I embrace teaching as an opportunity to challenge, inspire and empower. I find this is most successfully accomplished through inquiry-based learning and a constructivist approach in a caring, positive environment in which students feel safe to think and act critically, creatively, and independently. One of my primary priorities as an educator is to help students to realize their highest potentials, and become the best versions of themselves that they can be. It is most gratifying to me, and a mark of success when students master skills, learn to solve problems, and begin to apply their knowledge to a critical level. One example of this in film studies occurs when students draw connections between various films and cinema's global history, and attempt to adapt similar stylistic and narrative techniques in their own work.
I design lessons to provide “real-world” experiences and context, and involve relevant, hands-on, active learning.I believe learning is active and social and is enhanced by collaboration and interaction. Activities and assignments aim to empower students to work independently and in groups, and to critically evaluate texts; this also prepares them well for A-level, IGCSE and IB study in any discipline as they extend practical skills in the medium they work in. Whether in English or Film/Media classes, lessons are designed to prepare students with both knowledge and life skills for the demands of higher education, and to enter the workplaces of the 21st century.
I consistently model the characteristics and enthusiasm I wish my students to adopt. Traits I aspire to are (IB learner traits): inquirer, knowledgeable, a thinker, communicator, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-taker, balanced, and reflective.
I feel very fortunate to have the potential to interact with students at all stages of development and from all walks of life.Being an IB educator has helped me to gain a deeper intercultural understanding through relationships within the community and through intellectual studies. The inclusion of divergent cultures gives students access to information across the globe, creating a better understanding and appreciation of what makes us different. Students experience firsthand how tolerance, respect for equal rights, and ethical/moral issues can practiced and applied responsibly within a global society.
I am a strong advocate of service and volunteer projects. . Not only does this component offer students a holistic education, but it has enriched me as a teacher as well. Service projects I have been involved with have taken me from my own community to the most poverty stricken villages in the world. When we see a need and make the decision to take action, we can make a difference. Every change for good, no matter how small, is a step in changing the world.
I am a teacher who is forever a student; I teach because this journey as an educator challenges me to constantly evaluate my own thinking, charges my creativity, and pushes me to achieve academic excellence. Essentially I have become a better person, both personally and professionally, and more keenly aware of my role in the classroom, in society, and in the world.