Personal Teaching Philosophy:
Imagine a science class where students collect insects from their own garden. Their challenge is to prove how many lifecycle stages the insect completes, and design the most effective strategy to minimize the pest’s impact. Regardless, the potatoes served for lunch are delicious.
Whether I challenge my students to manipulate real populations of insects or make cheese to investigate the properties of enzymes, learning is authentic and empowers my students to become well-informed and thoughtful citizens.
In my classroom students are eager to learn. By recognizing that education should be a time of curiosity, exploration, and inquiry, students take ownership of their learning and gain practical skills and scientific knowledge that they will exercise for the rest of their lives. Whether it is growing food for under-served individuals or investigating the impacts of invasive species, my students have engaged in inquiry, while providing solutions within their communities.
I believe we should educate the next generation of students to be happy, healthy, and inspired humans who are ready to better the world for future generations. Rather than live separately from nature, we must live in harmony with it and foster symbiotic relationships. We must rise above individualism and replace it with a planetary consciousness that is concerned with the Earth as an organism rather than a machine or a possession. It is with this mindset that I design curriculum for my students, which promotes thinking in terms of systems and connects environment, economy and social equity to their lives.
I see no greater purpose in teaching science than to engage youth and become partners in discovery to solve real environmental and social problems. I attempt to unite my instructional delivery, curriculum design and classroom management approaches to craft engaging learning experiences for all of my students.
Whether I challenge my students to manipulate real populations of insects or make cheese to investigate the properties of enzymes, learning is authentic and empowers my students to become well-informed and thoughtful citizens.
In my classroom students are eager to learn. By recognizing that education should be a time of curiosity, exploration, and inquiry, students take ownership of their learning and gain practical skills and scientific knowledge that they will exercise for the rest of their lives. Whether it is growing food for under-served individuals or investigating the impacts of invasive species, my students have engaged in inquiry, while providing solutions within their communities.
I believe we should educate the next generation of students to be happy, healthy, and inspired humans who are ready to better the world for future generations. Rather than live separately from nature, we must live in harmony with it and foster symbiotic relationships. We must rise above individualism and replace it with a planetary consciousness that is concerned with the Earth as an organism rather than a machine or a possession. It is with this mindset that I design curriculum for my students, which promotes thinking in terms of systems and connects environment, economy and social equity to their lives.
I see no greater purpose in teaching science than to engage youth and become partners in discovery to solve real environmental and social problems. I attempt to unite my instructional delivery, curriculum design and classroom management approaches to craft engaging learning experiences for all of my students.
