Overview of Teaching

Introduction

Corey Begay was a Navajo student that grew up without parents in a trailer-home with multiple siblings. Corey had a violent background and a history of exposure to drug and alcohol abuse. Corey had been in and out of foster care and correctional facilities from a young age.

Philipe Charak was a Brazilian 19 year old with plans to join the Israeli military and was the heir to some of the wealthiest families in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

Hunter Davis grew up in Juneau, Alaska and proudly stated that he was never going to leave; Hunter had a salmon fishing boat and, at 19, already made more money than me in a year. 

What all three of these students have in common is that they had me as a teacher, and I had to convince them that my curriculum mattered. This is what sets me apart from other applicants as I have experience fostering purpose in my teaching within groups that may not see the initial benefit.  To explain why this matters I can start with a quote from Martha C. Nussbaum, "We tell stories about the lives of others, we learn how to imagine what another creature might feel in response to various events. At the same time, we identify with the other creature and learn something about ourselves." Having a diverse teaching background allows me to enter a new classroom open to possibilities while simultaneously recognizing potential.  Having a diverse student body has given me the tools to reach a variety of students and help motivate them to their full potential. I have had to differentiate for a multitude of learning styles making my classroom adaptable and dynamic. What follows is a general overview of my teaching experience, philosophy, and style.

Philosophy

I believe that teaching is not something given to a student but rather is cultivated and fostered out of them.  Students need to be in the right environment and given the right materials to flourish. Therefore, it is a teachers job to facilitate inspiration towards life-long learning, or in the words of Paulo Freire, "liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transfers of information." I also believe that teaching has the capacity to make a global citizen more empathetic and engaged with an ever changing world. 

Overview of Experience

To see an overview of my experience please refer to my CV found by following this link

To summarize: I have a diverse teaching background.  The university would be most interested in my work with the IB DP Language and Literature curriculum which I helped establish in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  An overview of this curriculum can be found by following this link. 

Furthermore, since your job posting asks for experience with thesis work, the university would be interested in my work as a supervisor for the IB DP Extended Essay which can be found by following this link.

Beyond this, as subject area leader I am also in charge of developing a linear curriculum and training new staff with engaging teaching practices. 

I continually try to get my literature classroom outside of the classroom engaging with a dynamic environment. This stems from my previous experience grounded in the philosophy of Kurt Hahn and my work in mountain environments. I can bring these outside elements into the community alongside literature instruction.

Students on the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro

My Approach and What My Classroom Looks Like

When I completed my MA in teaching I focused on student centered learning that empowered and valued their diverse backgrounds. I mainly studied Paulo Freire and The Pedagogy of the Oppressed to try to make sure that learning was not educational banking, but cultivated from the students.  Therefore my classroom utilizes the Harkness Method for instruction.  Before we read, I  give students discussion questions that they have to personally answer and submit before the class meets.  This insures that students have thought about the text and made a personal connection before they come to class.  I do not assess the correctness of these answers but assess the students ability to engage with the text. 

An example of discussion questions I assigned for Cormac McCarthy's The Road:

1. What is different about the style he writes compared to other novels? Give 2 examples to support

2. Are there such things as "bad guys" in this new world? What about in our world? 

3. Is it child abuse to leave the bunker they find with all the food to go back on the road again? Why?

4. How does Baudrillard's simulation relate to the reading of The Road?

Then students come to class and should be ready to discuss their answers.  I grade their discussion questions and their participation in the discussion quiz.  Regardless of whether or not I agree with their opinion, I mark their understanding of the text, thus allowing a diverse set of voices to be heard and students to engage with one another. 

Below you can see my notes concerning the Harkness discussion quiz. Normally I draw a line if a student engages another student, write an "O" if they express a solid opinion, a star for a good point, a "Q" if they ask the class a question, and an "R" if they reference the text. This gives me a good understanding on who is keeping up with the reading and engaging with the text while not having the assessment be teacher centered 

I am also aware of the challenges concerning "Zoom" and attempting to get students to come to class and engage in discussions when virtual classrooms are an option.  Having the discussion as a formative grade allows for an incentive to physically come to class and also engage with other students so it is not just the teacher talking.  

The Harkness Method is the backbone of my teaching but is not my summative assessment. Summative assessment can take a variety of forms; recorded thesis defense, thesis essay, or debate. An example of a summative assessment for a student analyzing The Road can be found by following this link. This student got the equivalent of a "B\C" for his analysis. 

Goals and Future Development

In my cover letter I stated goals I would like to continue at the University. 

To focus on pedagogical goals; I would like to research and implement student centered assessment that integrates technological and online platforms. When I worked as a high school teacher in Alaska, we lost funding for our creative writing magazine; coming up with a solution I moved to an online platform which you can find at this link.  This is now a decade old, and aimed at 12th grade, but I have seen similar done at a higher level. 

Pedagogical Development That I Have Worked With

For the last decade I have been training and working within the IB program. I have taken leadership trainings with them and have progressed into a leadership position and curriculum development. 

My pedagogical MA in teaching is from the University of Alaska Southeast, and you can find details of the requirements for this degree at this link

   Experience with different teaching methods and digital platforms

I think the largest skill is being able to evolve and stay flexible.  I have used everything from Facebook, Managebac, Google Classroom, and YouTube. Every school that I have taught at has a different platform and sometimes we have switched mid-year. Therefore, the key is to be adaptable.  During the pandemic I taught online with Microsoft Teams and took classes with Zoom. Normally I can adapt quickly.

Feedback From Students

I listed Stella Marie as a reference on my CV if you would like to get a primary source on my teaching.

However, I received the following email in February this year and it reflects my impact on students: The link