Friendship Armstrong Campus

Doris Bautista

Philosophy of Learning

Children are the future of the world and they are infinitely capable of reaching their full potential.   As the facilitator of their learning, my goal is always to help children create, collaborate, increase problem-solving skills and overcome obstacles.  In my classroom, students show curiosity and explore interests in constructing their learning by negotiating and questioning their environment as the third teacher. In the Reggio Emilia philosophy, the child is viewed as strong, powerful, rich in potential, and drivers of their educational experience. They have the power of growing, and being nurtured and navigated by adults who take this drive towards their growth seriously.

Building strong, trusting relationships with students is very important to me because I believe in their uniqueness. My scholars come from various backgrounds and wards in the District of Columbia and unfortunately, undergo storms that sometimes make learning a challenge.   However, as a facilitator, I aim to inspire and infuse creativity by empowering children to take the lead with their words, movements, drawing, painting, exploration, imagination, creativity, reading, observing, challenging, questioning, and leadership.  I have learned that students are motivated to go beyond what is taught in the classroom when they know that someone cares about their learning process and pays close attention to their educational progress.

In order for students to succeed in their growth and adventures, practicing differentiation is critical in my classroom. Although each child is a part of our larger classroom community, I tailor my instruction to their individual needs by integrating appropriate accommodations and modifications when necessary for each scholar to feel important and special. As a result, I design small and whole group sessions to make each student feel heard and acknowledged.   I believe that every student has the capacity of expressing different forms of verbal and non-verbal communications and become a lifelong learner and achieve their dreams regardless of their race, gender, native language, socioeconomic background, or abilities.  The Reggio philosophy makes teaching more enjoyable, grateful and increases the engagement of my students. The connections I have formed with my students individually are powerful which helps them to become ready for kindergarten and beyond.

I believe that students should be prompted with exploration so that their curiosity is continuously enticed. Teachers should not be thought of as leaders, but more so as facilitators who aid in the discovery and research of classroom materials. Therefore, the values and beliefs I have for my students are all centered on the Reggio Emilia philosophy. My role as a teacher is to stimulate my students and allow them to produce various wonders for us all to explore.

In conclusion, children already possess the skills necessary to originate understandings through investigation and exploration.   I will continue to differentiate my instruction so that my students are able to collaborate and provide the best opportunity for each to excel individually.  This collaboration will not only create a bond between myself and my students, but all other influences in their lives and in the community. I will extend my practices to others in hopes that by collaborating we can continue to uplift the students with their strengths and courage. Therefore, through continuous practice and commitment, I will act on my philosophy by not assuming I know what is best for my students but, by working with them to gain an understanding of what they deem to be most important to them. I will follow my philosophy and lead my practice by allowing them to become strong leaders, powerful innovators, rich in knowledge, and drivers of their own future. 

Friendship Blow Pierce Campus

Garry Cameron

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

Distinguished teachers do more than inspire others to teach; they plant seeds of inquisitiveness and understanding that blossom into the urgency to give back and empower the next generation. The goal of education is to build enough interest in scholars to equip them with the necessary tools to garner successful careers and embrace their passions. Education is essential because it is the gift that keeps giving. It gives access, empowerment, and opportunities.

“Equitable classrooms reflect inclusivity and culturally responsive teaching practices that build unique experiences for all students.” Education is about constructing pathways in the classrooms that make learning accessible for all academicians. Providing equitable access to scholars helps bridge the learning and financial gaps perpetrated against people of color. Educators should be passionate about meeting scholars where they are and emboldening them to embody and exude their true potential. This can be done by incorporating real-world experiences that transcend the walls of the classroom. Asking scholars what they want to do in life and providing access to those opportunities undoubtedly sows transformational seeds of lifelong learning.

