Carrie Humphrey Teaching Portfolio
2015
"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.” ― C.S. Lewis
Teaching Philosophy
As a life long learner I see value in knowledge and learning as an end in themselves. I enthusiastically pursue my passions and strive to spark a similar flame in others. I believe personal development increases confidence, self-esteem, critical thinking and leads to a more enjoyable life. The process of learning can be an exciting adventure with successes to be celebrated at the passage of each struggle in the journey.
If I do my job well as a teacher, then my students will have an environment and classroom community that fosters skill building, problem solving, and critical thinking. My responsibilities include presenting information in an accessible manner, challenging previous conceptions, guiding students into new perspectives and knowledge and supporting their journey with resources, information and understanding. My main technique in this endeavor is listening to my students and adapting the mode of information transfer to fit to their learning style in order to provide the scaffolding for them to work within their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) (Gish, 1993). I hope to help others develop the skills, confidence, and self-esteem to experiment with a new idea and be wrong, acknowledging that errors are a valuable part of the learning process.
It is critical for both the student and the teacher to use creativity in the learning process. In teaching I hope to encourage my students to apply their cross-disciplinary knowledge, engage their thought worlds and practice their critical thinking skills to expand their ZPD (Gish, 1993). It is important that we all recognize and respect the new ideas brought to the table. In doing so, we create a learning community with a brave space for testing new ideas while developing a lasting network of knowledge and resources (Arao & Clemens, 2013). A learning community, like a community of practice, is built on collaboration and needs a foundation of trust, transparency and symbiosis (Wegner, 2015). Mutual respect and cultural sensitivity is required to house a safe learning environment, free from discrimination.
I hope to foster students who demonstrate strong ethical decision-making skills. Students will not only make the decisions, but can also explain the reasoning behind those decisions with respect to the multiple demands involved and the possible controls, taking into account the various stakeholders (Dean & Pollard, 2013).
It is our differences that make us great. As a teacher I will be mindful of the beauty and power hidden in our differences. I will respect the diverse perspectives of those in my classroom and will encourage openness and dialogue to set the tone in my class as well as capitalize on the teachable moments that our differences bring. Those who have experienced the transformative power of a supportive and challenging learning environment are then ready to enter, or re-enter, a profession with a strong foundation and can, themselves, become leaders in their community.
References
Arao, B., & Clemens, K. (2013). From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces. The Art of Effective Facilitation: Reflections from Social Justice Educators, 135.
Dean, R., & Pollard, R. (2013). DC-S: The demand control schema: Interpreting as a practice profession. North Charleston, S.C.: CreateSpace.
Gish, S. (1993). A Vygotskian perspective on interpreter assessment. In Student Competencies: Defining, Teaching, and Evaluating. Proceedings of the Ninth National Convention of the Conference of Interpreter Trainers (pp. 19-44).
Wegner, E. (2015) Communities of practice: A brief introduction. Retrieved from http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/
Teaching Sample
Humphrey 2016 Professional Development Plan
- Teach as the lead teacher for an interpreting class at J. Sargent Reynolds Community College
- Become a rater for the Virginia Quality Assurance Screening, Virginia's state credentialing test
- Become a diagnostician for the Virginia Quality Assurance Screening
- Continue to serve on the Virginia RID Board as Secretary and assume more responsibility within the role
- Start mentoring again and develop a resource kit for one on one training
About the Teacher
Email: CarrieHas@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carrie.h.humphrey