Teaching Philosophy Documents
Teaching Philosophy Documents become expanded, public versions of my teaching philosophy.
"The See-ers" is my first articulated teaching philosophy which is a personal letter to a close friend and former student as he entered graduate school and started teaching. The other documents are samples of presentations I have given during faculty meetings eithers as dean of the College of Langauge and Letters ora s English department chair. These opportunities have allowed me to examine my own teaching and to experess gratitude and encouragement for wonderful colleagues who have had such a powerful impact on my professional and personal life. |
- "The See-ers" provides my early comprehension of the need to "see" my teaching and students more clearly.
- "You, the Teacher: Lessons before Teaching" explores lessons I have learned by reading novels such as To Sir with Love; Goodbye, Mr. Chips; The Water is Wide; The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; and To Serve Them All My Days.
- "Charting Course: To Do What Only a Teacher Can Do" challenges me to examine where I want to direct my students by acting as a mariner charting a careful, purposeful course.
- "Keeping Course: Little 'Happens' But Much in Fact Does Happen" reminds me that what seems insiginficant or uneventful in a classroom can make a powerful difference in students' lives and in my own. Much does happen in an hour.
- "Mighty Teachers with Perfect Hearts" encourages me to have a perfect heart to be worthy of power to serve--lessons learned from David and his valiant warriors.
- "Teaching Souls: Scholarship and Discipleship" examines teachers at Ricks College and Brigham Young University-Idaho who have had a profound influence on my teaching--individuals who have passed their teaching torch on to me.
- "Flags, Flyers, and Handkerchiefs: Creating Significant Learning Experiences" comforts me in knowing that what I do as a teacher is not a single effort, but an effot of a "band of brothers" who assist me. I also have learned that the fruits of teaching my take years to realize--a lesson learned decades after my mission.