My teaching philosophy
A student walking out of my classroom at the end of the semester should be able to identify argument strategies, respond to arguments relevantly and civilly, and explore all sides of a conversation to come to a solution to the arguments presented. They will be able to explain not only their ideas clearly, but others’ opinions and their validity. A student at the end of the semester should be familiar with several writing genres through actively creating them, but also familiar with the process of discovering a new writing genre. They will be able to approach any writing assignment with confidence that they can meet the requirements given to them.
STUDENT INTERACTIONS My class discussions follow the Socratic method. I select readings that introduce students to different claims, then prepare questions that require students to think critically about the reasoning that leads the author's conclusions. For instance, in my Persuasive Writing course I usually assign a court case for the first day’s discussion; the most recent one is a Utah case determining liability for injuries during a church basketball game. I ask my students the differences between the reasoning of the district court versus the state supreme court and whether they agree on which points are essential to define. We delve into what a “contact sport” could mean, and whether it matters what it means. Many of my students have participated in such basketball games and enjoy the discussion about whether you have assumed the risk of injury when playing amateur sports. My role is simply to ask the questions that encourage the conversation and restate or expound on students’ arguments. This pattern is repeated with our further readings in the course. Good questions and respectful restatements set the trajectory for encouraging thinking. A couple weeks into the semester, students are eagerly entering into class discussions knowing that their comments are valuable. Class discussions feature differently in online environments, but I continue to create a space for conversations in my virtual classrooms. I adapt class discussions to the virtual classroom by using tools such as polls, break-out rooms, collaborative documents, and chat features to stimulate students' thinking. Answering polls applying the reading allows students to think through the information without the pressure of being called on; we can then discuss the different claims in the lecture based on the poll answers. I use the chat feature for quick answers to simple questions or quick feedback ("give me a thumbs up if that makes sense") that otherwise I'd miss without seeing students' faces. And I still call on students--but I give them plenty of warning ahead of time so they aren't caught off guard. CLASS ACTIVITIES When I first began teaching, I committed to never assign “busy work”. Assignments to take up time or activities with no clear purpose demoralize students in the learning process. However, after reading Small Teachings, I have realized that smaller assignments and activities do not need to be “busy work” and, when integrated well, can accelerate learning in a way larger assignments cannot. For transfer activities, I assign in-class writings at the beginning of class that either restate earlier topics or reflect on the connection between those topics and the current readings. Many days will see the students break into groups to collaborate on teaching points to present to the class—demonstrations of argument strategies, poster illustrations of concepts, discussion questions for the reading, or a quick sample of the following homework assignment. These group activities allow students to reinforce their learning while giving me the opportunity for instant feedback to correct misconceptions that may arise. Although these assignments are small, they have not been reduced to “busy work” because they have evolved into an essential part of the students’ learning and my teaching. Some of my group activities are inspired by my love of party games. To identify research gaps, the students play Scattergories—they must brainstorm as many new research areas of a certain topic as they can that begin with a designated letter. We have a Play-Doh statue competition to learn about useful feedback when improving something. Students defend their choices in Apples to Apples using specific argument strategies. After each activity, we discuss or students write journal entries on how they can apply those principles in upcoming writing assignments. While these classes are intended to be entertaining, they also reflect my belief that removing concepts from traditional academic settings garners the flexibility to transfer the skills learned to different genres—flexibility that will serve the students well as they progress to unique settings in school and career. WRITING INSTRUCTION In no other category is the aphorism more true that you learn by doing than in writing. However, a large portion of students think that writing is a talent few can obtain. I believe that the most useful knowledge a student can receive in my class is the existence of the writing process. My students come from numerous areas of study, some more writing-intensive than others, and will progress into innumerable future experiences involving writing. There is no set of assignments that can instruct them in how to respond in all their future projects. But if they can learn how to plan a writing assignment based on the guidelines given, if they can learn to leave time to outline, draft, revise, and polish, I have taught them skills to use. To reflect this philosophy, I talk through assignment descriptions in class well before the assignment is due. I show examples and ask the students to find their strengths and weaknesses. We often work through a mini example ourselves, in groups or together on the board, so I can see where their misunderstandings lie. Throughout this process, I distinguish between the aspects of writing that pertain specifically to that assignment (format, audience, style) and the aspects that pertain to good writing in all genres (revision, grammar, audience analysis). While working on examples in class we are constantly revising; this practice helps students see that writing is not a gift they lack but a skill they can learn. ONLINE ADAPTATIONS I do not believe online courses need to be relegated to recorded lectures and sleeping students. Dr. Amy Williams taught me the ten-minute rule for online classes, which I take very seriously: every ten minutes, have the students do something to stay engaged. Sometimes, after ten minutes I break them into groups to discuss a concept and report back to the class, or write a quick example on a Google doc for us to discuss. Several times during class I invite students to type an answer into the chat, and as I scroll through I call on students to expound on their answers. On Zoom, I can share my screen showing a document and they can annotate it as we point out different aspects of the paper. Students have reported to me that they remain interested longer and consider class more valuable than passively receiving instruction. Frankly, I'm more interested in class as well when we're engaged. Assessing writing with clear feedback is essential when you can't meet with a student face-to-face. I invite students to submit drafts often and provide thorough comments on their writing. I provide many examples of assignments before they are due and review common mistakes before assigning final drafts. Through making these adjustments, I believe online courses can be just as helpful and motivating for students as physical classroom interactions. Breaking into smaller groups gives them the opportunity to work through examples together, and using collaborate documents gives me the opportunity to give instant feedback on their work, just as I do in a physical classroom. |