My teaching philosophy is to cultivate an inclusive space for learners to engage familiar and foreign ideas. I focus on building this environment through asset-based pedagogy by implementing several classroom norms including freewriting, a writer’s workshop, and the Socratic method. I continue to develop a teaching practice that includes Hip-Hop Based Education and aims to build on prior knowledge to address critical thinking skills in relation to complex social issues. I firmly believe in rigorous debate from continually scaffolded levels of knowledge and skill to measurable levels of exposure, integration, and, ultimately, transformation of the learner.