Teaching Philosophy 

Kids need good role models and people to look up to, for me those people were my teachers. When growing up I realized that schools need more teachers that kids could talk to and look up to. I want to be that person for the younger generation. Having a good teacher that you can talk to and look up to is one of the most important things when growing up and succeeding. Art and visual literacy are critical building blocks for leaning. Not only does art help problem solving and critical thinking, It is also an escape for most students and a place for them to destress. When teaching art, I plan to focus on creating with meaning in mind. Art is a form of expression and in my classroom, I want students to focus on not just creating art to make things but to actually take time and think about why they are working on and creating. 

It is also very important in my overall end goal to have the kids feel comfortable enough in the classroom to explain and talk about their work. One thing I remember when going through k-12 was how hard it was for me to talk in front of the class and after working through it I realized it was the environment and the setting. Having a classroom set up in more of a discussion setting where all the desk is facing each other creates a much friendlier environment and was always more comfortable for me to be presenting in. I enjoy the constructivist method of teaching and have benefitted from it in the classroom. The constructivist method incorporates group discussions that can be used to help deconstruct and figure out different works of art or talk about and discuss readings that students are given. I also love the idea of collaboration and working together, I plan to incorporate group work into my class. Group work not only gets you talking and building bonds with your classmate but also is very important in developing collaboration skills for later on in life.  This method benefits most students and helps them understand and comprehend more than they would have by just researching and reading on their own. 

I want my classroom to be an open space where students can come and feel like they can truly be them self’s. One thing that is very important to me especially in a k-12 space is mental health and normalizing it. Almost everyone suffers from stress, anxiety or depression from time to time. I plan on having my classroom be a place where people can express their emotions in their art but can also be a safe place for kids to talk about their feelings. This will help students realized that a lot of people have those same feelings and its ok to talk about it. Overall in my classroom I plan to create a family environment where kids can come and work and create individually or together. A place where kids can talk and discuss what they’re creating in a safe environment and not only be a teacher but a mentor.