About Ashton Cluts

I am from Bluffton, Ohio. I went to Baldwin Wallace University for undergrad in Early Childhood Education, I also got my Masters from Baldwin Wallace in K-12 Literacy. I lived in South Africa for a year with MCC's SALT program in 2016-2017. I LOVE traveling and have been to 12 countries. I love to make art through singing, ballet, playing several instruments, and theater. My younger brother is a 5th Medical Student in Pittsburgh and my older brother is an aeronautical engineer at NASA. My mom is a retired High School Teacher and my dad is spending his pre-retirement years in construction. I love visiting Camp Friedenswald no matter what season it is or why I am there, helping, relaxing, or studying something. I was on summer staff for 4 years plus two additional summers volunteering.

 

What is your philosophy of teaching?

I focus on creating educational experiences that allow students to learn through discovery, whether that's with hands-on activities, reading texts that lead us to our answers, or guiding students through a series of questions to get them to discover what we are learning. I push students to produce high quality work by teaching processes rather than memorization. Reading is the key to everything!

 

What kind of classroom experience do you try to create for your students?

Hands on activities, discovery activities, field trips, creating a unique to the student product to demonstrate learning.

 

How do you keep students engaged in their learning experience?

Movement, questions, singing, using our bodies, and variety of lesson delivery (ipads, videos, books, "lecture").

 

What qualities or life skills do you wish to impart to your students?

KINDNESS, compassion, responsibility, perseverance, how to tie shoes, how to zip up coats, how to keep your personal space tidy, how to care for their bodies (wearing coats, washing hands etc.) read a book, and how to tell time.

 

What fuels your passion and drive to be an educator?

I am able to be a part of the students' lives and teaching students to be kind, to love themselves, that they can do anything, and that they matter and can do hard things.

 

When you aren't teaching, what can we find you doing?

Watching Netflix, playing with my cat, at church young adult groups, singing in Goshen Community Chorale, or sleeping!