students and make them feel safe and valued, learning will not effectively happen if the classroom culture does not reflect these ideals. Therefore, it is essential to also create a learning environment that is equitable, and promotes safety, tolerance, community and collaboration. To help create this environment, students will co-construct and help maintain classroom norms such as “sharing the air” and providing Kind, Specific and Helpful (KSH) feedback. In addition, I will play an active role by modeling empathy and tolerance by pausing before responding, acknowledging the contributions of all students and reminding the class of norms as needed. Academic safety and risk taking will also be encouraged through group work, peer review and rough draft thinking. And by acknowledging my own mistakes as a teacher, I will foster a communal learning environment; one in which I actively participate as a learner, not just the teacher. 

 

Present the course content in a relatable way to engage students and foster critical and scientific thinking

Each student has a unique fund of knowledge that needs to be accessed and built upon in order for deep understanding to occur. To access these student resources, I will ground lessons in student experiences and/or phenomena. Forming connections between students’ experiences or phenomena and a scientific concept, is a research-backed, powerful method to engage students, spark curiosity and promote long-term retention and transfer of knowledge. In-class experiences such as hands-on labs that bridge this pre-existing knowledge help reinforce this understanding. Therefore, learning by “doing” via detailed laboratory activities will be executed at every opportunity in my classroom. However, linking a topic with a creative and fun lab activity sometimes requires an extra measure of creativity; such as having students dust for and analyze fingerprints as a way to introduce mitosis (the process responsible for fingerprint ridge formation), but that is part of the challenge that I look forward to.

 

As students engage with content and “do” science I will also provide them with tools to begin to think critically and scientifically. The foundation of these practices begins with scientific literacy where students will be taught to analyze scientific text and data systematically and objectively. This type of thinking is inextricably linked to scientific thinking where students will develop and test hypotheses, analyze data, communicate results and revise models as needed. Learning how to approach any subject or situation with a critical, scientific lens will empower students to question information and validate sources and intentions. These skills 

have proved invaluable to me and it is an important part of my mission, as a teacher, to empower students by passing these skills on.

 

Be equitable and flexible and vary methods of presenting information and evaluating students’ understanding of that information

Regardless if students are tracked or not, each class will consist of a unique and diverse set of learners. As a high school teacher, I aim to meet students where they are and strive to give them tools and resources that support their individual level and learning style. This equitable approach to teaching will include Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies that make content accessible to as many students as possible, and multiple forms of assessment that reflect the unique assets of a diverse group of learners. Many UDL practices such as providing graphic organizers or having students engage in a Think-Pair-Share activity before a group discussion not only benefit all students, they also promote equity by providing the extra support needed by specific groups of learners such as emerging multilingual, visual, and neurodiverse learners. Additional scaffolds such as providing both written and oral instructions, chunking work, and using a passage of time clock, are all tools that support a variety of learners and I make it a habit to embed these tools into my practice.  

 

Just as students learn in different ways, students may also best demonstrate understanding in different ways. For this reason, I feel that it is important to give students multiple opportunities and methods by which to express their learning. Deep understanding of a concept can be represented in many forms, such as a graphical model, a flow chart or an essay, as long as students have a clear understanding of how they will be assessed. Therefore, it is important to have students co-construct rubrics and discuss high quality samples before they begin their own work. Students will also be encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas in partnerships and during group discussions. This not only fosters empathy and community, if sequenced in a thoughtful and deliberate manner, showcasing student work can facilitate the construction of collective understanding.