Effective teachers can work in a constantly evolving environment. Great teachers not only impact students academically, but they also provide them with opportunities to actively contribute to their communities. This is done by creating safe spaces for scholars to amplify their voices inside and outside the school community. Student empowerment refers to students prioritizing meaningfulness, competence, impact, and choice in their learning environment. The aforementioned creates opportunities for scholars to challenge and dismantle the status quo. Education is about tapping into scholars’ interests and encouraging critical consumption and creation in order to develop responsible and accountable scholars. Holding scholars accountable for their academic goals strengthens their engagement, attention and determination to achieve their goals. Planting and nourishing seeds of accountability is an opportunity for scholars to build and walk in their confidence.

Creating positive, engaging, and joyful learning environments is necessary to help scholars learn and blossom into productive citizens. Enjoyable learning environments allow scholars to participate and have the courage to take risks within the classroom, thus enabling them to retain the information better because the process is enjoyable and memorable. Dynamic learning environments increase scholars’ attention and focus, promote meaningful learning experiences, encourage higher student performance, and motivate them to think critically, question tactfully, and reflect purposefully.

Education can transport a person to a place that they would never have imagined. The job of an educator is invaluable because they are the catalyst that can propel students to the next level of self-growth in conjunction with putting them in a position to obtain a multitude of success. Education is essential because it plants seeds of access, empowerment, and opportunities. “Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.”

Friendship Chamberlain Campus

Brandy Winchester

Children and their individualized needs are at the core of my educational practice. My passion for student success has led me to work with approximately 1,200 Southeast Washington, DC scholars over the past fifteen years with my longest tenure at the Friendship Public Charter School Chamberlain Campus. The students with which I work inspire me to hone and reflect on my craft, foster long and lasting relationships, create a welcoming learning environment, and be a leader in my school community.

My learning philosophy centers around on the quote: “Every student can learn, just not the same day, or the same way.” This drives me to commit to teaching and reaching all students, regardless of their academic level. I faithfully deliver high quality differentiated instruction in order to close the achievement gap. My commitment to differentiation is so strong that I enrolled as a Special Education Teaching Fellow to further support the exceptional learners in my classroom.

With my mind always on student development and closing the achievement gap, I encourage my own scholars to set their goals, and I work with each student to develop personal responsibility and accountability. In my experience, possession of all three attributes allows students to become independent thinkers and avid learners. It also engenders a classroom environment in which students take ownership of their own learning. I establish an environment where students are heard, their voices matter, and learning is a shared responsibility. Empowering students to think critically and make connections has long been a key driver to reaching their full potential.

My standards are high and the content I teach is rigorous; therefore, it is essential that I create a classroom environment grounded in strong relationships. “Students don’t learn from teachers they don’t like” stays at the forefront of almost every decision made in my classroom. I invest time learning my students’ interests, hobbies, and even dislikes. In addition to building relationships with my students, I also work to gain the genuine trust of the students’ families. I provide my personal telephone number, tutor daily, and plan engaging family events. For example, my team and I hosted an outdoor mid-year and end of year celebration to bring teachers, students, and families together in fellowship. This consistent outreach ensures that all stakeholders are invested in the work that students are doing in my classroom.

As a valued and well-respected 4th grade team lead in the Chamberlain community, the importance of empowering my colleagues and building solid relationships with my peers is just as critical as it is with students. I have had the opportunity to work with newer staff members as a mentor teacher. I have shared my content knowledge and my classroom management expertise to help build my colleagues’ capacity.

My exemplary display of the Friendship Core Values coupled with my conscious effort to instill these same values in my students and colleagues gives me hope they will look back and remember Friendship as a collective unit of educators who believed that their scholars would uphold our organization’s vision and mission

Friendship Collegiate Academy

Katherine Payne-Essick

Teaching is the confluence of every field: it is performance art, it is graphic design, it is prose, it is statistics, it is biology, it is psychology. And although I, as an English teacher, first came to teaching with a humanities focus, the concept that has come to shape my philosophy on this great work is strictly scientific:

“Learning is a neuro-physiological phenomenon that occurs through biochemical processes in the brain and the growth and reorganization of neural connections”

(Hardiman, 2012)

This means in factual terms that EVERY student can learn. Every one of the unique individuals that flow in and out of my classroom over the course of my day has the neuro-physiological capability to learn exactly what I am teaching them. This then means that it is up to me to apply creativity, research, and enthusiasm to finding exactly what method and process reaches each.

