Teaching Philosophies, Focuses, and Requirements

 

I have a short list of requirements for every activity. Every activity should be: 

a) Active (problem-solving centered)
b) Blended (flexible and self-paced)
c) Edutaining (to educate and entertain)
d) Gamified, if applicable (encouraging participation and motivation)
e) Micro-Learning Oriented & Scaffolded
f) Universally Accessible (developed to enhance engagement and self-expression)

I often teach a lesson and follow with an activity. Sure, self-paced is great, but being involved as a teacher is much more preferable for me (so I like to blend things and be flexible). I don't mind hand-holding my students. I want them to feel supported. Also, I want to be accessible for questions. On the issue of accessibility, I like to design things as if all of my students had special needs (e.g., larger fonts, Sans-Serif for ease of reading in large print and digital, etc.). I like to incentivize everything (slightly gamifying things), although I recognize that some students like the traditional classroom paradigms as well. Lastly, I like things to be entertaining and educational (someone coined the term, Edutaining). I love that idea. 

My teaching holistically holds to the following philosophies/focuses: 

1. Learning is always more important than grades/assessments (grades promote a hierarchical structure and often exclude those with special needs). I love the paradigm of some schools/colleges/universities to provide commentary rather than grades. I work slowly in some areas too, so I know the struggle of having to collect my thoughts, galvanize my dopamine, and push forward. 

2. Always begin with a concealed diagnostic tool/essay to determine the student’s current skills and any potential issues. As a teacher, I always want to have an idea of what students already know and don't know (in order to fill knowledge gaps). Additionally, I want establish a baseline for the class and add lessons when needed. Year-to-year, things often change in terms of what knowledge is common and what is not. 

3. Find the most essential skills, and teach these skills first. Then, build on the skills one concept at a time. In English Composition, students have a handful of skills that must be learned, especially at the collegiate level. I teach these lessons/skills first and build upon them to fill any gaps. If the students already have a great handle on these skills, I supplement (when needed) with new skills/knowledge.

4. Teach Grammar in Context, and Use Grammatical Building Blocks -> Examples: 1. Learn Nouns before Articles/Adjectives before Noun Phrases before Subjects. 2. Learn Verbs before Objects before Predicates before Complements before Clauses. 

Note: Typically, I teach rhetorical grammar and style in my composition courses. Grammar typically feeds into a discussion of the use of rhetorical style (an important canon). Further, I teach grammar in context (using real documents and real examples, focusing on meaning rather than form, reflect practice in real life, focus on the idea of clarity rather than simply "is it wrong or right," etc.). And, I have a healthy dose of skepticism on the discussion against teaching grammar in the writing course. My story: Long ago, there was a prevalent academic paper which frowned upon teaching grammar in the writing class. The paper was based upon a study (conducted by a graduate student). I actually did an extensive search for this paper, and I found that it did not exist. I called the library that owned the thesis/dissertation, and they told me that it did not exist.

5. Use Process-Based Building Blocks -> Examples: Learn Prewriting before Writing before Rewriting/Revision. Learn word style before sentence style before paragraph style. Learn how to quote before using dialogue in a narrative before using paraphrases before transcription before biographies…. Similarly, claims before support then counterclaims then counterpoints then fallacies then rebuttals. 

6. Use Punctuation Building Blocks and teach students to simplify their punctuation use overall -> periods -> colons -> semicolons. Commas -> dashes. Then, ampersand (and), slash (or), and brackets. In a beginning and intermediate composition course, we should reinforce the use of periods/end points and commas only. In an advanced composition course, we can teach other points for stylistic purposes. 

Most of the editors that I work with emphasis simple punctuation (only periods and only commas). I find this helps alleviate anxiety for students (to teach simple punctuation). Still, there are always special situations. I find that giving students a palette is important for painting meaning with punctuation, as I always seem to run into exceptions.  Note: I usually teach advanced punctuation in advanced composition courses rather than lower level or mainstream composition courses. 

7. Teach gradually more complex forms of discourse (narratives/summaries/evaluations)-> academic writing (exposition/argumentation) -> scientific writing (IMRAD, correspondence, etc.) -> technical writing (user documentation). 

My colleagues and scholars have always said, "Meet the students where they are." So, we start with what they know: narratives and opinions. Gradually, I raise the bar over different courses. 

8. Large concepts/lessons are taught and supported by optional or required smaller lessons. 

While the "cafeteria model" of instruction (letting students grab what they like from the curriculum) is intriguing to me. I like to give them a limited menu. Again, I start with what is needed, and make items available to them. A learning module may include two or three main lessons. Side lessons may be included as well, which are not necessarily required but optional. 

9. Low-stakes drafts are submitted for feedback then submitted again as a high-stakes documents in a portfolio (portfolio-based pedagogy) to encourage revision and reviewing skills and thought about publishing/sharing.

10. Chunking: Lesson-Activity-Discussion -or- Activity-Discussion-Lesson (e.g., write, talk, learn or learn, apply, reflect).

Generalization: Many students have short attention spans (possibly the result of social media's influence): So, I teach in short spurts: 10 minutes of a lesson followed by a 10 minute activity, which is followed by a 10 minute discussion, etc. I like to rotate things to keep the students on their toes. After awhile, students expect something new everyday, and their adaptability becomes a new skill that they can use for other class experiences. 

