Summerbridge Cambridge - Teacher Perspective



		Home About Us Students Teachers Success Stories Alumni Contribute Partners and Supporters Special Events Jobs Links Contact Us	Apply To Teach • FAQ • Teacher Training • Teacher Perspective Teacher Perspective After the students leave for the summer, teachers spend a week evaluating students, packing up their classrooms and reflecting on their experience at Summerbridge Cambridge. Each teacher is asked to write his or her own Philosophy of Education. Below are some excerpts. From Attitude Check to daily Community Meetings, Summerbridge Cambridge supports its community of learners from all angles. Students are reminded that that they are cared for each morning when teachers cheer for their arrival and each afternoon when their buses are chased down the street. Teachers are supported by the positive nature, dedication and inclusiveness of other staff and supervisors. The Directors and Mentor Teachers’ touch of stability, wisdom and leadership allows all of this to combine and create the dynamic community that is Summerbridge Cambridge. The inspiration and learning I have gained from working in this community has infused me with the desire to create this same kind of environment in my classroom. Laurel Daen Wesleyan University Class of 2005 ESL Teacher, Hong Kong As a college student going into his senior year, “job” is the word of the day, every day. I am thinking of what careers excite me, challenge me, and are a “good fit” for my personality. I am also a Theater and Dance major, interested in performance art. Steady employment will allow me to pursue independent work without having to starve between grants. Most of the working performance artists I have met also work in the field of education, and I can now see why. The classroom is above all else, a laboratory. Children try out new ideas, personas, and social interactions. DeLeon Wright Amherst College Class of 2005 2005 Teach for America Corps Member, Chicago Collaborative reflection upon collective improvement is the name of the game at Summerbridge Cambridge. Almost every second of time I spent with my colleagues was devoted to thinking about students and how to better teach to their needs. Even evening events that were supposed to be a break from the day to day grind of teaching quickly evolved into discussions of particular students and what strategies might work best for that ultimate goal of “getting through to” these kids. Ben Wells Harvard College Class of 2004 English Teacher, Roxbury Preparatory Charter School Anyone who has ever dismissed teaching as easy has clearly never attempted to teach a group of students truly well, and on a consistent basis...It's incredibly easy to go into a room, teach a class, and feel thankful when the bell rings and time is up. It's infinitely more difficult to actually take into account the students -- those fickle, variable creatures -- and strive to make each class better for them. There's no satisfaction in teaching one excellent class a week -- the taste of your success and the students' excitement only makes you hungry for the same experience again and again, and the mundane class after a good one always feels ten times worse than the (perhaps more mundane) class before the good one. That is what teachers accept with their jobs -- a constant hunger and a certain degree of feeling that you've never quite done enough, never really given your all, because in the grand scheme of education, there is still so much more to be done. You are committing yourself to be bulldozed, again and again, in the hopes that something beautiful might grow out of it all. Pei Pei Liu Swarthmore College Class of 2003 University of Michigan School of Education English Teacher, Charlestown High School Most importantly, my children actually had the chance to use red cabbage juice to test for acids and bases, calculate how much their mass changed while running, and even construct a working battery from a lemon, coins, and their tongue. Brian Faulk Stanford University Class of 2003 Graduate student in Chemistry, Harvard University My background in recreation shaped my current philosophy of education and my goals as a teacher. I believe that the first responsibility of an educator is to provide his/her students with an environment that is safe from physical and emotional harm, thus allowing students to take academic risks and blossom. Next, I believe the role of an educator is to provide a wide breadth of activities for students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. This type of class includes artistic and active activities in addition to traditional assessment to allow students to be successful. Natasha Castro Emerson College Class of 2006 Ultimately, I believe that the student is responsible for his or her own education. While there may be social, economic or other factors that can work against a student in his quest for an education, there are so many resources out there that I believe every student can succeed with enough effort and will power. Teachers will always be there and the library is open every day. Thus, quality education, in my view, relies very much on having motivated and energetic students in charge of their own lives. Mac Caplan Yale University Class of 2005 English Teacher, Rivers School I believe that the best way to teach is to appeal to all of a child’s senses. One can accomplish this by finding ways to communicate information in a manner that is totally new and unfamiliar to the child. . . I have also learned that because I take so many risks, students feel much more alienated if you do not hook them into the lesson directly. The craft of teaching is fragile by its nature, and the more you stretch its limits, the easier it will break. One cannot simply set out to revamp the learning process as a whole – one has to revamp the process for each individual student, without exception. Anthony Chin-Quee Harvard College Class of 2005 Science Teacher, Worcester Academy


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