Denise Dixson
Smart Lab InstructorI have been a part of Southwest Secondary Learning Center since its beginning in 2001. As one of the original employees of the school I have seen the great things that we have accomplished over the years with our students and I am very proud to be part of this innovative charter school.
As the Smart Lab facilitator my personal teaching beliefs are very much in sync with the Southwest Learning Centers vision statements. I feel that it is of great importance to help students become self-motivated, self-sufficient, lifelong learners. To do this my emphasis in the Smart Lab is on problem solving skills and independent thinking, I strive to teach students how to search for and construct complete answers, and to become capable of analyzing and evaluating themselves with the goal of helping them become independent thinkers and life-time learners.
I feel that it is important to expose students to new information that can potentially improve their life experience by expanding their way of thinking about the world and challenge them to think critically. I do this by creating a learning environment that is safe and encourages students to think for themselves and problem solve, by acting as a facilitator to their learning and to help them find the answers themselves.
I also believe that it is important to help students develop skills they will need for future employment and participation in society. These skills are often fostered by assigning writing, public speaking and group work. Group work because it is important to know how to successfully interact with others and it is important to gain experience working with groups of many different individuals. To help students become comfortable speaking publicly I give them the opportunity to present their ideas through formal presentation of their projects. My students write in some manner everyday through the completion of daily journaling activities, preplanning and final reflection reports at the culmination of their project. Students are given clearly defined goals and timelines but are allowed to use the best learning style that suits them to complete their projects.
In addition to Smart Lab I am also the sponsor for the Homeland Security class SSLC conducts in conjunction with Sandia National Laboratories. The program is designed to assist students in developing their understanding of the basic principles of homeland security and emergency preparedness. This will be our third year participating in the class and we continue to be the only Albuquerque school invited to participate in this program.