Welcome to Professor Rutuku's courses!

I teach because I believe in the great value of developing writing, reading, and critical thinking skills. I know that you will use these skills in your college career as well as in your day to day activities. Every semester, I work to create a student-centered classroom for you that helps you become an active participant in your education instead of viewing it as necessary “schooling.” I truly believe that it is my duty as an educator to show you how to take responsibility for your life through choice theory—the idea that I can give you the tools to be empowered in taking ownership of your academic choices while still satisfying your five basic needs: survival, love, power, fun, and freedom.

To do that, I work hard for you to give you differentiated instruction based on your personal, cultural identity, and urge you to see your brain as an always developing, growing, and progressing. I will use your identity to make the class meaningful for you! When you realize you have choice, and you take action, you are developing a growth mindset! Growth mindset is the understanding that you can develop your abilities through dedication and hard work. It is a love of learning! This also dismisses the belief in a fixed mindset, which states that people either have qualities or they don't and there's nothing that you can do about it.

I want to give you new understandings and appreciations of the values inherit within yourself and others, which fosters your self-expression that can be used both in your academic and personal lives. In turn, this will help you realize your unique voice and the relevance of written communication and critical thinking.

Many students worry that they lack the ability to master college-level coursework, no matter what they do. Some say, “I’m just not a good writer.” Left unaddressed, these fears can become self-fulfilling prophecies that feed a destructive cycle of reduced motivation and performance that might even end in you dropping out. It's my job to help you avoid this entirely!

How do we do that, you ask?

With a growth mindset.

Some people see intelligence as something you either have or don't (fixed mindset), while others see it as a quality that can be developed (growth mindset). I completely, wholeheartedly believe in a growth mindset!

Students with a growth mindset believe that their intelligence can be developed with practice and that failure is part of learning.

Wait, failure?

Yes, failure. I expect that, with those fails, you will use them as opportunities to rework what you've written and to submit your very best work to me. You'll learn more about this under Grading Contract in your class.