NicholasLacasse

PhilosophyStatement

Ifeducatorspreparestudentsfortheworldoftodaythentoomuchofwhatistaughtwill
beuselessbythetimethosestudentsareadults.Educatorsmustteachourstudentstobe
adaptableandversatilesothattheireducationwillneverbeoutdated.Therearethreemain
vesselswithwhichwecanconveylessonsonadaptabilityandversatility:pedagogy,technology,
andcontent.Eachmustbethoroughlyunderstoodsoexcellencecanbeachieved.
Thecoreofversatilityistheabilitytomakedecisionswhenpresentedunfamiliar
circumstances.Forstudentstolearnversatilityandadaptabilitytheyneedtounderstandhowto
makegooddecisions.Thisisbestdonethroughasuccessionoflessonsthatplacesstudentsina
positionwheretheyneedtomakedecisionsthatmaynothaveastrictlycorrectchoice.An
interestdrivencurriculumcenteredaroundstudentchoiceisacriticalcomponenttoasuccessful
education.Furthermore,thisprovidesstudentswiththepowerofchoiceafeaturethatgives
themownershipoftheirwork.
Throughconsistentintegrationoftechnologystudentslearnhowtolearnanew
technology.Theycometounderstandtobefearlesswithitandthatperhapsthebestwaytoadapt
toanewtechnologyistoimmerseyourselfinitanddiscoverallthatitcando.Inthis,their
technologicalabilitieswillneverbecomeobsolete.
Essentialtooverallversatilityisclassroomflexibility.Educatorsmustbebeaconsof
adaptability.Theymustassessthelearningenvironmentandknowwhentoadjustorevenscrapa
dayslessonplan.Theymustalsomaintainaflexibleclassroomatmospherebyallowingmany
modesofinquiryandutilizingmanyclassroomsetups,suchaspairs,groups,andaUshapefor
classdiscussions.
Aclassroomshouldbeacollaborativeeffortbetweenstudentandteacherthatis
motivatedbystudentinterest.Studentsshouldhavethechoicetopursueadisciplineintheframe
oftheirinterestsandchooseassessmentsthatallowthemtoshowwhattheyknow.Themarkofa
successfulclassroomisabodyofstudentswhoarecapableofachievinginavarietyofsettings,
undervariousconditions,usinganarrayoftools.