Philosophy of Teaching
I believe the most successful classroom is a nurturing environment that promotes student growth. My main goal as an instructor is to create such an environment, one that allows students to find their own voice within their writing. To achieve this I encourage Engagement, Collaboration, and Self-Efficacy
Collaboration |
Engagement Writing is more of a process than an action. Through engaging with the material, I encourage students to draft. As Anne Lamott describes:
“The first draft is the down draft – you just get it down. The second draft is the up draft – you fix it up. You try to say what you have to say more accurately. And the third draft is the dental draft, where you check every tooth, to see if it’s loose or cramped or decayed, or even, God help us, healthy.” (Bird by Bird) By encouraging students draft and engage with the material, they learn about process, audience, and help to develop their own voice. |
Kenneth Bruffee and John Trimbur are two of many academic scholars who push the idea that student collaboration is an important aspect to student growth. By empowering student voices, it allows students to gain confidence in their own thoughts as well as to talk through some more difficult concepts. Mary Louise Pratt suggests in “Arts of the Contact Zone” that each student has their own experience to share. Beyond workshops, students will work together in small groups to answer discussion questions, present ideas, even create a presentation for the class to display an understanding on a topic. In this digital age, I also promote student collaboration through discussion forums, where students answer a question and respond to one another. The more students are allowed to collaborate, the more students will find confidence in a topic, alongside a stronger grasp of the material.
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Self-Efficacy
As the instructor I take the role of a mentor, or, as Lynn Holaday would refer to it, a “coach.” Due to the nature of the classroom, I am an authority figure, there to help guide the students with proper readings, tools, and feedback to help them succeed. Yet I agree with Peter Elbow when he explains that students should not write to please an authority figure. Instead, the writing should stand for itself, driving the point home to the intended audience, utilizing their own voice in their writing. By drafting and collaborating throughout the semester, each student can achieve these goals, becoming stronger writers in the process.