Teaching Philosophy
I teach because I think it is one of the best ways to make an environmental impact that expands beyond what one person is capable of accomplishing on their own. By being a teacher I can instill responsibility and a call to action in my students to actively take part in environmental issues as they grow into their adolescence and adulthood. I think this position is especially important to get “right” due to the impact that you will have on these students for years to come.
My teaching philosophy mostly stems from that of Waldorf education, which I was a part from 1st through 8th grade. This education style focuses on hands-on learning that incorporates arts and creativity to create a holistic and well-rounded student as a result. We facilitate incorporation of the arts into the curriculum through an activity called “sit spots”, in which the student sits within nature in silence for 15 minutes and then is given a journal to draw what they saw. This tactic gives the child the ability to wonder and build curiosity about nature and look deeper into the previously unnoticed parts of the habitat they are exploring. In the students application of these observations into their journal entries and drawings they can deepen their observations and familiarity with the Mt. Pisgah Arboretum plants and animals. Another component of Waldorf that I incorporate is the celebration and cultivation of different learning styles. In a particular instance, a child was having difficulties staying with the group and remaining engaged with the lesson. I learned then that a traditional approach was not going to be beneficial for this student. I did what I could for the rest of the trip but later as the rest of the children circled up I sat with them as they were not comfortable participating in the gratitude circle. We sat on a rock and they pointed to what looked like a Coyote scat. Through the utilization of thoughtful questioning we came to the fact that it was probably Coyote scat because of the hair in it. After that they began to notice how the grass was pushed down in different patterns, the student was able to track a Coyote all around the area! Using this approach I was able to learn with instead of teach at this student which is what seemed to work best for them. This was an incredible learning experience for me. Going further I like to use a style that breaks down the usual teacher-student power dynamic. This involves, allowing the student to share their own knowledge to teach a lesson whenever possible. This style of teaching allows for student to feel more in charge of their own education and therefore more prideful and motivated to educate themselves on their own volition. The dynamics of education are shifting away from spoon-feeding information. Although there are times when this works, we desperately need to begin using different learning strengths. This will include a much wider range of students and individual-based learning, allowing each student to feel successful and active within their own education. Teaching ReflectionsPersonal Reflection Through my time in the Environmental Leadership Program I was able to grow into a leader and educator who can effectively teach to educational goals in the form of a fun and interactive curriculum. I think some of the biggest lessons I learned were in the realm of the set-up. It is crucial to the lesson to ensure students to know the importance of why they were learning the information I was giving them. In the context of something like “sit-spots,” effective framing before allows the student to get the most out of the experience. In the beginning I felt that I was teaching in more of a reactionary way, I did not set up activities effectively and then had to react to the ramifications of having left out details that left the students confused. I learned after receiving feedback from myself and my peers and implementing the new methods that activites went so much smoother if I ensure to give all the information before losing the attention of the students. Another valuable lesson that I have taken from this is that perfection is not an attainable goal when educating. I found that students can really pick up on when you are stressed out because one thing went wrong. In the long run they don’t know how the activity was “supposed” to go and as long as they learn something and have a good time, the trip was successful. In the beginning I found that I would get thrown off by the smallest thing not going to plan, that one thing not going right would seep into the effectiveness of my teaching in the other activities as well. What I got and implemented from this is that when something is not going according to plan, which is unavoidable, allow it to roll right off and do the best with what you have in the moment. A stressed teacher cannot create an environment that is fun and educational. Along those lines the final thing that I learned and perhaps one of the last things that I was able to finally implement was caring for myself while teaching. In the beginning I would go out with the kids and put my whole heart and all of my energy into the students I was teaching. I would then leave Mt. Pisgah exhausted and depleted. I found this to be a very unsustainable model. In the last couple of weeks I was able to find the balance between giving students the attention that they needed for a good lesson and also taking care of what energy I needed to reserve for myself in order to not leave myself feeling unwell. This is incredibly important to learn for the sake of longevity in teaching, this program is a short 10 weeks and if I were curious in pursuing something more long term in education then taking care of yourself is one of the most important things for not only you as a teacher but the students you teach as well. Summary of Feedback During my time teaching the most prominent feedback I received was around instruction and ensuring that each student felt they had a purpose in order to keep their attention. It was when I was administering an activity in which I taught a group of 3rd graders how to use binoculars that this lesson really became apparent. The first time that I taught them I just gave 5 students the binoculars and told them the instructions, not realizing that this fully alienated the other 5 students in the group. They would not listen and I felt that the activity was disorganized. I received feedback from the teacher who was accompanying me on my trip that the others needed a task. The next time I did this activity I paired up each student and told them that they all were responsible for the instructions in that the next to use the binoculars would have to be able to do it without me teaching them. This worked much better, they were all focused and the activity went so much smoother. Now with this particular example I have noticed the change in my groups when I give everyone a job or thing to focus on. I feel when the children are in charge of their own education they are more likely to be engaged. I believe now that children need to have agency in their learning for them to learn the lessons better. This shows up as diffusing the power dynamic by have other students teach about certain subjects they know a lot about and using questioning to spur a more self directed mode of learning information. In the creation of our fourth grade curriculum we received a lot of really helpful feedback from Jenny Laxton with Mt. Pisgah Arboretum. The lesson that came through the strongest is that simplicity is our friend. We began with the usual excitement and energy of fresh new curriculum developers with mile long descriptions of how to administer each intricate activity. It was not until we were actually on the trails that we fully realized the truth of the fact that the simpler the better. If you create a core routine or activity that is too complicated the teacher and therefore the students get lost the convoluted mess of it. We took this feedback and implemented it into our curriculum. This allows the teacher and students to make each experience unique to the situation at hand. The simplicity allows time in the schedule to follow students interests and to react to truly unique experiences that one could not anticipate in the writing of the activities. Summary of evaluations from project leads We received feedback from our project manager Aimee Okotie-Oyekan and our program director Katie Lynch based around framing and how little it takes to set up a good frame. This is about being proactive than reactive. I felt that in the beginning it was difficult for me to “set the scene” essentially to allow the students to feel as though what they were doing really meant something. Like with the restoration projects for instance. Being sure to tie in their focal species and focal habitat into that is a good way to bring the whole lesson together. Katie also used the example of using the scientist framing to make the students realize that what they are doing is really applicable to the real world. The way that they make observations and record data is truly a part of the scientific process. This makes the lessons feel more cohesive than just a bunch of activities strung together. |