Based on your teaching/learning experiences and pedagogical philosophy, do you consider yourself to be a linear thinker, holistic teacher, Laissez-Faire advocate, critical theorist, traditionalist, empiricist, or reconceptualist? Why?

 I personally feel that before I can evaluate my teaching experiences, I have to first acknowledge my learning style.

I am most of all a linear thinker. I tend to grow from previous learned experiences, and I try to apply those concepts to new situations. This is probably why I  feel much more comfortable with subjects like mathematics. I personally feel more comfortable making decisions in situations where rules or patterns can help me find a solution. 

Due to my process as a learner, I find myself to teach in a reconceptualist approach. Each year, I follow the patterns of my previous students to modify situations when we come across the same situations in the present. I keep a list of techniques that work for each standard that I teach, and revisit that list each year as I teach that standard to the next group. I look for those patterns and rules, and use those to progress.

 I do not find myself to be a Laissez-Fraire advocate or even traditionalist. I'd like to think that I fall somewhere in the middle. I am very involved in my students academics and their learning. I like to have open conversations with them about their level of understanding and applications of the skills/standards they are learning. I also do not believe that a student will learn, just because a teacher tells them they will learn. There's so much more that goes into this equation.