Teaching Philosophy

I was never an enthusiastic science student. I was not bad at science; in fact, I was particularly good at physics and biology in high school, but I never found it particularly interesting to sit in a classroom taking notes on things that seemed intuitive. My first semester at Wellesley, I did not even take a science course; in spite of my own conviction that I was a pre-med student. During my first introductory biology class, I found that I loved being in the laboratory, but was far more interested in macrobiology, as opposed to molecular biology or genetics. My next few courses fueled that interest, and I found a particular interest in ecology and systems biology. I discovered teaching as an outlet for this enthusiasm at the Hunterdon County Summer Nature Program, where I had the opportunity to explore my excitement with campers. We learned about pond and stream ecology, watersheds, the water cycle, the food chain, wilderness survival, and many of them were so eager to learn that they returned each of the subsequent three years I spent as a counselor. Watching my campers grow and mature from summer to summer, and seeing their burgeoning interest in nature and science was one of my most fulfilling experiences. Since then, all I have wanted to do is teach. The end goal has changed a few times, from college professor to middle school to high school and back, but it has always been about reaching out and finding other people with whom to share my knowledge and my enthusiasm. I am excited to teach middle school science because the students are old enough to start doing real science and to begin to think critically and creatively about science. However, they are still young enough to have an unadulterated sense of wonder about the world. Tapping into that wonder is a fantastic way to keep students engaged and excited about learning science.


I want my classroom to be one that students are excited to come to every day. My goal is to inspire a love of learning, and specifically a love of learning science. Of course there are curriculum requirements and there is specific knowledge that will need to be presented and assessed, but primarily I want to create an environment open enough to nurture a love of science. Middle schoolers are naturally inquisitive, and this natural curiosity lends itself well to scientific exploration. I want my classroom to be fueled by experimental inquiry, allowing students the opportunity to ask questions and design their own methods for finding answers. I do not want to simply present information, but rather to give my students the tools to take information and to use it in creative ways. I want to create an environment where all of my students are actively engaged in the learning process, and in my mind this means that all of them should have opportunities to be creative contributors. This includes writing lesson plans that are flexible and can follow the lines of interest that become evident as class discussions unfold, and assigning projects that allow students to choose not only topics that they are interested in, but the format in which they want to present their information.


In order to engage students in this kind of active learning environment, it is important to keep things relevant. One way I have found of doing this is incorporating a “science current events” time into each week that connects what we are currently learning about in class to something going on in the real world. For instance, if we were talking about diseases, viruses, and communicability right now, a student could bring in an article about ebola. This could spark a discussion about how the virus spreads, how contagious it is, and how to read through the sensationalism of scientific news. Another way to keep students engaged in their learning is to allow them choices whenever possible. Choice of topics, presentation methods, group sizes. One example of this would be a final project I designed for a unit on plant reproduction. The students all had to explain pollinator-plant relationships, but they were allowed to present this information as a story, a model, a comic book, a poster, or a more traditional report. The quality of products I received from this assignment was fantastic because they were each able to complete the task using their own strengths. Another way to keep students engaged in their learning is to allow them choices whenever possible. Choice of topics, presentation methods, group sizes.


Another important way to maintain a positive learning environment is to use multiple methods of assessment. Not every assessment has to be formal, and informal assessments are a good way to gauge students’ progress without putting too much pressure on them to perform. I personally really like journals as a way to see where students are, allowing them to reflect on what they understand and what they are still curious about or confused about. These can also be as simple as walking around a room during group work with a checklist, making sure everyone is participating, or having informal chats with students in class about how they are doing. It is also important to give varied formal assessments, including tests and quizzes, but also projects, presentations, and performance-based assessments in which students have to think more critically about their knowledge and use it in creative ways to connect larger concepts. Assessments should encourage students to use their knowledge, not just spit out facts.

In addition to engagement, presentation, and assessment, good teaching requires many personal important personal qualities. The best teacher I have had was one of my college Biology professors. She was a tough grader and demanded excellence from her students, but she was also compassionate and approachable. We always felt like we were real people to her and that we were allowed to have fun and be inquisitive or to be fragile and ask for help. I want to be able to maintain a balance of having high expectations, but also understanding that students have internal and external lives separate from school, and that every student is going to need some extra attention every once in a while. I once had a seventh grade student plagiarize a good portion of a lab report. I sat down with her, and the highlighted plagiarized portion of her lab report, and explained to her why it was unacceptable to plagiarize. At first she did not quite understand, and it took her a couple of tries to get the assignment to a point where I could accept it for credit, but it was not out of laziness or malice, she just did not understand what plagiarism was and why changing the wording and citing your source made it okay to use the information. Allowing students make mistakes and not feel like every mistake is a failure is crucial to enabling them to learn and grow, instead of memorize and promptly forget.

Beyond my professional interest in education, I simply enjoy spending time with middle school aged children. I find their creativity and excitement to be contagious, and I find myself engaging more fully in life when I have students challenging my perceptions on a daily basis, both in the classroom and outside the classroom.  I see teaching as a way for me to not only engage students with scientific material, but also to continue to be a lifelong learner.