Philosophy of Teaching

I believe that my students should be held accountable for their education just the same as every other student in regular education classes. I conduct every day in a structured fashion with units and lessons planned to meet each student’s ability level. I teach lessons using the same six-step plan I was taught in college and grade each student’s work daily. I refuse to be a glorified “babysitter” for six hours a day taking the easy way out of being held accountable for individual growth by giving everyone in my classroom an “A” on their report card. I relish the fact that some of my coworkers resent me because I have developed a curriculum to follow the NCEXTEND standards as well as a grading system that is easy for my students to understand. In my classroom we celebrate success as well as face consequences when we do not try and therefore fail.
I have a student who loves Superman, so much so that his mother made him a cape and he wears it everyday after school. One day this summer his mother called me because he had left the house early in the morning (without telling anyone he was leaving) wearing his cape. With his billfold in his pocket he headed uptown to (we speculate) buy a Sprite out of the vending machine near Cabarrus Creamery. The police found him wandering in the construction site of the new jail and took him to call home. I had been working all year with this student to learn his phone number and by gosh, he told them “704 – 704”. Thankfully he had his school ID card in his billfold and they were able to identify him and contact his parents who were frantic by this point. When his mom called me to share this I was ecstatic because he remembered three digits of his phone number! I also felt extremely special because she called me asking for input as to what to do in the future. I expressed that I thought he wanted some independence like his brothers had and we brainstormed how this could be done so that he felt empowered, but was still safe. Several of the ideas we came up with are still in use today and continue to be successful. We have continued to work on his phone number and he is able to dial and write it in class, but doesn’t yet have the ability to transfer the skill to home.
I try to model the words of Mother Theresa in my teaching style. “Speak tenderly to them. Let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting.” I do hold my students accountable and correct them when they’ve done wrong, but I never let them forget that I love them dearly. There are some pretty gross aspects of my job. I change diapers, I help girls with their monthly issues, I clean up my students after accidents occur, cut up food, feed one, wipe runny noses, and I have found that drool can be quite moisturizing. I model compassion for my students’ everyday and am rewarded continually through hugs, pictures they’ve drawn, or just simple words like “thank you’ Or “Kluttz, I love you”. I also feel like there is more than academic teaching that goes on in my classroom. Last year I had two students returning from PE with a male peer helper. One of the girls diaper was sliding down and she asked him to pull her shorts up so naturally he did. The diaper was looser than he thought and just a couple of steps later the whole thing fell off. As you can imagine the boy was mortified, but he stood there and supported her by holding her shoulders (with his eyes shut) while my other student pulled up the diaper, secured it and fixed her shorts. I was so proud! I knew then the academic lessons I teach may not always be successful, but the life lessons I model stick.
I am rewarded everyday by having the privilege of going to a job that I absolutely love and where I am surrounded by students who love me unconditionally. To have this relationship recognized by the faculty and staff at MPHS is just the icing on the cake.