Philosophy of Education

My Philosophy of Education:

• Differentiation: Every student has special learning needs and can benefit from differentiated lessons.

• Ex: Multiple entry point activities, hands-on group activities, stations at varying levels

• Holistic Education: Each person finds identity, meaning, and purpose in life through connections to the community, to the natural world, and to humanitarian values such as compassion and peace. I believe that we are responsible for nurturing the entire person.

• Ex: Relating lessons to real life examples relevant to students, engaging the community in the school, bringing in guest teachers from the community, community based projects such as planting a community garden, etc.

• Success: Every student is capable of being successful when they have their own definition of success. Each person has unique strengths and areas of need. If we use these qualities to set personalized goals, every student can succeed.

• Ex: Increasing reading level by 2 levels by the midpoint of the year- reassess goal when necessary

• Growth Mindset: I strongly believe in the power of growth mindset. Everyone has the potential and ability to grow. Believing that our abilities are evolving and not predetermined gives students the motivation to persevere and takes away some of the fear of failure.

• Ex: Students tend to believe that they “just aren’t a _____ person” (insert any subject in that space). Whether it be math, geography, athletic, artistic, etc. We need to change this mindset in order to see improvements in student success.