Those who come to observe my classroom will never find me seated at the head of the room before rows of passive listeners. I prefer to arrange my desks in a circle and join my students in structured discussions about the topic at hand. Preferring the Socratic method to lecturing, I try to lead my students to construct their own knowledge in an environment that encourages curiosity, innovation, and trust.
Ideas for compositions are generated through our readings and in class discussions. While I suggest a general topic for the essays, the students are free to pursue subjects that are particularly inspiring or interesting to them.
We begin writing weeks ahead of the due date, starting with discovery drafts, incorporating more and more revision as the paper progresses. I have found that creative and critical thinking can conflict in the early stages of writing since close editing often inhibits the generation of ideas. Therefore, I encourage students to use alternative methods of brainstorming or free writing followed by clustering, outlining, and other organizational strategies. Students share their drafts in small groups, and, with feedback they receive from me and their peers, they revise these papers in intensive writing workshops.
My teaching methods reflect my belief in the value of a student-centered classroom. In my experience, students learn best when they feel they have a personal investment in their own education. Therefore, I encourage students to contribute to the content covered in selected units. Together we set goals and timelines, and—when appropriate—we even collaborate on establishing scoring rubrics. This approach allows for authentic assessments, and I have used portfolios and student contracts with success in courses at all grade levels.
I actively practice differentiated instruction, and I am constantly looking for ideas and approaches that will enable me to meet the specific needs of each individual. In fact, this challenge—the task of continually adjusting to the changing demands of different learners—is what makes the teaching profession most rewarding to me, since no two days are ever the same. My lesson plans reflect the larger curricular objectives of any given unit, but with a degree of flexibility that allows for genuine learning that derives from enthusiasm and student-generated momentum.
A long-time advocate for writing across the curriculum, I incorporate an interdisciplinary approach whenever possible. This has resulted in many rewarding team teaching experiences involving units that satisfy requirements in multiple disciplines simultaneously. During my tenure at Escola Americana, the Headmaster (then Ted Sharp) nominated me to spearhead the creation of a Humanities program in 9th and 10th grades. At first, the curriculum combined instruction in World Literature and World History, focusing fairly narrowly on these two subject areas. In successive years, an effort was made to pull in the arts, technology, and the sciences for a more comprehensive interdisciplinary experience.
I have been trained in experiential education, and I employ the core ideas of the program in my teaching methods. In this model, reflection and processing become key components of the communication loop. Using this approach, I have had students do artistic renderings of their impressions of a poem and then write an exploratory essay on why they chose certain symbols or colors to represent a particular text. The culminating experience is an exhibition featuring visual arts inspired by literature.
While I enjoy adding innovative elements like these to my teaching methodology, I have a solid foundation in best teaching practices. I was the lead writer during the English curriculum review, and I am well-versed in US national standards and benchmarks. In addition, I have made a concerted effort to stay up-to-date with technological innovations, and I have taught in a networked classroom environment have mastered a number of curriculum mapping programs.
Ultimately, as a teacher I am necessarily always a student, and the constant sense of discovery and self-reflection is what makes teaching so rewarding to me.