11. Seven Ways of Learning Model

I love the book Facilitating Seven Ways of Learning by Davis and Arend. I haven't found a better book on the theory of learning and teaching.

12. Compassionate Teaching? Always Use Positive Reinforcement. 

Two types of instructors exist: a) Those who want to share knowledge through teaching, and b) Those who use teaching for the purposes of power (the sadists). I share knowledge. I don't force knowledge on someone (i.e., indoctrination, acculturation, or colonization), and I don't teach with sadistic ideals or desires. I want learning to be fun, and I want students to feel safe. 

13. Use Modeling: Demonstration->Participation->Practice (e.g., monkey see, monkey do).

Demonstrations are the best. Anytime that I can demonstrate how to do something, I do. I love things to be hands-on whenever possible, and I love to walk around and help students to "do." 

14. Always Consider Accessibility and Easy Access in the Design of Lessons, Assignments, Tutorials/Handouts, etc.  

The more accessible I can make things, the better. I am always learning how to do things better and make things more accessible. I did research on color blindness for years to learn how to make my lessons and handouts more accessible. I took a course on graphic design to learn how to make items more readable. Additionally, I try to use all of my technical communication background to make items available.  

15. Use Pass/Fail assignments as participation and attendance mechanisms, rather than wasting time taking attendance. 

Attendance is very important. But, rather than taking attendance, I use activities and exercises as the means for ensuring students are present. If the student completes the activity, then I know the student was present (often physically, but especially mentally). 

16. Always Permit Easy access to the Instructor: text -> email -> phone. 

People frown on me, but I often give my cellphone number to students. I tell students: Text me whenever you need me. I am always glad to help. I don't want students to learn in isolation or without help. 

17. Promote the Use of Tutoring or Internal/External Support Services (e.g., writing center, AI, peers, paid sites, etc.)

Many times, students are too shy to contact me. They don't want to push the teacher's boundaries. I understand. So, I tell them to use external and internal modes of support. Usually, I direct students to advanced peers, such as writing center tutors. But, many times, I look for life-long means of support, even private businesses which support editing, learning, etc. Further, I put everything that I can online for students to view. The whole point of having my own open educational resource (i.e., my website) is to support students outside the classroom and to support them throughout their lives. 

18. Emphasize Practice (through multiple low stakes assignments). Allow students to fail, then be kind when correcting them (or nudge them in the correct direction). Allow them to do well on large stakes assignments with improvement, application of relearned knowledge, and revision.

Comments aren't supposed to be negative. No one thrives on negativity. People, especially young people, thrive on positivity. When a student does something correctly, I like to tell them: Great job! Consequently, when a student does a less-than-desirable job, I like to point them in the right direction: "Okay, you have a good start here, but you really need to do X, Y, and Z." Any work is a step in the right direction, especially in composition courses. As I tell my students: I would rather receive a crappy paper that we can fix, than a paper that was plagiarized, written by AI, or slopped together. 

19. Remember: Many theories of writing and learning do not work and are overly complicated for students.  

Many of the "prominent" theories of learning don't really work. Many are context dependent. Likewise, many "prominent" theories of composition don't really hold water. Composition is an art, not a science. For example, Toulminian argument models don’t really work. They look great on paper and have some redeeming qualities, but overall, they waste time. Also, years of basic writing and composition research is just ridiculous garbage. Rarely, if ever, you find twice-tested controlled-environment (bias free) research. Most  composition scholarship is based on a once-tested eureka, which is not a good thing. Retest and redo some of this research. I think many would be surprised by the outcomes. Also, remember: Time and space change the outcomes of research too. Retesting some of these theories might actually change the way we do things. 

20. Commonly Taught Concepts Such as Ethos and Pathos are persuasive techniques but more closely associated with fallacious thinking. Logic/Logos is more aligned to making clear arguments of fact/truth. For example, deduction is typically reliable. Induction uses characteristics of presumptions and probability and is not always reliable. Abduction (inference) relies on observation and may be more closely aligned to deduction; thus, abduction is much more reliable, at times, than induction.  

Every composition program teaches Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. These Aristotelean concepts are wonderful for observing rhetoric, but they are questionable ethically. Instead of "tricking" the audience or using "fallacious reasoning" for persuasive purposes, use facts. Sure, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" (ergo, not all arguments can be won), but, historically, the facts rise to the surface eventually. The earth is still round. Gravity exists. Facts!

21. Strategically overlap of concepts/applications in courses to promote transfer and practice of skills (repetition of concepts/skills for deep encoding to memory). 

A colleague once scolded me for teaching similar material in an advanced class. My justification and defense was simple: Practice makes perfect. The more students encounter the material, the more the material commits to memory. 

Hypothetical example: Let's say a doctor learned how to do an emergency medical procedure only once (without any practice or repetition). Now, a situation arises where the doctor needs to do the procedure, will they remember? Probably not. Similarly, a student needs to write a letter. If the student has only written a letter once, then will they know how to write a letter again? Will they remember all of the components? Will they remember which name goes where and when? Probably not. Repetition is wonderful. In fact, oftentimes, the more we practice, the better we become. A quarterback only gets better catching the ball over and over and over. A guitarist only becomes more proficient by practicing and "playing."

22. Students must practice and play. 

Let's not forget. Students need to practice, and students need to play. Practice commits things to memory. Repetition commits things to memory. But, "play" helps the brain to be creative. :)