The achievement of my daily goal—to consistently strive to reach every child in my room every day— relies on three parts:

Ms. Essick as content specialist—I must craft lessons that display a deep understanding of the material and how it all works together for an end goal. I must dig through my knowledge, align only the most important elements, and lay them before my students in a way conducive to clarity, understanding, and necessary skills. I must reflect on myself as a learner, master best practices, and scaffold information in a way that builds my students into expert writers and readers who can access the world around them. Beyond that I must share those findings and practices with my school community at large in order to foster a larger community of support for my students and their learning.

Ms. Essick as scientist—I must identify the correct processes and equations for each learner in my room. In order to do this I must constantly reflect, experiment, evaluate, create theory, and prove it. This means digging deep into data-based results and constantly evaluating each component of every lesson and artifact my students construct. I must identify misconceptions and adjust in order to procure a different result. This includes explicitly teaching my students how to learn: exploring the neural connections, explaining the science, and instilling in them the same ideals that I hold so dearly. There is nothing you cannot learn—factually it is simply a matter of how.

Ms. Essick as psychologist—I must teach them what it means to have a growth mindset and to persevere. For this lens on teaching, I can never get caught up simply in the idea of my students as learners but seek also to know them as people. Through all the technical aspects of this work, I must never forget the individual and child in front of me. These children at times come to me from a place of trauma, dysfunction, and loss, and other times from a place of triumph, pride, and hope. I must seek daily to be attuned to their specific needs. As an adult in their life, it is my role to model and teach social-emotional skills, help them to navigate their own thoughts, and support them to invest themselves in their own futures. It is also my role to build a connection with the other adults in their lives, be they parents or guardians, so that I can better understand the needs of my students, and so that the school becomes an extension of the supports that student already has. The school should be a safe space where students come to collaborate and learn, and all of these elements are necessary to ensure that this is the case.

Teaching means guiding an individual on their path to becoming a full and well-rounded person who believes in their ability to learn and their importance to the world, and seeks to find joy in everything that they do.

Friendship Ideal Campus

Chanae Norvell

It is my belief that every child has the right to grow and develop into their best physical, social, emotional, and intellectual self. To judge a child’s potential by their race, gender, socioeconomic status, learning needs, and/or past failures builds walls around that child which blocks their light from shining out, and any light from shining in.

When I was tasked in creating the aforementioned statements as part of my first Philosophy of Education class in 2003, it was a declaration of my belief in not only my students but also set the foundation for the expectations I have of both myself as an educator and my work colleagues.

When I was in middle school, I read an article that struck a chord in me that has remained struck for the last twenty-four years. The article expressed the need for “good teachers,” and that students who experience a good teacher even once have a positive ripple effect that lasts them throughout their K – 12 careers and beyond. I remember my young eyes widened in surprise to learn that the number of quality teachers a student encounters affects such statistics as graduation rate, college acceptance, substance abuse, teen pregnancy and student dropout rates.

I recall feeling bad, and even a little guilty because I realized I had been afforded opportunities simply because of the family I was born into, rather than earning them. I also thought about other kids I knew from my hometown of Washington, DC, such as my neighbors, cousins and friends who hadn’t been as lucky as I was to receive a private school education.

I wondered what my life might have been like if my mother had “dared send [her child] to a school with drug needles on the playground’ instead of to Riverdale Baptist, which is located in a quiet, Maryland suburb, for the majority of my K – 12th grade career. At Riverdale I was surrounded by certified teachers who had been determined to be exemplary professionals with impeccable morals and religious beliefs. The rigorous instruction, encouragement and nurture I received at Riverdale combined with a loving and supportive home environment built a strong foundation for me to stand.

