Teaching Philosophy
CLASSROOM MISSION STATEMENT
Our classroom is a welcoming, joyful, and productive space. The learning is urgent, intentional, and rigorous. We support and celebrate every student and family. We prepare for college, careers, and choice-filled lives. We strive every day to be excellent and kind. We commit to building a strong, diverse community where everyone feels a sense of belonging. School matters. The promises we make to ourselves, our families, and each other are sacred. We can always be better.
~Created in collaboration with students and colleagues
Our classroom is a welcoming, joyful, and productive space. The learning is urgent, intentional, and rigorous. We support and celebrate every student and family. We prepare for college, careers, and choice-filled lives. We strive every day to be excellent and kind. We commit to building a strong, diverse community where everyone feels a sense of belonging. School matters. The promises we make to ourselves, our families, and each other are sacred. We can always be better.
~Created in collaboration with students and colleagues
MY INFLUENCES
I am a person who loves students, loves teaching, and loves mathematics. I’m a second-generation Chinese-American, and spent my childhood in Hawaii and New Jersey. During my childhood, my family’s socio-economic status changed dramatically, in large part due to my father's dedication to learning, and incredible support from his teachers. From my family’s story, I’ve seen first-hand that there is unlimited potential in each person, and I believe that education is a sustainable solution to poverty.
As a high school teacher, the values of my upbringing influence my teaching philosophy. I aim to help my students become well-informed independent thinkers, problem solvers, and agents of change within their communities and the world. During my first year of teaching, my 11th grade students scored higher on the KIPP Network quarterly exam (a real ACT test) than any class before them. It was my proudest moment, but it also set my goals much higher. Students can and will rise to the challenge, for they all want to be excellent.
STUDENT INVESTMENT
All students can learn and will learn when they are invested in the class. To build a culture of student investment, student input is foundational to classroom systems and expectations. Throughout the school year, but especially during the first few weeks, my students and I develop a plan to implement student leadership and rigorous learning. Together, we set up a classroom vision, peer expectations, and individual responsibilities.
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, CULTURAL COMPETENCE, AND CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Academic achievement, cultural competence, and critical consciousness are integrated into my daily lesson plans through the learning material. My classroom has a culture of academic achievement where we learn and engage in rigorous material with urgency. Students receive regular and immediate feedback, both qualitative and quantitative, that encourages them to strive for academic excellence. I want my students to see their academic achievement as a reason for confidence, a platform for communication, and a tool to achieve their career goals.
Cultural competence brings to light the relevance and urgency for academic achievement. I teach and assess my students using the ACT exam's College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS). My students all take the ACT college entrance exam in the spring, so aligning to the CCRS better prepares them for college applications and acceptance. I create my own curriculum aligned to CCRS. My curriculum incorporates critical thinking, inquiry-based learning, real world application, group projects, interdisciplinary skills, and culturally relevant materials. Through real-world word problems and projects, my students see how Algebra II fluency and mastery is necessary and beneficial in every day life.
My students develop critical consciousness, as I encourage them to be leaders and advocates inside and outside of the classroom. Inside my classroom, my students are all classroom leaders and have various opportunities to improve leadership skills through daily group work, partner practice, and whole class student-led practice, which we call You Trys. My goal is to use classroom interactions as opportunities for building leadership skills such as organization, public speaking, vision setting, delegation, and communication. Outside of my classroom, my goal is for my students to be knowledgeable of the injustices in the world, and inspired to make a difference by helping others.
LOOKING FORWARD
I approach my job with humility and a growth mindset. I am trying various, new behavior management techniques and teaching styles, in order to provide my students with better teaching. I actively seek out advice and feedback from other teachers and mentors in order to improve my students' outcomes. This year, my goal is to drastically improve my students’ academic achievement, cultural competence, and critical consciousness.
I am a person who loves students, loves teaching, and loves mathematics. I’m a second-generation Chinese-American, and spent my childhood in Hawaii and New Jersey. During my childhood, my family’s socio-economic status changed dramatically, in large part due to my father's dedication to learning, and incredible support from his teachers. From my family’s story, I’ve seen first-hand that there is unlimited potential in each person, and I believe that education is a sustainable solution to poverty.
As a high school teacher, the values of my upbringing influence my teaching philosophy. I aim to help my students become well-informed independent thinkers, problem solvers, and agents of change within their communities and the world. During my first year of teaching, my 11th grade students scored higher on the KIPP Network quarterly exam (a real ACT test) than any class before them. It was my proudest moment, but it also set my goals much higher. Students can and will rise to the challenge, for they all want to be excellent.
STUDENT INVESTMENT
All students can learn and will learn when they are invested in the class. To build a culture of student investment, student input is foundational to classroom systems and expectations. Throughout the school year, but especially during the first few weeks, my students and I develop a plan to implement student leadership and rigorous learning. Together, we set up a classroom vision, peer expectations, and individual responsibilities.
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, CULTURAL COMPETENCE, AND CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Academic achievement, cultural competence, and critical consciousness are integrated into my daily lesson plans through the learning material. My classroom has a culture of academic achievement where we learn and engage in rigorous material with urgency. Students receive regular and immediate feedback, both qualitative and quantitative, that encourages them to strive for academic excellence. I want my students to see their academic achievement as a reason for confidence, a platform for communication, and a tool to achieve their career goals.
Cultural competence brings to light the relevance and urgency for academic achievement. I teach and assess my students using the ACT exam's College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS). My students all take the ACT college entrance exam in the spring, so aligning to the CCRS better prepares them for college applications and acceptance. I create my own curriculum aligned to CCRS. My curriculum incorporates critical thinking, inquiry-based learning, real world application, group projects, interdisciplinary skills, and culturally relevant materials. Through real-world word problems and projects, my students see how Algebra II fluency and mastery is necessary and beneficial in every day life.
My students develop critical consciousness, as I encourage them to be leaders and advocates inside and outside of the classroom. Inside my classroom, my students are all classroom leaders and have various opportunities to improve leadership skills through daily group work, partner practice, and whole class student-led practice, which we call You Trys. My goal is to use classroom interactions as opportunities for building leadership skills such as organization, public speaking, vision setting, delegation, and communication. Outside of my classroom, my goal is for my students to be knowledgeable of the injustices in the world, and inspired to make a difference by helping others.
LOOKING FORWARD
I approach my job with humility and a growth mindset. I am trying various, new behavior management techniques and teaching styles, in order to provide my students with better teaching. I actively seek out advice and feedback from other teachers and mentors in order to improve my students' outcomes. This year, my goal is to drastically improve my students’ academic achievement, cultural competence, and critical consciousness.
