My Philosophy
For as much analyzing and attention to words the teachers of English / Language Arts are credited for, they curiously oftentimes forget what their ‘job title’ entails. The teaching of language, of literacy, is a forgotten, well, art. Every student has an innate artistic ability—with words, with pictures, with music, with homerun hits—yet those gifts are hardly tapped in the classroom. I see in my life untapped potential that should have been released years ago. When I think about how I could have creatively changed my life (where I would be, what I would be doing) I immediately see all that I could have been: an artist, actor, or graphic designer. I play all of these roles in my head; their combination is unique to my body, my mind. Because I have chosen to be an educator does not mean I need to forsake my other qualities. Students should understand that they play more roles than just that of knowledge receptacle. It is through their curiosity, and their willingness to explore the possibilities in life, that students will genuinely learn. Classes in English / Language Arts, and every other subject, should be used to introduce students to what is expected of them—by their peers and by themselves—and how they can individually meet those expectations.
I have a furiously creative mind, and I try to share it daily with my students. Traditional, non-traditional, and new wave teaching practices cannot succeed without working minds propelling their instruction. There are practices that work from every school of thought concerning the teaching of English … and many practices that do not work. They need to be used with care in order to reach as many students as possible. A tool I rely on to accomplish this is technology, that giant umbrella that extends over books, pens, computers, and film. It is not false or astute of me to say that students learn differently—more visually—than they have before, and I am right there with them. Starting public school with Oregon Trail and ending it with YouTube has made me realize how much I have changed, or adapted, how I learn. I use every means possible to unlock the minds of my students, and I know that can no longer be accomplished strictly through the oral tradition. Students need something more.
Not that throwing hardware and big, unwieldy pedagogical tactics at kids will do them any good. They do not need more stuff; they need more support. Making my way through high school, I rarely invested in my work, unless, of course, my teacher responded to it positively. Nothing was more important to me during those years than to have someone genuinely appreciate my voice and my creativity. As a teacher, I look for ways to inspire students who not only need the inspiration, but the attention. For as much as teens love putting webcam videos of their emotions on YouTube and sharing their writing on Wattpad for others to see, they still require our approval. An expert’s expertise. A teacher’s talent. That is why I will not forsake a student’s written wit for bland, SAT-ready writing. I would rather grade a paper with beautiful wordplay than one with beautiful grammar, but lacking in life. It is my responsibility to these students as human beings to value their awkwardness, insightfulness, creativeness, and fearlessness. As a teacher, it is my sole lot in life to inspire lifelong learning by being passionate about writing (even the soulless aspects of it, like grammar). And as a student myself, it is my joy to discover and learn new things everyday from truly individual individuals.