It was at that moment that I decided I would reciprocate the blessings I received by becoming the best teacher I could once I grew up. During my first five years as an educator, I did just that including creating differentiated lesson plans that varied not only in rigor, but also touched different intelligences throughout the week. Using my experience as both a student and educator, I found that when lessons are presented in various methods throughout the week, students obtain a depth of knowledge. Often majority if not all students’ show “approaching” or “mastery” level skills by the end of a week of lessons. I have also learned that displaying and practicing knowledge in varied ways also increases what Lemov calls, “The J (joy) Factor.”

Meeting the academic, social and emotional needs of my students became my joy factor and I found myself wanting to spread that joy to other educators. I often share advice with friends, or student’s parents about how to develop their children at home or some activities videos or shows they can utilize to close gaps at home – occasionally giving advice on how to boost siblings of scholars when parents share concerns with me. My most successful, “sharing the J factor” of this year would be promoting Prodigy to my coworkers. Many staff members are seeing an “uptick” in class engagement and math scores because their students enjoy playing Prodigy Game.

Prodigy Game is very similar to Poke’mon, where the player navigates through a strange world collecting animals and pets. When attempting to obtain a new pet the player must capture it through a battle; but, in order win the battle they have to solve various math problems for each attack. Students love collecting pets and beating monster, teachers love collecting data and having students excited about math!

The thought of sharing many of my common practices with other educators to help them become their best selves for their students excites me. Doing so brings me one step closer to my dream of bringing entire schools of students and underserved communities to higher academic achievement levels.

Friendship Southeast Academy

Sheree Coates

What makes a teacher effective? What encourages a scholar to engage in the unknown? How do you ensure that students are learning and growing? What does it take to ensure that students can demonstrate their knowledge on assessments and produce extraordinary results? My philosophy of education consists of, but is not limited to, the following elements of teaching that I believe can produce scholars without limits: relationships, relevance/connections, lifelong learning, and engagement.

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all,” said the great Aristotle. When I think of this quote, I am reminded of the importance of building strong relationships with scholars; relationships in which scholars feel valued, safe, free, and most importantly loved. It is important to me as an educator that I investigate the qualities of each of my students. I then use my knowledge of these characteristics to motivate scholars to engage in learning. We often engage in morning meetings in which we collect data on personal interests, demographics, and more. This procedure creates an environment in which scholars fall in love with sharing and this culture spills over into other content areas. The best part about activities like this is that I can target skills on assessments like MAP while providing scholars with a fun experience.

“Education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind to think,” said Albert Einstein. One of the most important factors of effective teaching and learning in my opinion is making connections, whether it is to background knowledge,

text-to-text, or to self. Teaching scholars to create a habit of making connections produces learners who think beyond what they’re learning and develops writers who elaborate their ideas. As a STEM educator, I also find value in interdisciplinary learning. For example, I consistently reference the knowledge learned from our Fundations block during guided reading, Wit & Wisdom, and other reading and writing activities given for any content area. I often choose science and social studies lessons that build on the knowledge gained from our Wit & Wisdom lessons. These intentional, strategic plans help build confidence in my scholars because they experience new material with some background knowledge.

Spoken by the honorable Martin Luther King Jr., “Intelligence plus character, that is the goal of true education”. One of my biggest successes in the classroom has been reflection of my teaching practices and life-long learning. This involves analyzing student data to inform planning, researching alternative and supplemental materials that meet the needs of scholars, including acceleration. I believe that learning has no limits and I teach my students that, I too, have a lot to learn to become a better version of myself. The aforementioned practices have encouraged not only student engagement, but also a sense of community. As a result, scholars have shown exponential growth on district and national levels.

