TEACHING STATEMENT
I believe learning is a way of life. I believe in listening and asking questions. I believe in respect, kindness, and inclusion. I believe in openness to new ideas, seeing challenges as opportunities, the importance of community, and the value of literary citizenship. I believe that when we use our creativity and critical thinking skills, we can make our world a better place.
During my first semester as an instructor for English 101 Composition at Minnesota State University, I kept a journal as a way to reflect on my new adventure. The first entry began: “Wow! I can’t believe I’m a teacher.” The word “wow” still feels accurate now that I’ve taught several first-year writing classes, as well as creative writing for youth.
Being able to facilitate students’ learning is a great experience. Whether I’m teaching a large classroom of college students in person, or a small group of middle-schoolers online, I make it my goal to engage all participants. I believe learning should be fun, and I’m always seeking ways to improve my curriculum and teaching methods.
One of my peers described it this way: “There’s always such a fun and enjoyable vibe when you teach. People always feel comfortable and happy to share when you are teaching, I notice, I think because you express a genuine interest in the comments students make, which I think really encourages them.”
For me, success means providing students with a foundation for understanding writing in new ways. My hope is that everyone (even those who say they’ve “never been good at writing”) will begin to see writing as accessible, enjoyable, and expansive. The courses I’ve taken, including Composition Theory, Teaching Creative Writing, Workshop for Composition Teaching Assistants, and an internship for teaching creative non-fiction, have given me many ideas for making this a reality.
I find it valuable to incorporate Writing about Writing (WAW) pedagogy into my teaching. In my current first-year writing syllabus, all projects allow students to explore different audiences, purposes, and genres. When creating lessons, I often draw (directly or indirectly) from principles outlined in Naming What We Know by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth Wardle. As my students and I explore how writing is shaped by several factors, such as identity, prior experience, and social contexts, we dispel the notion that there is one “correct” way to write. By the end of the semester, students are not only more confident in their writing skills, they also have a deeper understanding of language as a whole.
Revision is central to my teaching, and students are encouraged to take risks and not be afraid of failure. Before I give feedback, I ask students what areas they’d like to improve, and we work on that together. I view feedback as an open and ongoing conversation with the writer. In my classroom, as well as in my personal life, I am committed to contributing to a culture of empathy and respect by continually learning from and listening to those around me.
One of my favorite things is listening to students read their second drafts out loud, via video or audio recording. Students seem to enjoy this, too. In my spring 2022 course, one noted: “I have found reading my work out loud helps me find typos, grammar mistakes, and weird-sounding sentences. This is something that I will continue to do throughout the rest of my writing. Even for things like emails. I also appreciate the audio feedback from you. I think that is more helpful than having a teacher send back an edited copy because I can hear your reasoning for your revisions. I hope you keep that in the future.”
I have used traditional grading methods and labor-based grading, and I’ve also led classes without a grading system. When teaching at the college-level, I’ve found that labor-based grading offers several benefits. Not only does it facilitate an equitable platform for non-native English speakers, it also allows flexibility for students with different learning preferences. My grading contract is inspired by professor Asao B. Inoue, and it also includes unique elements.
In my grading contract, I’m most proud of the section I call “Additional Assignments.” In it, I outline several options for multimodal projects, and students have the freedom to choose any one of these ideas. Past students have created everything from a how-to video about taekwondo, a business website, an original song recording, a presentation about domestic violence, an animated drawing tutorial, and more. Only one Additional Assignment is required to be eligible for an “A” grade, but some students complete multiple projects. One even asked if he could continue to send me work over the summer, “just for fun.”
A goal of mine is to equip students with transferable tools that will serve them not only in college, but also in their careers and personal lives. The use of reflection is one example of this. After each major project, I ask students to examine the rhetorical choices they made throughout the writing process, in order to help them develop an awareness of what they did, and why.
As I reflect on my own career, I know that there is still much for me to learn – and always will be. For that, I am grateful.