Emily Stettler

Teaching Philosophy

Important skills I want to teach my students

I want my students to understand that reading is personal. Each book is a different experience for every person. Different pieces of the story will resonate with the reader and will be important based on each person’s unique personality and life experiences. The more students can connect with their reading, the more they will invest and become lifelong readers. I also want students to learn how to develop an opinion, to support it with evidence, and to express it in writing. Lastly, a skill that is essential for students is to be discerning in their evaluation of information. There is a plethora of information available, but to be able to distinguish how that data could be biased and manipulated is of the utmost importance.

Teaching methods to reach these goals

In class we work on making connections between the book we are reading and songs, other books, personal experiences, movies, poems, and stories from the news. In teaching students how to write persuasively, I follow this process: we collect information from differing points of view, talk about what motivations or incentives each position has that could influence the way information is presented, and then manipulate the collected data to sway others to a specific point of view.

My favorite projects

To connect with our summer reading, students were tasked with finding a favorite family recipe. They wrote a reflection about this dish, including how this recipe came to be a part of their family, when they eat it, and why they like it. Each student then brought in the dish to share with the class for a luncheon. This project served to connect students’ lives to our reading, and it helped to establish community at the beginning of the year.

What I like best about teaching at Seven Hills

The best thing about teaching at Seven Hills is the strong sense of community. I feel I’m part of a supportive family that values my contributions and encourages me to be my best.