Philosophy of Education

• All children deserve to feel safe, welcomed and loved in their classroom–despite race, ethnicity, language, gender or socioeconomic background. We should appreciate the things we have in common and celebrate the things that make us unique.

• Children learn best when constructing their own knowledge through inquiry-driven, hands-on activities and investigations. As a teacher, I challenge my students with a variety of meaningful learning experiences that relate what they discover in the classroom to what they already know. 

• As a teacher, I am never done learning. I am reflective, continually evaluating my instruction and the results in order to make changes as needed. I will continue to educate myself on the latest research-based practices and also work to identify and eliminate my own personal biases. 

LITERACY

Reading has always been a magical time in my classroom. You'll find kids snuggled up with pillows and stuffed animals--completely engrossed in a book, laughing or talking with a friend about what they've read.  Reading opens so many doors for children and is the key to all other learning. I hope to instill a love for reading in my students that will stay with them for the rest of their lives!

My primary literacy instruction includes: 

• A strong foundation of phonological awareness that encourages children to hear and manipulate the sounds in words. Activities include songs, poems, and explicit activities in which children rhyme, blend, segment and isolate phonemes.

• Systematic and sequential phonics instruction based on the SCIENCE OF READING that teaches children the relationship between letters, sounds and words.

• Ongoing assessments to drive instruction and meet children where they are. 

• Flexible strategy groups and individual reading conferences to help children practice their skills and deepen comprehension. 

• Interactive read-alouds in which students develop higher-level comprehension skills including predicting, making connections and inferencing. 

• Access to books with diverse characters in which students can see themselves and learn about others. 

• Integration of reading and writing into math, science and social studies.