Philosophy of Teaching
Attitude Determines Altitude
I love a noisy classroom. I love the be interrupted. I love students jumping out of their chair, interjecting their opinions loud and strong. I love trying to “settle them down” because that means they are excited about what they have to say. If they feel that strongly about it, then they will want to make sure they convey those strong opinions with clarity. For those reasons, I give my students permission to interrupt me—to shout out in class. This kind of enthusiasm spreads and is a darn sight more interesting and thought provoking than the sedate atmosphere in an ordered classroom. The most important element of my pedagogy is my enthusiasm. My students know from the first day of class that I am excited to be there with them, learning from them, and in turn sharing with them my knowledge of composition and literature. For me, it is as important as the first line of the essay—I must “hook ‘em” from the start. Attitude is contagious, and I feel that if I can get them excited about their studies, they will be more receptive to my instruction and leadership. One way I get students excited is by teaching them that their voice has power.
After I introduce my syllabus at the beginning of each semester, I ask my students if they have any questions. Invariably one student will raise a hand and ask, “Can we use “I” in our papers?” The answer is an empathic “yes.” As a teacher of composition and literature, I want my students to know that their voices and opinions have rhetorical power not only in class where I welcome loud voices, but also in their class assignments, in their own lives, and in society. For instance, I enjoy emphasizing the personal voice to freshmen by assigning a personal essay that requires students to re-examine an “ah-ha” moment in their lives and to show me how that moment is extraordinary, such as the one in which a student on a long-term mission trip suddenly realizes she is an outsider. She then understood how her small moment translated into larger, world-wide meanings about crossing borders. For sophomores, I ask students to select a current debatable topic that is important to them and follow it through to the end of the semester, writing Rogerian, Exploratory, and Position argument papers, focusing on controversial topics. One student surprised me with his unique approach to the oft-argued steroids-in-sports topic. He approached the topic from his own unique experience living with a rare form of dwarfism and taking steroids from birth. As an athlete, he will never be able to compete professionally. I also encourage my literature students to analyze their own perceptions of literary themes and how they see these themes influencing society. I teach them that their argument is theirs to make, but they must prove it with sound logical and evidence. (See More)
Department of English
Texas Christian University
TCU Box 297270Fort Worth, TX 76129
Phone: (817) 253-8018
Fax: (817) 257-6238
Office Hours:
TTH 9:30 -12:00
Reed Hall 116
". . . extra-ordinarily re-experience the ordinary."
Ira Shor, Critical Teaching and Everyday Life
