Narrative

Being a teacher was not on my agenda. I planned on becoming a social worker or mental health therapist. I began an undergraduate degree in Communication because I knew it would benefit the counselor I would eventually become. When it was time to apply to the social work graduate program, I found myself pulled in another direction. While taking Communicating Emotions with Dr. Carolyn Ellis and Love and Communication with Dr. Arthur Bochner, I was witness to transformative change in almost every classmate. Using impromptu activities, writing assignments, oral storytelling, in-class movies, and relevant articles, we explored topics such as love, loss, neglect, abandonment, grief, death, and the range of emotions experienced throughout our lives. Joy, passion, care, and connection exuded from both these professors as they taught subjects in which they were clearly invested. I left those classes a different person with new understanding of myself and my place in the world and a deeper understanding of others and their cultural worlds. My classmates agreed; they felt different and saw the world with new eyes. I wanted to do this work; I wanted to be like my two professors. I had found my passion. I wanted to be a teacher!

I applied and was accepted into the Master’s program in the Department of Communication at the University of South Florida and as a result became a graduate teaching associate. I thought about all the classes I had taken. Which teaching strategies seemed to work best? How had students responded? Which activities invited student participation?

PUBLIC SPEAKING

When teaching Public Speaking, I did not forget how it felt to be a student who was terrified to speak up while seated in class, let alone stand at the front of the room; I did not forget how it felt to experience vulnerability, share my perspective, and write for a group of strangers. Knowing my embodied performance of teacher impacts students, I worked on presenting myself as calm and encouraging. The first week of classes I randomly sorted students into groups and gave time throughout the semester for them to get to know each other, brainstorm together, and peer review each other's early drafts of speeches. Group work builds community, helps students develop writing skills, and instills a sense of confidence and camaraderie when the time comes for speech giving. I incorporated mindfulness and deep breathing into speech days which soothes and relaxes the most nervous students. And, I focused on the efforts to prepare and write the speech as well as on students' speech delivery, so that they have multiple ways to do well. Knowing this helps them give speeches without the fear of losing points for nervous ticks and twitches that are physiological responses to the stress and fear they may feel. Student feedback reflected my efforts:

"She is a great public speaking professor. She created a very comfortable environment for us to speak in, which helped me be more confident with my speeches. I learned so much from this course and the knowledge will stay with me."

"She made the class really fun! Loved the atmosphere, and I feel like I learned a lot about how to speak to an audience and become more social."

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Teaching Interpersonal Communication gave me an opportunity to put into practice the collaborative learning technique I was exposed to when my political science teacher encouraged us to get in groups to complete the take-home midterm and final exams. I created short answer and essay chapter quizzes which were completed in class by student dyads using the text. This facilitated cooperation, conversation, and better retention of the material. At the end of each quiz, students were asked to write a skit together employing techniques discussed in the applicable chapters. (Example: Write a skit in which there is a conflict between you and a partner. Begin with a fault/blame interaction and then move to a nexting* style of communication.) Each pair would then come to the front of the room and perform the interaction for the class. After each skit, we would discuss what we saw happening, how the conflict unfolded, and the resolution strategies used. At the end of the semester, I asked students to be creative in letting me know what they had learned over the course of the semester. Here is one example:

*Nexting (Stewart, 2005) is the process by which people in conversation use awareness and skills to do what's next to keep conversation moving in a positive direction.

COMMUNICATION, CULTURE, AND COMMUNITY

I had the pleasure of teaching two semesters of Communication, Culture, and Community, a service learning course which requires students to complete fifteen hours of service at a local community based organization. I incorporated the use of social media, Tumblr specifically, using a format with which students are familiar to connect what happens as part of their learning experiences in our class with the technology they use in everyday lives. I asked students to use photographs and text to story their service learning experiences as well as inform me and their peers about other community involvement. Here are two excerpts from their Tumblr posts:

I never really volunteered before taking this class and now I see the importance of getting out there and making a difference in my community. I can’t wait to start volunteering at all sorts of places and taking time out of my day to help someone else. I feel like it’s truly important in life to help others. I’m so happy that I took this class.

After this semester in this class, I have learned a great deal about the importance of communication and community service. I had not done community service since high school because, to be honest, I never really thought about it. I felt like between work, school, and friends I was busy enough, but after doing community service in our groups, I cannot wait to volunteer again.

At the end of the semester, I used a modified version of The World Café* as a prompt for feedback to see what students learned during their time in our Communication, Culture, and Community class. Here are two examples:

*The World Café (Brown & Isaacs, 2005) is a flexible and simple way to foster collaboration, share knowledge, and develop new ideas regarding specific topics or questions.

COMMUNICATION SENIOR CAPSTONE

My most recent experience is teaching the required Communication Capstone for graduating seniors. The literature I have chosen for this class demonstrates practical applications of a wide range of theories to which students have been exposed while studying communication. Using my many years of human resource and general management experience, I work with students to develop eye-catching resumes and powerful cover letters. I incorporate some form of art and creativity into each class I teach. During the second week of the Communication Capstone class, I invite students to imagine if anything were possible how would they envision their dream lives. I hand out large pieces of drawing paper and color pencils ask questions like: What would your ideal job entail? Where would you live? What might your family look like? Your dream home? Here is a snapshot: