Teaching Philosophy

Why I Teach

I teach in order to foster a learning opportunity for the students who happen to be in my classroom at a specific time and place. The reason I speak of my teaching in this fashion is because I believe that learning is fluid. I realize that I am only one person for one time in any learner’s educational life. I see myself as one stop on a learner’s journey. That sounds a bit abstract, but it is quite realistic. Assessing a learning situation for what it is: the setting, the students, the curriculum, etc. will enable me, the teacher, to make the best instructional decisions possible for that group of students at that time. These decisions are always changing because people are in a constant state of change. I find that if I Since I am a teacher who deeply believes in lifelong learning, I see myself as a stop on the journey. 

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What I Teach

I have been teaching the piano for over 30 years to students of all ages. I also have taught my own four children during their school years, kindergarten through high school. I have taught Spanish classes to high schoolers, middle schoolers, and elementary students. I have directed vocal music in the form of choirs to students ages 5-18. In my role at my current job, I teach math skills up to pre-algebra and English language skills through early college levels. Some of my students have emotional or learning disabilities, and some are English Language Learners. I enjoy working with students who think outside the box.

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How I Teach

My preferred method of teaching is a multisensory approach. By using this approach, all students can have an access point into the concept that is being taught. The access point can be kinesthetic, visual, auditory, or tactile. Another approach I use is the Orton Gillingham approach for teaching reading and writing. This approach uses explicit, structured instruction of the phonemic sounds of each English letter in order for students to be able to decipher the language. I find that this method can be beneficial for all students, but is especially helpful, even life-changing, for students with dyslexia or other Non- Specific Learning Differences. I also believe that every student has a “funds of knowledge” inside of them. It is part of my job, as a learning facilitator, to not only assist the student in finding that knowledge within themselves, but also using that knowledge to make connections with the new concepts that are being introduced.

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How I Assess

I am a self-reflective teacher. That means that while I am in the process of teaching, I am also paying attention to the “room”. I am making formative assessments by watching the facial expressions and body language of my students: do they look bored, confused? are they starting to get fidgety, pester their neighbor, or tap their desk? As I see this “feedback” from my students, I can then adjust as needed. Now, sometimes an adjustment needs to be big, like discarding an entire lesson plan, but sometimes it can just be doing an activity in a different order than what was planned. As for formal assessments, my preferred method is multisensory. That is, providing as many different types of assessments as possible so that students have a chance to provide me with as accurate a summary of their learning in a way that makes sense to them. This does not mean that I make multiple modes for one test (oral and written and visual), no; rather, I will try to make each assessment a different kind of assessment throughout the class, semester, or lesson for full access to all students.

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