My teaching philosophy has three primary tenants. I chose these three because I believe they encompass the process of education -- before class starts, during class, and after class is over.

In my opinion, teachers have three primary goals: to aspire, to perspire and to inspire.

Aspire - teachers should strive to do, and be, their best at all times, even outside the classroom. It is important for us to remember that we hold our students' futures in our hands. Everything we say, and do, may influence their future success, and their views of uf as teachers, friends and mentors.

Perspire - teaching is hard work, there's no denying that. We must plan each class and every lesson so that we are prepared for the challenges that we must face in the classroom. Sometimes the unexpected might happen - we have to be ready for it. Preparation is essential to teaching, but so is flexibility.

Inspire - a teacher's primary goal is to convince their students that the material they are teaching is important. An even bigger goal is getting the students to realize how that material applies to the "real world." Thus, we teachers must inspire our students to not only learn, but to want to learn. Through this learning process, our students will see the value of what we are teaching them.