Teaching Overview

I arrive 15 minutes before class begins on the first day of each semester, eager to ask my early-bird students a pressing question: “What song requests do you all have?” Inevitably, a 30-second period of awkward pause ensues before I respond, “Please bring ideas for our class playlist on Day 2. For now, Taylor Swift it is!” And so, the songs from Swift’s 1989 album resound until the start of our syllabus session. Despite its triviality, allowing my students to develop our course playlist during the first week of class is the first step I take in implementing the most central tenet of my teaching philosophy: that students should possess agency to define the terms of their educational experiences. Aside from playing their favorite tunes before each of our meetings, I let students set the tone for our class through commitments to 1) livening students’ learning; 2) cultivating classroom community; and 3) valuing all voices.