Teaching Philosophy

College-level writing courses—and courses across disciplines—should enable students to see themselves as individual scholars entering an ongoing academic discourse. As an instructor, I am responsible for fostering a collaborative writing community in which each student feels their voice is equally valued and where students have the opportunity to explore challenging questions and content through discussion, writing, and reflection on that writing.

I construct my writing courses with the intention of empowering students to participate in academic conversations that extend beyond the classroom. By assigning a variety of texts by established and emerging writers, including undergraduate essays, I challenge my students to consider themselves as what they are—scholars contributing to a larger academic community. I make consistent use of undergraduate writing publications (such as Boston College’s Fresh Ink) to highlight the value of my students’ voices. Analyzing rhetoric of all kinds, no matter the author or context, promotes students’ agency and maximizes opportunities for critical thinking inside and outside the classroom. Further, I build in multiple full-class workshops or small group peer review days throughout the semester in order to have each student see his or her own writing discussed and analyzed in the same way the class approaches other readings for the course.

My composition courses revolve around the central idea that writing is a process. I incorporate a mix of analytical, argumentative, and narrative writing assignments in order to prepare students for writing across the disciplines in their future academic careers. For every major writing assignment, I require each student to compose and submit at least one draft prior to the draft that I evaluate for a grade. I value (and require) individual or small group conferences with me during the period between the “first” and “final” draft as opportunities for productive dialogue and reflection on the writing process for that particular piece. Further, during the final weeks of the semester, students prepare a portfolio of their writing. This culminating project asks students to bring together in-class writing from the semester, low-stakes assignments, and every draft of each major assignment, one of which must undergo an additional revision. The portfolio also requires a reflective cover letter which challenges students to engage with and reflect on their progress throughout the semester. Ideally, the course will provide them with the appropriate critical analysis skills and equip them with vocabulary to turn the critical eye back onto themselves by the end of the semester. Beyond reinforcing writing as process to my students, these portfolios have proven to be invaluable to me as an instructor as they provide student’s first-person accounts of their thinking about their process of composition throughout the course which I can then use to revise the course in order to be more effective for future sections.

I believe the development of new digital technologies provides productive and exciting ways to enhance writing instruction and I try to incorporate a digital aspect into my course when possible. For example, a follow-up assignment to the personal narrative requires students to “remix” their narrative into a different genre. A number of students have taken this opportunity to experiment with digital forms by creating a short film or blog to illustrate a narrative. While I value the possibilities that digital technology provides, I firmly believe that the best writing comes from students who are engaged not only in the course content, but the actual class environment as well. Therefore, I employ a strict no-electronics policy in my day-to-day class sessions. While there may be a few sessions where I make class-wide exceptions (for an in-class lesson on evaluating web sources, for example), I require students to turn off all cell phones when they enter the classroom. I expect students to come to class with hard copies of the assigned readings. Eliminating potential distractions by these electronic devices communicates my desire for students to be fully present during class time and promotes productive engagement in class exercises and discussion.

Overall, my writing courses aim to provide students with the confidence and ability to confront concepts in new and productive ways that will benefit them as lifelong learners. I hope that the students who take my course are able to discover their own voice by engaging in the writing process, challenging conversations, and active reflection.