Teaching Philosophy

I believe all students learn best when they are engaged. I also believe that students only truly engage in learning if they: feel safe; trust that their instructor is competent and fair; and are challenged at the appropriate level; can perceive their won progress; and are both permitted but feel they are allowed to make mistakes.

Every obstacle is an opportunity.

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My approach is to build rapport, trust and shared respect with students by including them in decision making when appropriate and modeling the behaviors that are agreed upon.

Putting the student at ease, allowing them to lower their guard so that they have access to their learning brain. I do my best to be inquisitive and draw students onto discussions and collaborations as opposed (to vomiting facts all over them) preaching facts and data to them. In turn encouraging them to always be inquisitive of their education and advocate for themselves, while emphasizing that this also means asking for help when they need it.

 

When it comes to content, my goal and method is breaking down the lesson and building it progressively, engaging in (linking to) prior knowledge and give support when needed and /or asked.

 

The underpinning of my approach…

My core principles are:

            Openness: Available and accessible, honest, fair, compassionate

  Inclusion: All are welcome and deserve equal opportunity of              outcomes

  Professionalism: Modeling behaviors that are expert of them in        both the classroom and in industry

  Lifelong Learning: (Teach) learn, apply, reflect, and reframe

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To facilitate all the above, there are certain steps that are recurrent in my delivery (of attempts) They are the following:

• Use of clear, simple verbiage

• Give clear, complete instructions

• Give opportunity for questions/ concerns/ opinions to be honored

• Remind them that they are not yet experts and are expected to not know many things … and that questions and mistakes are necessary steps in the learning process

• Deliver content in multiple ways (see notes/ Remarkable)

• Give clear grading criteria

• Get student feedback  

 

We’ve gone through “the what”, “the how”, and “the where” but not “the why” (at least not the deeper why).

So why do I teach? One reason is the sense of duty to my amazing teachers that came before, giving me the gifts of knowledge, opportunity, agency and freedom. Another is being part of the legacy that education provides. But mostly it’s the eureka moments, the eyes lighting up, they finally understand the thing that was confusing them. The smile when they get a test returned what a grade that validates all the hard work and effort. Those are the things that sustain me in this endeavor.