Middle School

Lauren Gutierrez

6th Grade Teacher

I am excited to be a part of the growing middle school at NMIS! This is my third year at NMIS, but my twelfth year as a bilingual teacher. Previously, I taught 4th and 5th grade dual-language before taking on the role of Garden Teacher, during which time I built a school garden and designed and implemented a bilingual K-5 garden curriculum. This experience deepened my understanding that learning in school should be purposeful and applicable to the real world.

My first experience as an educator was when I lived and worked in a rural village in the northern mountains of Nicaragua. During my three years there, I worked with a team to develop an educational program for high school students that provided opportunities for students to learn computer skills, English, entreprenuership and critical literacy, which was the course I helped develop.

As an educator, I see it as my role to facilitate learning through experience, discourse and the shaping of opportunities for students to apply their learning in a variety of contexts. I believe that in order for learning to be transformative, it will be uncomfortable to some degree – productive struggle is a necessary component of learning. I also know that community trust, communication and inclusiveness must be the foundation of teaching and learning so that all learners can be successful.

As an educator I strive to:

• Be inclusive of all students, their identities, needs and ideas and thus create a safe learning space for everyone
• Teach through inquiry, emphasizing universal concepts
• Emphasize “learning to learn” in parallel with content learning goals
• Develop learning in local and global contexts
• Teach responsively: inform and adapt teaching continually in response to feedback from students