Teaching Philosophy
“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones,
in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.”
Tom Stoppard
As a teacher of composition, I facilitate a collegial, accessible environment in which students are empowered as communicators to make a difference in the world. I encourage my students to craft their own personalized practices as writers and communicators, challenging them to build collegial relationships with their peers and to use their writing to effect change. My role in this endeavor is as a facilitator and not merely a director or supervisor; I aim to center student identity and agency in every course I teach.
Cultivating Collegiality
The professional and academic writing students will do in the future will often be performed within a writing community. This is why I want my students to see each other as peers and sources of support in the processes of writing, reading, and thinking. When teaching online, I frequently make use of collaborative annotation programs like PerusAll and Nearpod, which allow students to see each others’ comments in real-time so that readings and videos become a field for collaboration and communication. For in-person instruction, I use student-centered teaching modalities like jigsaw discussions, pair work, and group reflection.
Along with connecting with each other as colleagues, my students come to develop a collegial relationship with me as well. I believe rapport and relationship are central to effective teaching, and I work hard to connect with students and demonstrate my understanding of who they are as individuals. My students frequently comment on the quality of our relationship and of the environment I have created in class. This relationship is evidenced in these quotations from student evaluations: “The environment is excellent. Everyone respects each other and you get to learn a lot from this class” and “I honestly really love how you as a professor are so understanding and helpful to any concerns the students give. I feel like a good professor makes a good class.”
Accessibility for All
Accessibility and anti-racism are essential components of the classroom environment I build. I am constantly revising my policies, choices of texts, methods of instruction delivery, and approaches to providing feedback with these values in mind. For example, I allow flexible due date windows and am quick to provide revision and resubmission opportunities. Additionally, I encourage students to bring their own identities, interests and language styles into coursework, such as through a personal literacy narrative assignment that allows for their authentic development as writers in contexts that matter to them.
I am deeply passionate about prioritizing student mental health, ensuring equitable access to learning supports for students with specific needs, and providing resources to help language learners. In our diverse campus community and nation, it is of vital importance that I carefully create every element of my composition courses with accessibility and accountability in mind, from image descriptions on the Canvas website to diverse representations of authors in the syllabus.
Self-Empowered Students
The power words hold is a value I impart to my students. I desire to see them develop an awareness and even enjoyment of this element of writing. They gain a sense of empowerment through their growth as communicators in my classes. I model different writing strategies and encourage students to criticize those that do not benefit them. My goal is not for them to learn to write how I want, but to learn how to write in the way that best serves their purposes and allows them to use their skills to make an impact in their communities, workplaces, and academic disciplines.
Cycles of Reflection
In order to accomplish these goals, I am reflective in my own practice, seeking feedback and reevaluating my work as the course proceeds. I also prioritize reflection for my students in all phases of the writing process. Sharing my own challenges in writing and works in progress with students, along with being honest when I need to make changes in my practice, demonstrates the importance of metacognition and reflection. I am constantly seeking new information about how to improve my pedagogy and be the kind of instructor my students deserve.