Ms. Kennedy's Teaching Philosophy
A classroom should not be defined by the four walls containing it or the decor filling its walls, but by the culture it cultivates, the humans inside of it, and the learning done within. I strive to be a teacher that connects students to culturally relevant sources, meaningful audiences, and challenging pieces of text while allowing all students the opportunity to engage in complex thinking daily.
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In my life and in my classroom, I am my true self. The first step I can take to connect with students is to present myself openly and demonstrate that our classroom is a place of inclusion and belonging. I am a multiracial, multicultural woman who brings the experiences of a born and raised Southern Californian into education. My upbringing in a two parent household was a blessing, and I had positive personal experiences with school growing up. My students will come from a variety of family structures, backgrounds, and cultures that I may not have been through personally, and I will always strive to empathize with my students’ unique experiences. Through fostering a community of belonging, all of my students will feel welcomed to present their authentic ideas, opinions, feelings, and ways of being to the class. I also address my own personal biases in the way I see the world and interact with others.
One of the most important aspects of ensuring a safe, productive, welcoming, engaging learning environment is by managing the logistics around a classroom in an intentional manner. Students will co-create agreements, or values, that each one of them strives for on a daily basis. These agreements allow for a point of redirection when unexpected behaviors or unproductive moments occur, and serve as values for students to self-reflect on. Another critical component of classroom management is the language I use as a teacher– it needs to be intentional. As an educator and mentor, I hope to convey a sense of belonging, encouragement, and appropriate challenge through the way I interact with students. I will ask open-ended questions, notice behaviors and trains of thought, and emphasize student ideas.
As part of my commitment to being an educator for equity and justice, I believe in restorative justice practices in the classroom. Compassionate teaching for all students includes being culturally responsive and restorative throughout a student’s entire schooling experience. I will implement restorative justice practices in my classroom, such as co-creating expectations, seeking remediation of issues, and establishing trusting communication with students.
To honor students’ experiences, we will study culturally relevant, up to date texts. In science and humanities, complex texts should be read and present a challenge to students. I will provide rigorous texts while also supporting all students with ample resources such as pre-discussed vocabulary lists, opportunities to listen to texts, and various means to discuss the texts they are engaging in. To honor the diverse and complex world we live in, I will pull humanities texts from a variety of authors, time periods, formats, genres, and interests. When students read materials that they see themselves in and relate to, they are more engaged with any activity about that text. Scientific texts must be up to date in research and practices. As an educator, it is my responsibility to ensure that the information I present to my students comes from reliable sources and are aligned with current best practices.
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The literacy practices in my classroom are both spread across disciplines and focused on explicit reading and writing instruction. In both science and humanities, students need to be challenged by complex texts and allowed multiple ways to interact with that text. Students’ literacy instruction should not fall to the background, but instead be emphasized across all grade levels. In the upper elementary grades, my students will engage in close reading practices on at least a weekly basis with a variety of materials. In middle grades, students will engage with rigorous texts appropriate to the discipline throughout each project and unit of study. No matter if it is nonfiction or fiction, narrative or expository, and any genre, my students will be able to interact with the text multiple times. We will explore it together, in pairs, in groups, and individually. Students will talk about their synthesis, analysis, and opinions. All pieces of text students will interact with will be chosen with intent, keeping cultural relevance and rigor in mind.
To provide rigorous content, instruction, and tasks in the classroom is to provide students with the opportunity to engage in complex thinking. All students should be provided the same opportunities to engage in deeper learning, read complex texts, critically think about academics and the world, find joy in learning, and participate in meaningful conversations about the subject matter at hand. I will always find ways to allow students to access the meaningful, rigorous content I provide them with. Providing extra support for students’ learning is essential when everyone’s brains process information differently, everyone’s preferred modes of learning vary, and everyone’s funds of knowledge differ. I am committed to having a fully inclusive classroom that supports all students through Universal Design for Learning (UDL) practices. The classroom environment as a whole will benefit when all students are allowed the time, space, and resources to engage meaningfully with the content.
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As an educator, I am also a lifelong learner. My teaching authentically connects to the world, so my knowledge should also grow and change as the world around me changes. I am committed to learning about different pedagogies, social movements, world news, community activities, and anything else that changes the environment that my students and I live in.
This is my commitment to being a compassionate, intentional, loving educator who will create a classroom of rigorous research, complex thinking, equitable access, justice-centered learning, and creative challenge for all.