Teaching Statement

Teaching Statement - Dr. Valerie Sartor vallerina57@gmail.com https://uakron.academia.edu/ValerieSartor PhD (2014) Language, Literacy & Sociocultural Studies, College of Education, University of New Mexico (USA) 09/2016 – Present: Assistant Professor, Curriculum & Instruction, TESOL and Literacy Specialist in the College of Education, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, USA On leave as Fulbright Teaching Scholar – Kazakhstan (2019-2020) Teaching Vision My first goal as a teacher is to create a tolerant, thoughtful classroom environment that encourages and supports diversity in culture and learning, with learners actively engaged in the pursuit of knowledge. This kind of class dynamic offers learners opportunities to interact as individuals, in pairs, and in small groups. The content focuses on the academic needs established by the curriculum, using communicative and task based methods aimed at comprehension and production, both oral and written.  To effectively teach content I believe that teachers must be able to align their objectives to their tasks/activities, and to their assessments. Each lesson should be complete, with a beginning, middle and end, and each lesson should relate to those before and after them. Having the ability to align requires good organizational skills. In addition lessons should engage students by relating directly to their lives. Lessons must also capture the attention of all students, so the teacher must learn to differentiate the content and employ a variety of interactions to encourage scaffolding and peer learning. Teaching, thus, is a skill and an art, requiring a combination of rational and creative thinking, fused with compassion for all our learners. I believe that language and communication are vital to the human experience. I aspire to educate all my students to be linguistically and culturally prepared, as well as to succeed academically. Via communicative language methods, project based learning, and technology, I guide my students to achieve intercultural communicative competence. As a teacher, I serve as a guide and facilitator, assisting my students to become actively involved in their own learning. I want my students to become socially engaged and reflective. I want them to think critically and constructively, and to see themselves as positive people who can create change that supports peace and cooperation on a global level. My teaching beliefs are as follows: I. To serve my students with respect and compassion by using student centered teaching to promote native-like levels of proficiency in English and other languages. II. To respect and promote students’ native languages in school and community contexts. This in turn promotes cross-cultural understanding and helps students to learn English while supporting positive cultural identity formation. III. To acknowledge a sense of responsibility for my students’ education. My goal is to deliver academic, cultural and linguistic knowledge in ways that best serve my students’ needs and to support their educational journey to the best of my ability. IV. To creatively offer the best and most viable educational services to my students. Cooperating with administration, curriculum designers, fellow teachers, and IT specialists to offer classes that stimulate learning and synch with my fellow educators. V. I believe that bilingualism and multilingualism benefit my students and the world at large. Learning language equates with learning, understanding, and tolerating another culture. Ultimately, this tolerance nurtures peace.