I believe that all children have the right to a quality education that will provide them with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities that will help them to make smart and fulfilling choices about their futures. I believe that all students should feel respected and that they are an integral part of the school culture. I believe that all children, when engaged and invested in their own education, can and will achieve.
I believe education is a preparatory experience. As educators we are preparing students to make important choices about their futures, not just preparing them to pass tests or get good grades. I think education should be about more than learning facts and mastering basic skills; it should be about helping children to build character and become decent human beings who will contribute to society. I believe we need to help students see a long-term view of their potential and the impact their choices have on their futures.
My Story
I decided to become a teacher in the third grade. I'd always enjoyed school, and I loved my teachers, but it was my third grade teacher - Mr. Padula - who influenced me to think of teaching as a career. I feel so fortunate that I always had that vision of who I would become - it was always a clear path for me. And my first years of teaching were spent following the path that I had envisioned. I loved teaching, I loved working with kids, and I felt very fulfilled by my job.
Fast forward to my children starting school. I have twin boys, and school has always been a struggle for them. We placed them in a preschool that valued play and social interaction over academics, and I am happy we made that choice for them. However, it meant they started kindergarten without some basic skills (read: they weren't yet reading and writing when they started kindergarten!) To complicate matters, we enrolled them in the bilingual immersion school where I was teaching at the time. The program was solid, and I fully believe in it, but in hindsight, I don't think it was the best for my kids. My sons repeated kindergarten - at the recommendation of their teacher, but fully supported by my husband and myself. It helped, but they still struggled. I was providing a lot of support at home, and I continued to do so (and continue to do so now as they're navigating their way through remedial college courses.) I suspected for awhile that they might have a learning disability, but the second language requirements of the immersion program made it hard to say for sure -- was it a disability or was it the language? When they were in the fourth grade I requested a special education evaluation. My instincts were right: they were identified as having a disability, and they received IEPs. Those IEPs provided them with the support and advocacy they needed to be successful at school, but they still struggled and I still continued to re-teach lessons at home. It bonded the three of us, but it left me feeling that our educational system was letting them down. That feeling intensified while they were in high school, and the focus on college readiness pushed them into classes they were not engaged in or able to be successful in without intensive support. They graduated from high school thinking they must have a college degree to get good jobs, when in reality there are other good options out there that high school didn’t introduce them to.
So my beliefs come largely from my experience with my own children, which I see reflected in so many of my own students. Working side by side with my sons who struggled through school, I am able to relate to my students who face similar struggles, and I know I am a better teacher because of my experiences working alongside them. And although I teach at the middle school level, I am highly concerned by the lack of career preparation we are doing in our schools. I truly believe that “we need to help students see a long-term view of their potential and the impact their choices have on their futures.” I hope to find a way to use my leadership skills to have an impact in making this a reality.