I am constantly inundated, as other teachers are, with a litany of what students of this generation cannot do. Lack of critical thinking, inability to transfer knowledge, misunderstanding of professionalism… the list typically goes on and on. As an instructor, I have a choice – to listen to this list and believe it as a prescriptive annotation of the failings of my potential students – OR to understand the list as more descriptive of potential areas for growth instead. As an instructor and mentor, I choose to focus on the former – I want to see each new classroom as the opportunity to learn about the needs of my students and create a working relationship in which students benefit with new knowledge and I benefit from better understanding the work process of each student. As such, there are three central values I focus on as an instructor, these are:
developing metacognitive reflection skills to improve student transfer of knowledge,
using both physical and digital multimodal composing projects to communicate, and
emphasizing personal responsibility in the learning process.
Teaching classes rooted in rhetoric and multimodal communication principles allows me to emphasize the importance of understanding how each step in the communication process is important. By planning class activities that allow students to brainstorm and draft as part of daily participation, I offer them the chance to not cram an entire project in the night before it is due. As we discuss each activity, I clearly explain the interaction between the small task and the larger project goals in an effort to help students begin to connect the concepts in class sessions to different document types. By focusing on how the process for each project turned out, I work to encourage students to think about their own step-by-step approach to planning, research, composing, and revision. By placing an emphasis on this reflection, I hope to help students see not only places to improve and grow, but also to acknowledge the areas that are successful and identify their existing expertise.
Teaching communication classes at both graduate and undergraduate levels on a wide variety of topics ensures that my instructional strategies incorporate not only alphabetic text (a description of typical academic work) but also multimodal texts as well. Multimodal texts focus on the combination of visual, spatial, aural, gestural, and textual elements to create the most effective delivery of the document's message in specific contexts. As I teach, I work to incorporate daily activities and long term projects that give students the opportunity to develop skills analyzing and producing these types of texts. This is accomplished by requiring students to interact with course content digitally (through a course learning management system) and allowing students to practice professionalism in the classroom by critiquing all interactions in the classroom (email, discussion posts, daily activities, and final projects). By making students aware of all the possible modes of communication, I hope to help them develop a strong ability to understand and produce the multimodal texts that will be required of them in whatever situations their futures may hold.
Teaching classes at both the undergraduate and graduate level allows me to consider how each level of academic growth requires different skills to accomplish course goals. Naturally graduate students are expected to show more independent investment in classroom activities than would be freshmen. However, I strive to teach my undergraduate classes in such a way that all students can develop the skills needed to take personal responsibility in their own learning process commensurate with their level and with the class content. This is demonstrated by my requiring daily activities and participation – but only assessing these portions of the class on a completion basis. I acknowledge that students will engage with tasks and materials in ways that are useful to their abilities and interests. My understanding that students need to take personal responsibility for their own learning also shows in my encouraging students to draft more than the one required draft for class activities. As such I am available for more than just set office hours, provide consultations via email, and treat each student project presented to me with respect and interest. I work to invest in students and am transparent about assessment, course objectives, and other issues that arise as classes develop. In return I ask students to try as they can and provide scaffolding and activities to help encourage students who may want to make the effort, but do not know how to – or what to ask.
My biggest desire as a teacher (and I share this with my students frequently) is to help each and every one of them to move their abilities forward on the writing and communication continuum. Each student arrives in my classroom with varying levels of interest and ability and I want each of them to leave having increased in some manner in each of these areas of possible growth. By focusing on metacognitive reflection, using multimodal composing strategies, and encouraging personal responsibility for each student - I believe that I reach this goal. I do not look at my students as a list of what they do not know how to do…but instead as an opportunity to develop from what they do know to what they could know when they leave my class to move onto other writing and communication situations.