My Teaching Philosophy & Sample Lesson Plans

 As a teacher, my philosophy is based on a student-centered approach where the content and curriculum are taught with the diverse needs of my students in mind. This is, in part, accomplished by following Paris' (2012) Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy framework. This teaching practice not only encourages students to value their home cultures through the classroom but teaches them to be critically-oriented and provides pathways to sustain not only the students but also their communities. Specifically, I do this by incorporating home cultures into the daily curriculum through culturally-differentiated instruction while working to create a reciprocal relationship between my classroom and the communities where my students live, grow, and glow. By strengthening the bonds between home and school, students are statistically more likely to be successful not only at school but upon graduation.