Friendship Technology Preparatory High

Keith Killgo

“Music is a world within itself with a language we all understand”

Stevie Wonder

The quote by the great Stevie Wonder captures my belief in the importance of Music Education. Music is a language that anyone can learn and this has been evident throughout history. It is a language that has helped the world to manage and overcome difficult times. Music has produced a change in a world that has experienced prejudice, racial injustices, and triumph. Music appeals to the minds and hearts of all human beings in ways we could never imagine. My goals as a music educator are to cultivate a love for music; create learning opportunities that will allow students to make connections about the world around them, and ensure that scholars become successful contributors to society through the art of music. 

As a Music educator, my goal has not been to develop the perfect musician but to teach them musical concepts that will allow them to use music as a tool and catalyst for change. Music is therapeutic. In the past year, I have noticed how music has helped my students to cope with grief, trauma, and loss as a result of the Pandemic. Music therapy is a powerful way to alter one’s perception and mood. This has been evident with the most challenging scholars. My mission is to maximize the time that I have with scholars by allowing them the freedom to create and learn musical concepts in a safe space. Students can develop their own musical identity and express themselves through the instrument that they are learning to play. My learning environment is student-centered and a safe space where students can express themselves artistically. I teach my students confidence because it’s not always about hitting the “high note”. After all, no one is perfect. For me, this is what teaching music is all about. I want to continue to facilitate learning opportunities that will allow the unconfident student to feel and become confident. To know that it’s okay to make mistakes. I teach my students that some of the greatest composers didn’t create the best compositions on their first try. Failure is not an option but a means to create greatness. 

“Music is the Universal Language of Mankind”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Friendship Woodridge International

Monique Whitfield

I have always felt that a career centered on books and people was somewhere in my future, though teaching is not something that I thought about pursuing–I will say that teaching found me.

The teaching profession allows me to combine my interests in reading and research and while having an impact in ways I never imagined. I have always loved school and held teachers in high regard but never saw that for my life–it wasn’t until 2000 during my first job as a Camp Counselor at the Jamestown 4H Center.  That experience placed me in front of an audience to deliver information, and I found myself and where I wanted and needed to be. I also credit as a source of my inspiration President Barack Obama’s 2016 appointment of Dr. Carla Hayden as the first Black woman Librarian of Congress. Her appointment moved me to follow my reading passion into graduate school to become a Librarian and ultimately led to my being in front of a class teaching others and hopefully inspiring the same love of reading that I have.

Since learning to read at the age of four, following behind my big sister and religiously watching the inspiring and enlightening routine of Sesame Street has undoubtedly been the cornerstone of my life. Reading has not only been a pastime of mine but a safe space of understanding and growth that I strive to bring to anyone I come in contact with every day, especially my students.

Recommending books, taking advice from others on what to read, and using the phrase “Learn to Read, Read to Learn” have been the bases of both my professional and personal life. From a young age, reading has always been important to me, and in my position as a School Librarian I am afforded the unique opportunity to share the influence and joy of reading with a new generation.

With the campus school library uniquely positioned within the bridge between the Elementary and the middle school, there is space for all to read, socialize, engage with others, and work outside of their classrooms cooperatively. The library not only functions as a classroom with my weekly and daily Special elective classes but is open to all throughout the day for small groups, individual reading, and study spaces, where I strive to maintain a welcoming environment to all students that will accommodate all areas of interest and diverse interests.

As libraries evolve with the world in the 21st century with social media and news available at your fingertips, it has become essential for our school library to address this need and provide equity and access to all resources in-and-out of school. Partnering with the other eleven Friendship campuses has allowed me to supplement the 5,000 physical books currently in our library through digital technology and an online library that we can proudly offer students access to through their student identification numbers, helping me fulfill my vision of opening up the world of reading to all much like it was for me. Reading can take you so many places, and it is an honor and a privilege each day for me to follow my own dreams and bring reading to new brilliant minds that will one day shape our future.