Meet Julie Watts

I've taught a variety of subjects at The Rhoades School over the last nine years, such as: 6th, 7th and 8th grade social studies, math, Spanish, entrepreneurship, art history, Ted-Ed student talks, and sports and society. I am also a middle school advisor, Girl Rising Club mentor, and the Service Learning Coordinator at Rhoades.

I'm a lifelong learner... I received my BA in political science from Northwestern University, my Ph.D. in political science from New York University, and my teaching credential from Cal State University San Marcos.

My husband and I have two children: our son recently graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a BFA in theatre performance and education, and our daughter is a sophomore at UC Berkeley. Our daughter attended Rhoades in middle school. As a family, we enjoy traveling and being outdoors. We have had adventures in Germany, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Peru, Japan, Croatia, Spain, Italy, and Scotland. My hobbies include playing tennis, walking our two pugs, and reading.

One of my primary goals as a history teacher is for my students to think like historians. I want students to appreciate that the study of history is not an exercise in memorizing facts from the past. Rather, history is about investigating and analyzing the context and complexity in which people lived and the contingency of their decision-making.

Students engage with primary sources on an almost daily basis using the skills of close reading, contextualization and corroboration - all skills essential to thinking like a historian. One vehicle I use frequently for engaging students with primary source documents is history labs, in which students work hands-on in collaborative learning experiences - reading, discussing, interpreting and analyzing speeches, letters, journals, paintings, maps, etc. Middle School students also have the opportunity to participate in National History Day.

Rhoades students also have opportunities to do experiential learning through field trips. My 6th graders visit the Museum of Man in Balboa Park to explore the Maya civilization and what it means to do archaeology. Our 8th graders spend an entire week diving into history and politics with our Washington, D.C. field trip in May. We turn the clock all the way back to the 1600s by visiting Jamestown, VA. We also explore Colonial Williamsburg, Mount Vernon, Gettysburg, and many historic sites in D.C.

Another important aspect of my teaching philosophy is student engagement in service learning. My role as service learning coordinator is to provide opportunities for students to volunteer and help them explore their interests in service learning. One example is the Rhoades Girl Rising Club, which was founded by Rhoades students eight years ago to raise awareness about girls' education around the world. Another service learning opportunity for our 7th and 8th graders is volunteering once a month at Casa de Amistad. We bring technology to young students whose parents did not have the opportunity to go to college.

Email: jwatts@rhoadesschool.com
Website: https://www.rhoadesschool.com/parents/our-faculty/teacher/julie-watts/
Location: 910 Encinitas Boulevard, Encinitas, CA, USA
Phone: 760-436-1102
Facebook: facebook.com/RhoadesSchool
Twitter: @Rhoades_School