I believe my philosophy of teaching, combined with my teaching style, would be an excellent fit for UConn ECE. My educational philosophy is to teach with passion and to implement creative class activities that nurture multiple learning styles, abilities and interests, while making subject matter fun and relevant to students by connecting past events to the present. At the same time, I believe it is important for students to research, analyze, write about, cite and discuss various primary and secondary sources (news articles, historical documents, speeches, broadsides, court cases, art, pictures, cartoons, film, audio) to develop higher order thinking
skills. I draw many lesson plans from Stanford History Education Group (see http://sheg.stanford.edu/us) and to a lesser extent from Beyond the Bubble (see http://beyondthebubble.stanford.edu).
I am passionate about history, which to me is not the memorization of dates and facts, and my enthusiasm is most evident when I am teaching. I become animated when I teach about historical developments and trends and I try to enliven the study of history through technology, multi-media and activities. I find that my passion, the information presented in and out of class, and the creative avenues (regular student discussions, Powerpoints, skits, dramatic plays, projects, drawings, cartooning, songs, etc.) students engage in to express their ideas and opinions pique their intellectual curiosity and their desire to work with greater awareness and rigor.
I try to encourage students to bring the outside world into the classroom. For example, after analyzing U.S. immigration rules and procedures during the Gilded Age, the U.S. History class called, through a Google computer app, the offices of Connecticut Senators Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy to learn about the current Syrian refugee crisis. The staff members answered student questions with the best of their abilities and they treated the students with respect. From that lesson students learned they have an important voice in the outside world and they can potentially affect change. I also hope to develop in students leadership skills and an interest in social justice and action.
I believe my teaching philosophy and teaching style help develop an appreciation for, if not a love of, history.