EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
I believe that education should equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful as individuals, on their own terms, and to be participants in their communities. A successful education is not one that teaches a child what to think, but how to think, for both the personal satisfaction of learning and growing, and the civic responsibilities that come along with membership in the human community.
Teachers should strive to bring out the very best in their individual students, and help each child realize his or her own potential and own dreams. At the same time, teachers should prepare students to live in a broader world, exposing them to new ideas and the diversity of the human experience while giving them the concrete tools they need as citizens of their towns, nations, and world.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
I graduated as valedictorian in high school before going on to attend Harvard University. There, I completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Government.
I have loved learning since I was very small, and have always wanted to be a teacher, so while at Harvard I completed the Undergraduate Teacher Education Program through the Graduate School of Education in preparation to receive a Massachusetts Teaching License.
My continuing education as an education professional includes training for AP US History through an approved College Board summer institute; training in Project CRISS (Creating Independence through Student-owned Strategies); and continuing education in the field of history through the American History Teachers’ Collaborative.
I am currently enrolled in a program to receive an authorization through UCLA and the State of California as a Certified Teacher of English Learners.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
I have worked with students from grades K-12 in several professional capacities. As a high school social studies teacher, I taught year-long courses in US history and AP US history, and semester courses in American government and sociology. As a student teacher, I provided both teacher support and primary instruction for 7th and 8th grade students in a humanities (combined English Language Arts and History) classroom.
Currently, I work as a teaching assistant for K-5 students with autism, providing both one-on-one instruction in a separate classroom and inclusion service in general education. In addition, I have worked as a volunteer teacher in after school and summer programs.
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
While in college, I helped to expand a program in which college students provide after school and weekend classes for middle and high school students. I taught classes in government and English, and oversaw the expansion of the program through recruiting and training teachers and publicizing to area schools. I was also a volunteer civics teacher for area elementary schools in college, and became the director for our summer program to provide civics lessons to children (ages 5-13) at several Boston and Cambridge summer camps.
