Academic Philosophy

Excerpt from the speech "Citizenship In A Republic"

delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910

It's not the critic that counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, who's face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

 ~Theodore Roosevelt

Here are some of the most important concepts I try to incorporate in my planning and teaching:

Rigor: a warm, safe and supportive environment does not mean easy. I will set high expectations for all of our family of learners at the same time, providing the necessary and varied support to ensure that each child is met where she is (what her specific needs are).

Fostering collaboration while celebrating individual thought: at the developmental stage of a five or six year old, I will encourage collaboration over competition so that we all benefit from the feedback and help each other improve – this is especially true for the second or third language learning piece where language development is absolutely dependent on constant feedback through use. That said, there are times and children with learning styles when individual thought or achievement will be embraced. Along the same lines, this will include resolving conflicts respectfully. That does not mean that our classroom will be a conflict-free zone. This is not realistic nor, in my opinion, helpful to learning the how to of dealing with conflict – a reality in our daily adult lives from before kindergarten. Mme. Beth will reinforce this among other important ideas about character.

Cultivating diversity as a resource: Cultivating diversity is not the same as taking a colorblind approach to teaching. We will celebrate and draw on the diverse backgrounds of students and staff through music, children’s literature, language, and age-appropriate current events. We won't shy away from conversations about race and culture. I try my best to ensure we weave in these conversations in all subjects, rather than doing a quick cultural tour around Chanukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. To this end, I want to learn as much I can about your young learners' diverse interests, talents, and backgrounds, and then incorporate in my planning throughout the year. Just as we approach learning French, our classroom goal is to see these differences as a privilege and assets to our learning and classroom family.

Listening to students: In an effort to continue to develop confidence as learners, your child will have regular opportunities to share their thoughts, make decisions, and reflect on their classroom experiences. Each year, I have the honor of watching their growth and truly feeling the importance of their participation. This includes both academic and social/developmental goals – students’ experiencing real participation in problem solving.

Promoting autonomy: continuing in a similar vein, autonomy gives students room to make choices and take responsibility for their learning. In kindergarten, this can look like:

·      Class meetings as opportunities for students to solve problems for themselves.

·      Classroom responsibilities

·      Developing and teaching routines where students are beginning to assess their own work. Example: What does Edan think about his own writing? Depending on the point in year it could be a simple checklist:

o   Conventions: started sentence with capital letter?

o   Organization: used ‘action word’/did you make the dragon do something (verb)?

o   Spelling/Phonics: while we will focus almost primarily on invented spelling or phonetic spelling, a student (depending on assignment) should always ask a peer, will have his printed phonics resource, pairing letter with a known image that begins with that sound.