Teaching

My Teaching Philosophy

My willingness to be flexible and my eagerness to be challenged have served me well over the years. I believe they have been of benefit to both my department and my students. I have learned to adapt to my environment, from teaching in a traditional classroom, teaching in a CLC, and teaching asynchronous online. I have worked with first- semester freshmen, graduating seniors, and graduate students. I have taught those courses that were exclusively defined as English courses as well as those co-listed as English and technical communication, and I have taught both English and Technical Communication 1600 and English 3560 in 16-, and 8-week sessions, and I have taught English 3560 in 4-week sessions as well. Despite the differences in students, curricula, and technology, my approach to teaching has remained constant. Each class period, I work to ensure active, meaningful engagement of the materials beyond an assignment, a grade, and a course. To do so effectively, I have learned to listen to my students, giving them space to speak and space to think. I have come to appreciate that technology is a tool one can use to build up or tear down. Perhaps most importantly, though, I have learned to be an advocate for my students: celebrating with them when they are succeeding, lifting them up when they are struggling, and guiding them to the appropriate resources when it is appropriate to do so. Thus, my teaching philosophy is one of collaboration; I work with my students to build an environment conducive to learning, whatever form that environment may take, I offer the materials they need to be successful, and then I give them the space they need to learn and grow.