Teaching Philosophy

---

  As a teacher, my priority is to provide students support and help them grow both as academics and individuals. On the first day of my classes, I begin by emphasizing that I am there to support them however they need. I explain to them that my biggest and most important class policy is communication.“We are all in this together,” I often tell students, “and if you communicate with me what you need and how I can help you, I will do whatever is within my power to help you succeed.” Throughout the semester, I continue to stress the idea that I am here to support them, so long as they reach out and ask. Sometimes, that support might look like having a one-on-one session and going over an assignment together in great detail, or simply listening to them share personal troubles or stresses and directing them to campus resources that might help. Other times, it might look like being flexible with an assignment deadline for either an individual student or the class as a whole; and still at different times, it might look like completely revamping my personal plans for the course in order to address a larger need for the entire class. While still maintaining curriculum guidelines and expectations, I find that prioritizing student needs and meeting them where they are at helps the students to meet curriculum standards and gives them both confidence and support to succeed.

Part of what I consider caring for students’ needs is to provide a safe space for them to examine and explore their own identities, environments, and positionalities. Often, in my first-year writing courses, we discuss concepts such as intersectionality and identity, and engage in discussions about race, class, gender, and sexuality. Through engaging with material and class discussion, together we approach complex and sensitive subjects in a respectful and educational tone that allows students to freely express themselves and ask questions. For example, when discussing socioeconomic class in a first-year writing course, we read bell hooks’ article “Confronting Class in the Classroom,” and discuss how things such as money and class influence universities and students’ experiences. I then encourage students to form a circle and have an open discussion about their own experiences concerning class and the classroom. This activity has repeatedly allowed students to both share their personal stories and practice rhetorical listening, and has almost always resulted in students feeling simultaneously heard and enlightened.

Finally, I always strive to create fun and challenging courses, assignments, and activities that will excite students and help them grow as academics. Often, this looks like utilizing less-that-traditional resources, such as drawing from pop-culture and incorporating multimodality. In the various courses I have taught, I have utilized traditionally written essays and books, alongside graphic novels, documentaries, music and music videos, web texts, podcasts, and many other modes of writing. I find this not only engages students and piques their interest, but also guides them to consider the many different strategies of communication in an increasingly digital world. It also allows students to practice multiple forms of writing, to discover their own personal strengths, and to challenge themselves in areas they might not feel as confident.

While students practice traditional literacy and writing through response papers and essays throughout the semester, I often have at least one project in each class where I encourage students to practice multimodal composing as it relates to the course subject. Over the years I have received all sorts of unique and beautiful projects from traditional essays or poems to digital artwork, hand-drawn graphic novels, videos, podcast episodes, and even musical compositions. I find that allowing students to think outside of the box not only allows them to express themselves in ways they feel most confident, but also encourages them to engage creatively with classroom content and think critically about writing across genres.

Overall, when it comes to teaching, I see each student as a whole being, and a classroom as a space made up of individuals. Regardless of the class level or subject matter, I try my best to meet both the group and the individual where they are at, and to provide both support and a space where they can freely and creatively learn and grow as both writers and individuals.