Teaching is an instinctive behavior, not a career. You either naturally are a teacher or you are not. It is impossible to force someone to be an effective teacher; it must be written on your heart. My teaching philosophy is relatively simple: build relationships. Taking the time to listen to my students in the morning, asking them about their weekend, noticing the new pair of shoes and complimenting them on the shoes are all routine and second nature for me. In return I become more than a teacher. I become someone they can trust, someone who loves them, someone they love, and someone they look up to. Especially with the special education population, from working within the autism spectrum to carefully handling the children with an emotional disturbance, being able to create the strength of relationship is foundational and crucial.  Once I have their respect and trust, all of my lessons have relevancy because they now know I only care about what is best for them.

Do not underestimate the simplicity of a hug or an “I love you.” I hug my students often, and they are continuously told how dearly they are loved. My students know they are my children and I take great pride in all that they do in and out of school. Baseball games become part of my husband and I’s schedule. Showing up to cheer them on in their life outside of school reminds them that I am not there just for grades, test scores, or a paycheck. The bottom line is they truly understand that I teach them because I love kids, I love teaching, and I love them.

These relationships create great rewards intrinsically. When I have a bad day, I get the immediate hugs, the pictures, and the “I love yous.” The opportunity I had to loop with my kids created even more of a family environment. I am still in communication with students and parents from that group even thought they have graduated high school! It truly is all about relationships.

With this deep of relationships with my students, they all work extremely hard in order to please me, to keep me proud of them. What I think actually matters to them. Classroom discussions also play a role into the environment. Creating an atmosphere where the students know they can say or ask anything without being judged or laughed at is vital to me. It takes a lot of training and modeling, but they learn and quickly put each other in place if teasing or laughing occurs. In today’s world these are immense factors and compliments to my classroom. I believe these levels of love and respect is what makes me the teacher and person I am. Without them I would just be doing a day to day job for a paycheck.