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I believe ALL students have an innate desire to learn. I believe in my ability to assist students in becoming their best self.  I strive to teach in a way that centers arounds the needs of my students. In order for students to have cognitive success their basic needs must first be met. Removing physical and/or emotional barriers the student faces; trauma, abuse, uncaring teachers, etc. will enable a student to have more positive experiences both inside and outside of the classroom. It is my job to work to tear down these barriers, make students feel safer, and enable them to become more engaged students. A student who feels included, encouraged, and engaged has endless potential to succeed in their education.

"Unless you believe your students can learn, they will not. Unless you believe you can teach them, you will not. Unless your students believe they can learn and until they want to learn, they cannot." (Kellough & Kellough, 2011)

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I will create a loving culture in my classroom that recognizes and honors students' varying strengths, while supporting each other in our weaknesses. Every day I will welcome students with my own enthusiasm to learn to strive to instill a love of learning in them. I will integrate student interests into my classroom’s environment and into subject matter to further engage them in learning. I will utilize routines and procedures to ensure ALL students understand what is expected of themselves and of me as a guide in their education. Furthermore the routines and procedures will allow me to run an equitable classroom. I will also help foster relationships in my classroom to better connect with my students and their worlds and will assist them in better connecting with one another as well as their communities.

"All students should feel welcome in your classroom and accepted by you as individuals with worth and dignity." (Kellough & Kellough, 2011)

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Communicating the advantages of being a part of a close-knit educational community while in high school, will be emphasized. Beyond the social and intellectual benefits of being a part of the FFA, I strive to show my students the power in having leadership and agricultural experiences that better prepares them for college and the workforce. Through positive relationship building, I will encourage students to see for themselves how the FFA can help individuals become better balanced students, workers, and citizens. I will empower students to get involved and stay involved in an effort to better themselves, their futures, and our communities.

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I will ensure equity amongst my students' Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) projects by ensuring ALL  students have access to a variety of opportunities to develop skills that may interest them. I aim to act as a bridge between my students' and our community's needs, so that my students may fill the needs of our community where they are able to. I will do this by developing relationships in the community with local agricultural businesses and organizations and developing student-led cooperatives, service learning opportunities, internships and work experience with local businesses and entrepreneurship opportunities to develop ALL students holistically and prepare them for their future.

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Students should feel invited to learn every day.  Those who feel welcomed, secure, and loved in their classroom community will have a greater likelihood of success in their learning & education. (Kellough & Kellough, 2011)

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We need to view education more from a "motivational and psychological perspective" rather than focus on perfect grades and high IQ scores.

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Grit: The power of passion and perseverance

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Leaving a high-flying job in consulting, Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school. She quickly realized that IQ wasn’t the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled. Here, she explains her theory of “grit” as a predictor of success.

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I believe loving what you do & loving to teach greatly influences students desire to learn, as well as their ability to engage in their learning.

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Tyler DeWitt: Hey science teachers -- make it fun

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High school science teacher Tyler DeWitt was ecstatic about his new lesson plan on bacteria (how cool!) -- and devastated when his students hated it. The problem was the textbook: it was impossible to understand. He delivers a rousing call for science teachers to ditch the jargon and extreme precision, and instead make science sing through stories and demonstrations.

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My goal as a teacher is that when a student leaves my program they will be able to clearly identify the benefits of Career and Technical Educational learning and the leadership opportunities they have experienced. They will be better prepared for a job interview or college presentation than many of their counterparts. They will be confident in their career and college readiness, understand the power in relationship building and the importance in community awareness and involvement.

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My students will create their own set of "Classroom Expectations". Having done this in my classroom, discussions generally focus around showing respect to others in one way or another, so that becomes the central theme in my classroom management in regards to overarching rules to follow. This can mean respect towards me or others, their property, and the last few years we have include other's health. However I believe positive reinforcement of the classroom goals and behavior, is far more valuable than discipline. I will recognize and reward positive and respectful behavior not only towards me, but towards one another. My classroom will be managed through the use of groups and group roles that engages all students and will create lessons that encourage collaboration and positive relationship building.
I will communicate regularly with parents, so that if their is ever an issue that needs to be addressed, the parents will be well aware of who I am and the type of inclusive classroom culture I want to influence through my own example of respect towards my students and coworkers. I believe in modeling positive behavior to reinforce the behavior you want to see in your classroom.