My name is Rachael and my preferred pronouns are she/her/hers. I am from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and I have lived there my whole life up until attending John Carroll. I love to play and watch sports; my favorites are volleyball, basketball, and football. I spend a lot of my time hanging out with my friends, working out / playing sports, and working.

This semester I currently have three jobs. I am working in the library Directors office, tutoring for Carroll Reads, and I have an internship where I am teaching philosophy to fifth graders at Greenview Elementary in Euclid. I am also completing a volunteer service with Youth For Justice through CSSA. I am very excited to get the semester started and get to know everyone in the class as well as my various coworkers better.

In order to feel comfortable enough to take risks in a classroom, I feel like I need to know that my thoughts and opinions are valued. The classroom should be a place where everyone feels welcomed. I like to know that others care about my opinion, but that I am not forced to share something that I am not comfortable discussing yet, or that I am still working out in my head. I like to have positive relationships with the teacher(s) and students so that I can support others in their educational journey and so that I can be supported in return.

The most important part of education to me is that everyone has access to it and that it is a quality education. Every child deserves to learn, grow and develop in a welcoming, loving, yet stimulating setting where they have strong relationships with those around them. I have been reading a few books about philosophy, principles of teaching, and urban education. My favorite book that I just finished is called For White Folks Who Want to Teach in the Hood, and the Rest of Y’all Too by Christopher Emdin. Emdin has a pedagogy called “reality pedagogy” that was one of my favorite chapters of the book. To summarize, “Reality pedagogy is an approach to teaching and learning that has a primary goal of meeting each student on his or her own emotional turf… it allows for youth to reveal how and where teaching a learning practices have wounded them… instead of seeing the students as equal to their cultural identity, a reality pedagogue sees students as individuals who are influenced by their cultural identity” (Emdin 27-28). Emdin hits the nail on the head, especially in his focus on urban schools. It is so important to meet your students where they are and to build strong relationships with them so that they feel welcomed and safe in their learning environment.

From your teaching experience, what qualities do successful students in your class possess? What is your favorite class to teach?