Cognate Proposal

Jennifer Salazar
Sonoma State University
Masters in Education- Reading and Language

Philosophy:
As a future educator, I have taken in the importance of being a leader, role model, guide and
support to students. After years of education, I found that my philosophies on teaching have
evolved and become even more concrete. Studying at the Santa Rosa Junior College from 2009-
2012 captured my passion for education and supporting others. Running for the school taught me
to be a team mate, individual practices, hard work, dedication, and a love for volunteering to help
others reach their goals. I received an AA in Social and Behavioral Sciences. Long Beach State
University, dedicated my time to BA in Child Development and Family studies. I built a love for
teaching and observing students and how they learn.
As I pondered different theories, I became a reflector of my educational career and how I learned
best. I found Vygotskys theory on socialism fascinating and parallel with how I learn best.
Socialism highlights that people learn from observing and interacting with others. Having
resources and tools are beneficial to evolving in a learning environment. It enables them to take
their knowledge, questions and share them with others. To exchange thoughts, help people
analyze their own points of view and decide how they can fit or exclude what others think into
their everyday lives.
I believe that one of my strongest passions after getting to the end of my masters program will
be my love or collaboration and a sense of community. Working as an individual is essential, but
creating an environment where working alongside others can be key to a successful student. It
creates a safe, comfortable, supportive environment. I hope when I teach at a community college,
I can build a classroom with the foundations of an environment that feels safe to my students.
Where they can analyze information, share their experiences, thoughts and ideas, and learn from
others. They will be able to learn and continue to prepare for the reality of the world, while
believing they can do anything they put their minds to. There is plenty of room for my
philosophies and learning to evolve. I look forward to finding my truths in the teaching world
and becoming a strong and adaptable educator. Most importantly, to be an advocate for my
students and myself.
For my cognate, I feel it would be ideal to write a paper on what universities do to foster the
needs of first-year college students in English courses. In previous classrooms, I have built a
text-set with the theme of resilience. The topic is easily relatable to all students. It represents
collaboration and community by having students work together throughout the process of the
lessons, and coming together to produce end results by creating a play, iMovie, or written story
on a character that shows resilience. I plan to implement this lesson I created when I become a
professor at a community college teaching basic English classes for a diverse student population.
My project is in construction and has room to be edited, and adjusted in hopes for a strong and
well put together outcome. I will build another two text-sets to have a curriculum of 3 core text-
sets with strong themes to implement in my classrooms and for other educators have available in
their classrooms.

Please join me in this amazing adventure as I build my personal and professional life to become
a better educator.

Thank you for your time.

Jennifer Salazar