Connection
Approximately two years ago, I embarked on an adventure to become an elementary educator. Throughout my career as an industrial designer (imagining, visualizing, and designing new ideas for toys, games, and products for children), I became aware of the many connections between the iterative design process I know so well, and the ways that children experience and learn about the world we share. The disciplines of design are well aligned with those of discovering and constructing new knowledge through investigation and hands-on experience. Curiosity, creativity, inquiry, planning, observation, communication, and assessment are common to design and teaching. Expanding this scope to encompass technology, engineering, and both the visual and performing arts, makes my personal connection and professional experience doubly significant and relevant to what I hope to achieve as a teacher.

Compassion
I value and encourage a learning environment that celebrates and honors every child as an individual. Experiencing cultural diversity and multiple perspectives is a critical component to a comprehensive education. A diverse classroom is filled with social and academic learning opportunities that enable children to understand the ideas and feelings of others, fostering intellectual growth and developing better learners. If true social harmony is indeed possible, it will surely emerge from the “small society” of elementary school. That is where positive behavior modeling and leadership by teachers and parents will produce the next good citizens of the world, and truly kind human beings.

Curiosity
Education is a relentless iterative process, and I will always be looking for what works for each learner. Reflection, refinement, and revision are all vital necessities to making planning, instructing, assessing, and connecting function properly. In my classroom, I hope to provide an environment that is like a gymnasium for conditioning the growth mindset. In this “learning studio” we will not be afraid to fail. We will tolerate disequilibrium as we learn, assimilate, and accommodate new knowledge. I will share my curiosity about animals, plants, people, oceans, space, machines, geography, history, art, design, music, food, and more. Most of all I want to share my love of learning new things about anything, because the real love is truly in the learning.  

Commitment
My love for children and their sound development is boundless, and that commitment is what has primarily driven me to pursue the teaching arts. I believe that all children deserve the opportunity to learn in a safe, fair, consistent, collaborative, and enjoyable environment of kindness and respect. I support the idea that enjoyable lessons are memorable, so I am a proponent of meaningful play in learning. This belief, my intuitive and positive connection with children, combined with my intensive study of pedagogy and teaching practices while earning my Master of Arts in Teaching in Elementary Education at Rhode Island College, finds me fundamentally prepared to enter the profession as an elementary educator who is ready to teach, and so importantly, ready to learn.