Teaching Philosophy 

From my personal experience the courses I engage and relate to best, as a student, have always been design based and hands on. The satisfaction of creating something and being able to remark and reflect on the process has always intrinsically motivated. As a teacher I strive to provide my students the opportunity  to create work that stimulates a similar passion, drive and feedback. As a tech teacher it is my job to introduce students to new materials, inspire confidence on the machines, facilitate creativity and design and to connect with my students.

The benefit of being any teacher is constantly learning material; whether it’s skill based or fact based. As a tech teacher you should never get stale because there’s always something new to learn. My journey from student to  teacher has covered a vast knowledge and skills base. My two years at BCIT taught me the value of learning by doing, hands on learning and inquiry. Skills that I will also impart on my students through designing, building and troubleshooting. The best way to learn any technical skill is to try it, even failures can be learning opportunities. In technical education I will always be learning.

My drive as a creator is the “ah ha” moment that follows finishing any creation. There’s always going to be something that could be tweaked or touched up but completing those final touches is the most rewarding feeling. Fostering a passion for creating long lasting projects quality work will always be the end goal.

Design and creativity is a key component to most technology education classes. Influencing students to work  backwards to design  projects using critical thinking to make objects that are intentional, have meaning/use and esthetic are key components to teaching tech. No design is ever perfect and good design is often the simplest.  Often good design stems from prototyping, sketching, working backwards and reevaluating for next time.

Creating a safe environment for students where they are confident in their competencies to use machinery like the table saw is incredibly important to me as a teacher. I also want students to enter the shop male/female/other and minorities all to feel safe and accepted. Especially as a female instructor I’d like to encourage young girls to thrive in a shop environment. Students will take the most from my classes if they can connect with each other, the teacher and the tools. But  at the end of the day safety is the most important part of any successful shop class.