Core Values

My core values are curiosity, freedom, inclusion, and growth.

One of my main archetypes is Explorer, and that accurately reflects my love of learning and trying new things. I’m naturally curious and can spend hours investigating an interesting idea or topic. In my teaching approach, I want to cultivate this same spirit of curiosity in my students. Another way my Explorer archetype manifests is that I like to find my own way through things. My favorite assignments in the past have been ones where I had the freedom to design my own approach. Thinking back, I had the most fun and took the most pride in my work in assignments like these.

When I was growing up, I moved around several times, and so I struggled to find my people. I would often feel like an outsider, and I hated that feeling. So, I want to always help people feel included and appreciated.

In middle and high school, I was a major perfectionist. It was especially visible in my art class, where I redid every stroke so many times that I fell several projects behind. (That picture above is from finals week, when instead of going to my STEM classes for extra help, I had to finish up my art projects. Luckily, my friends came to keep me company.) My perfectionism also made it very painful for me to write essays. I finally was able to grow and get past it by accepting that my first version of things will be imperfect, but it took me a while.

Teaching Style

My explorer archetype plays a part in my teaching style. When presenting a topic to my students, I want to take them on a journey of discovery and make things interesting for them. To do this, I try to provide the motivation behind the topics that I teach and explain how one topic leads into another. I also try to vary my voice so that it’s not monotone.

My value of inclusion leads me to value student participation. So, when I’m teaching, I’ll often have students answer questions and voice their thoughts on topics. When I’m guiding my students, I’ll also go around and make sure they’re following along. Because of my experience struggling with art and writing, I want to be patient with students that don’t immediately get things and support their growth.

Finally, my values of freedom and finding my own way motivates me to provide flexibility when I give directions. I’ve taken a class where the assignments had strict step-by-step instructions, and it felt like I was being micromanaged. It was unsatisfying, and I felt like it wasn’t very effective at teaching me. So, when I give instructions, I want to give my students room to explore and learn their own way.

Preferred Methods

Projects/Peer Review

As a student, I loved working on projects because they gave me the freedom to take my own approach in solving problems. I would love to provide my students this same opportunity in my teaching. I also enjoyed peer review: seeing other people’s work, providing feedback, and having the chance to show off my own work and hearing what other students thought about it. I would incorporate it into my teaching to have my students experience those same interactions.

Interactive Read-aloud

I could definitely see myself using an interactive read-aloud in the future if I’m teaching younger children. This strategy would be good at developing connections to students and seeing how they think, something that speaks to me. I’ve actually used this strategy before when I tutored English to students in China, and it worked well.

Hands on Experiments

I enjoy hands-on experiments a lot as a student because of my curious nature, so I think incorporating them into my teaching would be a good fit. I would love to encourage my students to be curious as well.

Visual Elements

Primary Font: Fira Sans

Perhaps it’s overused, but I enjoy this font a lot. As a humanist sans-serif, it’s easier to read than other fonts. I value this because I want my materials to be easy to take in. Fira Sans also evokes a sense of warmth which I love.

Secondary Font: Bitter ht

Bitter is a contemporary slab serif that I’ll use for headings. It provides a rational feel that balances the warmth feel of Fira.

Color Palette

Here is a color palette that matches my brand. It evokes my love of hiking and the outdoors.

Picture

Here is a photo I took of a sunset when I was at a park in Dallas. It evokes a sense of peacefulness that fits my calm, relaxed style.