Marisa Shubert

Teaching Philosophy

Important skills I want to teach my students

The most important skills I want to teach my students are executive functioning skills and academic study skills. Strong executive functioning skills have long-term benefits for my students, well beyond their school-age years, so this is a skill I work to explicitly teach and cultivate. To me, study skills include a wide range of topics – everything from how to study for tests in different subject areas, how to ask a teacher for extra help, and how to manage test anxiety. I work on all of these skills with my students and apply them directly to the coursework they have and the class assignments they are doing. Finally, I teach my students about a fixed versus growth mindset and strive to help them learn to work from a growth mindset, the benefits of which will stay with them long into adulthood. 

Teaching methods to reach these goals

To accomplish these objectives, I explicitly teach the study skill we are covering and then directly apply it to work students are currently doing in their academic classes. For example, if we are studying multiple ways to learn vocabulary words, we practice these strategies with the current set of vocabulary words they are learning in English. I try to incorporate as many different styles of learning into my teaching methods so students are often up and moving around the room, drawing pictures of what they are learning, or sharing songs, rhymes, or mnemonics with each other to enhance their learning. 

My favorite projects

My favorite activity of the year is our discussion of multiple intelligences. This unit focuses on teaching students that, according to Dr. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, we all have different ways we are “smart.” Students complete a survey to identify which of the eight different intelligences are strongest for them and then we go about looking for ways to study drawing from these intelligences. This unit really helps students identify and value their unique ways of learning and helps them gain a better understanding of how to tap into their natural strengths, even when school may be a challenge. 

What I like best about teaching at Seven Hills

My favorite thing about teaching at Seven Hills is the opportunities I have for professional development and for incorporating new knowledge into my classroom strategies. The students I work with are eager to approach concepts and ideas in a new way and I enjoy helping them uncover their academic potential.