Philosophy

My philosophy in the classroom is to practice a student-centered approach. To me, that means understanding what their expectations are, what they value, and how content I teach can impact their lives beyond the classroom. This starts with me respecting their time and work, and meeting them where they are without compromising learning objectives for the course. I make my courses highly adaptable to meet the needs of each class. On every topic, there exists much more information than I can convey to students in one semester. Thus, I take my expertise on a broad range of topics and distill down that content to be most relevant to what students need. In the classroom, I see myself as a learner and structure class time so that my lecture time is minimized so students can engage in learning hands on and discuss materials. I provide feedback and guide discussions when needed.

Philosophy in practice

Flexible deadlines, emphasising qualitative feedback, encouraging vulnerability and risk-taking in their work, and demonstrating trauma informed teaching are some of the ways I practice my student-centered approach. Putting the students’ needs and expectations first allows me to provide more engaging, diverse lectures while also empowering students to be more active in their participation. In example, I like to ask student’s about media they consume to develop more diverse pop culture examples. I also ask students about social causes they care about and develop examples around those causes to make material engaging. For example, I developed datasets looking at real world data on topics such as climate change and police brutality for students to apply their communication statistics skills they learned in class. Students analyzed the data while learning basic excel skills.

Being responsive and open-minded to student’s needs has helped my students to enjoy the course more. Their enjoyment is made evident through their positive end-of-semester evaluations from my class. Another indicator of my teaching effectiveness is that even when attendance is not required, nearly all my students attend class and form strong bonds with each other and me. Students I have taught have gone on to win awards in my department, even referencing their experiences in my class as a reason they love communication as a major. One of my other points of teaching related pride is that I have written 4 letters of recommendation for students going on to graduate school, and several more letters in support of students applying to various scholarships.

Goals

These experiences have been rewarding and I plan to continue improving my teaching by creating more inclusive environments and interactive tools, and supporting learners in their pursuits.

Courses taught

Michigan State University

  1. COM 325 Interpersonal Influence and Conflict
  2. COM 475 Communication Campaign Design and Analysis (W)
  3. COM 300 Methods of Communication Inquiry
  4. COM 240 Introduction to Organizational Communication
  5. COM 100 Human Communication

The Ohio State University

  1. COMM 2367 Persuasive Communication
  2. COMM 2540 Introduction to Communication Technology*
  3. COMM 3440 Mass Communication and Society*
  4. COMM 3554 Social Implications of Communication Technology*
  5. COMM 3668 Intercultural Communication*

*indicates teaching assistant

Resources I’ve used for better understanding decolonization

These are some resources that have helped me re-think what an inclusive classroom means and my role in creating that space. First and foremost, decolonizing means land back. Land back and classroom inclusiveness is particularly poignant at land-grant universities like MSU. To better understand the role that land grant universities continue to play in colonization, please see the Land Grab project here: https://www.landgrabu.org/

  1. Step 1
  2. Decolonize your syllabus
  3. Inclusive teaching
  4. Overview of Cabral and Fanon
  5. Editorial on decolonizing education, perspectives and spaces
  6. Decolonizing Educational Research: From Ownership to Answerability
  7. Land Grant Universities and Land Back
  8. Queer of Color Critique Readings
  9. Engaging Black Women’s Knowledge

Student Feedback

2022 COM 300

“Thank you for being such a helpful TA. Your kindness, patience and care for your students doesn’t go unnoticed. I couldn’t have gotten through w/o you!”

“I hope you know that I noticed/appreciated the small things you did all semester. I loved how in depth and thorough you were with all your examples; you really are a great teacher. You helped me absorb the information I needed this semester. I don’t know if people have told you but I, and other included are thankful that you got to be our TA. Thank you for your, dedication, positive vibes, and jokes.”

2021 COM 300

“I really appreciate how much help you have given us students in our recitation to ensure our academic sucess. Thank you so much for being so fluid and communicative especially through this very hectic past couple of weeks. I really enjoyed having you as a TA and I appreciate all your efforts you made for our class. Again, thank you for all that you do!”

“Thank you for being such a great TA this last semester and for making me enjoy coming to your class once a week! I really was dreading taking this class but you made it so enjoyable and a safe place to learn and make mistakes.”

“I would like to thank you for all you did this semester and showing up every day to teach us. Although I was the quiet kid in the class, I actually enjoyed coming to your class because you made learning easy. You said it was your first year teaching [this] class, which you did great, you have a teaching style that’s timeless. My friend and I said after the last class that you’re gonna be the cool professor, if that’s what you plan to do, which you should.”

2019 COM 100

“You were so helpful and kind! Thank you so much for everything you did for me”

“Thank you so much for your constant support and patience. I can definitely say I’m coming out of this class a better speaker than before and honestly a little more confident so thank you again. I wish you the best in all your endeavours.”