My model of teaching is collaborative in nature and is sensitive to learners' diverse needs and interests. My teaching is fundamentally based on the qualitative notions of kidwatching or field-based ethnographic observational study and teacher as researcher. My goals for teaching include
I see teaching as a broad and deep construct. Learning is a construction or organization of information into a coherent whole. I believe that teaching is much more than the delivery and dissemination of information. Just as genuine learning is much more than the rote memorization of facts. My notions of teaching and learning are fueled by my experiences in the field--the elementary school classroom. I spend approximately 40% of my professional time each week in public school classrooms as a University Liaison and the Director of Elementary School Partnerships and Collaborations. I have opportunities to observe master teachers, model lessons or strategies for teachers in their classrooms with students from kindergarten through high schoo and work with preservice and beginning teachersl. I work to stay current and informed. The pay off for me is a greater depth of understanding of the social, psychological and cognitive processes that comprise learning. My goal is to design curriculum that allows for the exploration and expansion of students’ learning and offers students many opportunities to share what they have learned. This instructional design can be described in a htree part model:
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