Thanks for taking the time to visit my digital portfolio! I hope that you’ll find this website offers a glimpse into who I am as an educator and person. I grew up in San Diego, playing school with my stuffed animals and my older sister when she would play with me. School always worked for me; I was good at it, I liked it, my family supported me and expected me to do well. I didn’t realize until I was almost out of the public education system that not everyone experienced school the way I did. When I moved to Santa Cruz for college, my views shifted dramatically as I confronted my privilege, whiteness, and misguided ignorance. I began to build meaningful relationships with people different from me; I learned, I was called in (and out), and I began to care deeply about social justice and change making.
After graduating with a degree in modern literature, I moved to Madrid, Spain, to teach English at a secondary school for a year. When I returned home to San Diego, a little lost and a lot out of a job, a friend suggested I apply to be an academic coach at High Tech Middle Media Arts. My year as an AC helped me learn to understand, support, and love children faster than I think I’ve ever learned anything. It also helped me find the TAP program and put me on the path toward earning my masters and credential. Throughout this year, I have grown immensely as a person and educator. I built amazing relationships with my mentors, instructors, and cohort. Below are a few reflections upon finishing TAP Year 1.
Teaching “Superpower”:
This year reaffirmed the importance of forming relationships with students, seeing them, and honoring them as human beings. It is one of the skills I am most proud of and the bedrock of my teaching practice. I believe I establish great relationships with students because I genuinely care, and they can tell.
Area of Growth:
I’m always looking for more opportunities to let students carry the cognitive load in meaningful ways that empower and deepen their learning.
What it means to me to be an Antiracist Educator:
In How to be an Antiracist, Ibram Kendi writes that one can either be anti-racist, or racist. There is no middle ground, and to choose indifference is to take the side of the oppressor. As an educator, then, it is my job to take an active position through looking critically at my self, my practice, and my community. I also think that students should engage with literature and project work that trains them to think critically about themselves and the world around them. As a white woman in my position, I am constantly growing in recognizing my own implicit biases.
Possible Capstone Questions:
How can I responsibly hold space for my students' emotions through SEL practices and lesson design?
How might I authentically bring in literacy that promotes critical thinking to a math & science class?
This year reaffirmed the importance of forming relationships with students, seeing them, and honoring them as human beings. It is one of the skills I am most proud of and the bedrock of my teaching practice. I believe I establish great relationships with students because I genuinely care, and they can tell.
Area of Growth:
I’m always looking for more opportunities to let students carry the cognitive load in meaningful ways that empower and deepen their learning.
What it means to me to be an Antiracist Educator:
In How to be an Antiracist, Ibram Kendi writes that one can either be anti-racist, or racist. There is no middle ground, and to choose indifference is to take the side of the oppressor. As an educator, then, it is my job to take an active position through looking critically at my self, my practice, and my community. I also think that students should engage with literature and project work that trains them to think critically about themselves and the world around them. As a white woman in my position, I am constantly growing in recognizing my own implicit biases.
Possible Capstone Questions:
How can I responsibly hold space for my students' emotions through SEL practices and lesson design?
How might I authentically bring in literacy that promotes critical thinking to a math & science class?
