Educational Philosophy,

By their nature, children will always be curious. The goal of education should encourage
them to seek answers and more information. My goal as a teacher is to help facilitate students,
and my main goal is to emphasize reasonable thinking.
In the classroom, my goal is to encourage thinking in rational ways, so that it can be
applied in other, unfamiliar situations. I want to emphasize learning to think with patterns and
trends, instead of forcing the memorization of facts. In order to further encourage seeking
answers to the questions around us, I try to encourage the questions themselves. All teachers
should do so, but it is difficult to "allow the time" for this to take place, especially in a classroom
setting.
Another important theme of my teaching is to emphasize the value of critical
scholarship, which not only clearly describes the present state of the law but explores what the
law should be. Students need to be guided and showed the ways to a successful future. They
need to be taught the benefits and importance of education.
Finally, I aim to encourage a sense of wonderment in the world around us. Although I
am a historian and teach mostly social studies students, this is not, in my mind, an exclusive
club. We are all historians. We all wonder about the world around us. We must continue to ask
the "how?" and "why?" questions in order to advance.