If you are reading this, I am likely interviewing with you. Although my Philosophy Statement is nearly 10 years old, it continues to provide a taste of my values and passion as an educator. I have not deleted the additional first paragraph, which I wrote during the pandemic because I find it to be a statement of hope.
This digital portfolio offers a window into my professional life, and the statement from 2016 below still stands. What I want to add to this statement is difficult to put into words. Covid 19 is taking lives all over the world. Doctors and nurses are confronting this disease under unimaginable circumstances. What I am being asked to do, to stay home and to wear a mask, is not a sacrifice. My daughter is only 11 and this is hard on her, but I do what I can to give her the extra love she needs in her loneliness. We bake, read, go on walks, Zoom with family and friends. She has virtual piano and violin lessons, and her time playing music takes her to another world. Her art keeps her going. She keeps me going. In this time, my daughter and my students have been the light of my life. I chose the right profession. This time will pass and the children in our lives need extra love and hope. "This is temporary," I tell my daughter and my students. We will hug again!
“Opening hearts, minds, and doors” is my absolute favorite mission statement. I share it with you because it encapsulates how I feel about myself as a professional educator.
During my first few years of teaching in the late 90s, I was not sure that I could do it. My students were not engaged; behavior was an issue; I was overwhelmed and ill equipped. I actually sold most of what I owned and moved to Spain for a year.
After some time away, I realized that I missed teaching. I decided to jump back in and try new techniques. I learned how to engage learners through a variety of methods that included less and less direct instruction, or at least very short bursts of direct instruction. What I would now call my "workshop model." I learned how to use room layout, routines, predictability, and passion to run a room full of engaged learners working in different places often doing different tasks based on "Just Right" needs. I learned how to use assessments to guide my differentiation; how to work with EAL and LRC co-teachers; how to utilize teaching assistants well; and, how to bring parents in to run learning centers, especially for math activities and games.
As a lifelong learner, I always have a set of goals that I am working toward. Currently, my professional development goals center around technology, inquiry, and conceptual understanding as a major component of math instruction. My personal goals to become a great cook and gardener have also grown with my hours of culinary training at San Francisco Cooking School; hours of cooking with children via ChefsRockBoise and Boise Urban Garden School; and, my journey as a Master Gardener Intern through the University of Idaho Extension.
As a lifelong learner, I always have a set of goals that I am working toward. Currently, my professional development goals center around technology, inquiry, and conceptual understanding as a major component of math instruction. My personal goals to become a great cook and gardener have also grown with my hours of culinary training at San Francisco Cooking School; hours of cooking with children via ChefsRockBoise and Boise Urban Garden School; and, my journey as a Master Gardener Intern through the University of Idaho Extension.
For the last 12 years now (now 24 years), I have felt extremely proud of the classroom communities that I have created. I am incredibly grateful to have led these classroom communities in different geographic locations (India, China, Idaho, California); with different resources and access to technology; with different cultural and economic circumstances, and I am so grateful that through it all I still feel that I am one of those special people, "Educators", who have a calling and a passion to “open hearts, minds, and doors”.
I promise myself and the children and families who come into my life, that I will continue to facilitate a classroom community where each individual child can push him or herself toward self reflection, courage, resourcefulness, creativity, compassion and community no matter where I live: abroad or stateside.
Please explore this Digital CV and contact me at brittthorpe@gmail.com so that we can discuss details, such as teaching methods; assessment; technology integration; my 1-1 experience; and recent professional development.
Here are some other ways to learn about me:
Here are some other ways to learn about me:
- My "Domains Self Assessment Digital Portfolio" can be browsed here.
