My Philosophy

During my years of training to be a professional educator, I was frequently required to contemplate and explain my philosophy of teaching. I will never forget my first interview for a teaching job. As my professors had promised, "What is your philosophy of education?" was one of the first questions asked of me in the interview. I stammered through an answer that day, and it must have been good enough, because I was hired. However, almost 30 years later and after having taught in public and private settings and having homeschooled two sons from pre-school to high school graduation, I have a much more specific philosophy. I believe that education is best not when a particular method is used, but when three sets of people do their part.

1. Parents

Parental involvement and support are critical to the success of children. Whether children learn in a brick-and-mortar school, entirely at home, or with the help of a tutor, students typically (there are exceptions) do their best when parents are actively involved. 

If you register for one of my classes, your role as parent and teacher of record will be respected. Although I do anticipate parents following my lead and being cooperative, my door is always open and I want to hear from you. As you make sure assignments are completed, communicating with me and letting me know what is working and what areas need more attention will make for a highly successful year. For younger students, I anticipate parent involvement to be more direct, and for older students, I anticipate parents being more hands-off to allow young adults to learn to stand on their own two feet. However, at all levels, I want to partner with parents and keep an open line of communication for the good of your child/teen.

2. Teachers/Tutors (Sometimes parents take on this role too and do a great job. In my years of homeschooling, I took on the role of parent and teacher for many, many subjects, and I believe in a parent's ability to do so and to do it well. I'm going to describe this section with me, as the tutor, in mind though, so you can know a little more about how I teach.) :)

I believe my role as the tutor is to set goals and help students move toward a higher and higher standard, moving the bar upward a little at a time. I do this by teaching almost everything incrementally--with scaffolding techniques. 

I work hard and do my best to meet students where they are. Sometimes students need the bar set low at first. They need to be able to easily step over and experience success. Then, as the student gains more and more confidence, the bar moves up a little higher and little higher, until eventually, the student is doing a high jump with ease.

Sometimes, students are naturally confident. I use the same technique and keep raising the bar.

That is why I *love* the Institute for Excellence in Writing. Their curriculum is set up to work exactly as I described. It may look like all students are learning the same thing--and all students may be working on the same assignment at the same time--but through my personalized feedback and motivational system, I can differentiate expectations.

I am also a big believer in Bloom's Taxonomy. Bloom's is a way of organizing learning activities from lower-level thinking to higher-level thinking. I try to begin units of instruction on the lower rungs of the Bloom's ladder (also part of my scaffolding strategy). Students need knowledge and comprehension at first--being able to name, recognize and define or explain content. Then, they need to put what they know into practice at the application and analysis levels. Here, they act things out, discuss, compare/contrast, and more. Learning comes to life in this stage. Finally, they demonstrate mastery by evaluating. I have my students complete a lot of editing. Editing is evaluation. If you can find a mistake made by someone else and explain what needs to be corrected, you really know what you are doing. 

I also believe in rewarding effort. I offer a number of motivators throughout all my courses. I believe that learning is a reward in and of itself; however, students always need to hear encouraging words. Sometimes, they need a little something extrinsic to get them going as well. And, I think they always deserve an end-of-year award for making it to the finish line. Just as we strive to hear God say to us, "Well done my good and faithful servant," I want my students to reap the reward of consistent effort.

3. Students

Ultimately, students are responsible for their own learning. As the saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water...."

Now, don't get me wrong. You just read my above statements about the importance of parental involvement and support and how I move students through the learning process and provide motivation and praise. I think those components are essential to the process.

However, students have to do the work. They have to grow in their responsibility. Ultimately, they

should become independent learners who complete their schooling because they understand its importance for their futures and how a proper education will help them obtain their goals in life. 

When I work with younger students, I understand they aren't quite ready for that level of responsibility and maturity yet. I make it my goal, however, to try to ignite a fire--a love for learning--within them. I want to see them take more and more ownership of their learning.

When I work with older students, I try to get them to step outside their comfort zones and do hard things. Even if writing and the study of literature are not their "passion" or where they are headed vocationally, I think it is essential in training them to think, to explore, to build a worldview, and to know more about who they are and where they fit within the big picture. I believe that as they see a reason for learning, they will work harder. As they work harder, they will reap more rewards. As they reap the rewards, they will grow in confidence and independence. When they take ownership, great things happen.

With a solid partnership between parent and tutor and with a solid effort by the student, great things can happen.