I believe that teaching is primarily about the student.  Within every student there is great value.  It is my job as the teacher to create opportunities for the student’s value to be drawn out and refined.  My primary goal is for all students to discover the true value that lies within themselves.

I relate my philosophy back to a John Maxwell book I once read that compared developing leaders to the process of finding precious gems.  Discovering gems takes time and effort.  It is not always evident what each student’s gift is.  It takes time and effort to discover the gem inside each student.  Once discovered, mining and refining the gem is a process, often requiring hard work.  This is where a teacher can real make a difference.  Utilizing teaching strategies and using curriculum to refine and polish the gem inside each student.  A teachers number one role is to enable students to see themselves as learners, to see the potential they have.  From there, they can reinforce the students potential by helping them see what they have achieved through the curriculum.