Teaching Statement

I have been deeply passionate about teaching and learning for as long as I can remember.
When I was five years old, I would sit my stuffed animals in front of a chalkboard and “teach”
them everything I knew about reading, writing, math, and science. Now, I get up in front of a
real class of bright young minds and teach them everything I know about public speaking. A lot
has changed since I was five, but my passion and love for teaching has not.
I have gained all of my formal teaching experience at CSU. I have taught four sections of
SPCM 200: Public Speaking over three semesters and I have served as a Graduate Teaching
Assistant for SPCM 201: Rhetoric in Western Thought for one semester under the direction of
Dr. Tom Dunn. I will be assisting with SPCM 201 under Dr. Alison Prasch next semester as well
as teaching an INTO section of SPCM 200. Over these three semesters of teaching, I have seen a
lot of success and really started to come into my own as a teacher. Dr. Tom Dunn, Director of
the Basic Course, observed my teaching after my first semester and noted that I had exceeded
expectations for excellent teaching in the department. He has since observed me once more
(during my third semester of teaching) and again noted that I am exceeding expectations.
Additionally, the first time Dr. Dunn evaluated my teaching, he noted that, based on my
student’s evaluations of my teaching, I was exceeding multiple averages in multiple areas
including the averages for all SPCM 200 instructors (including Special Faculty). He even stated
that in four areas of evaluation, my averages were “off-the-chart good,” including my knowledge
of the subject, my effectiveness at facilitating student learning, my enthusiasm for teaching, and
my level of organization. Going forward from that first semester, I have consistently maintained
high teaching evaluations and exceeded many of the department’s averages and expectations.
At this point, I am qualified to continue teaching Public Speaking, however I am excited
about the opportunity to teach other courses as I embark on my doctoral education. After
assisting with SPCM 201 for two semesters, I believe I would be qualified to teach Rhetoric in
Western Thought myself as well as other similar introductory level rhetoric classes. Based on my
teaching experience, I believe I am directly qualified to teach both Public Argumentation and
Advanced Public Speaking. I also believe that, based on my experience, my desire to challenge
myself, my quick learning abilities, and my master’s education which has heavily focused on
rhetoric, I could readily learn the material and gain the skills necessary to teach the following
classes that CSU offers: Historical Speeches on American Issues, Freedom of Speech,
Contemporary Speeches on American Issues, Evaluating Contemporary Rhetoric, Rhetoric and
Civility, Political Communication, Studies in Persuasion, and Communication, Language, and
Thought. Additionally, based on my research interests and background, I believe I would be
uniquely positioned to teach Gender and Communication as well as Rhetoric and Social
Movements.
The above list may sound ambitious but I welcome and desire the challenge to teach new
classes. Based on my initial success in teaching, as measured by evaluations from both my
students and the Basic Course Director, I believe I have what it takes to teach upper-division
courses and I promise to continue to commit myself to teaching and my students with as much as
enthusiasm as I do now, if not more. I also welcome and desire the challenge to develop new
undergraduate classes for CSU’s Communication Studies program. I am particularly thrilled at
the prospect of developing something along the lines of a Queer Rhetoric class which I believe
my research and educational background suits me well for. I am also interested in developing a
class similar to the graduate class, Feminist Theories of Discourse, but at the undergraduate
level. I have an extensive background in feminist theory, queer theory, and rhetoric that I hope
to incorporate into my teaching experience at CSU.
By now, it should be clear that I have come a long way from teaching stuffed animals in
my basement at the age of five. I want to finish this statement with my teaching philosophy or, in
other words, an explanation of the principles that guide and shape my teaching at this point in my
career. Below, you will find my current teaching philosophy.
Teaching Philosophy
As someone who will always consider themselves just as a much a student as a teacher, I
am committed to promoting critical, engaged citizenship in all of my classes. In a lot of ways, the
classroom is where I learned what kind of citizen I want to be, therefore I encourage similar
personal and academic development in my classes. Though my approach to teaching is
multifaceted and ever-evolving in the face of new challenges and opportunities, I found the
following three principles to be most central to my method and philosophy of teaching: critical
thinking, agency, and active learning. Together, I believe these core commitments cultivate a
classroom environment where students can question the world, question themselves, take
ownership of their learning, and grow as students and as citizens.
To effectively encourage critical thinking, I never ask my students to take the concepts I
teach them at face value. Instead, I urge them to consistently ask the following questions: why
things are the way they are, how things came to be, what function things serve in the world and
for whom, and what their role is in relationship to certain concepts. For example, I start each
semester of public speaking teaching the class about civility in public dialogue. After defining
civility, I always ask the class why they think civility is the core of public speaking. I also ask
them what they think civility does for public dialogue as well as what commitment to civility
they have as a public speaker. In fact, I ask similar questions for every significant concept I bring
in to the class to ensure that the students are not just learning about what each concept is, but that
they are thinking critically about the importance of each concept to them as individuals and to
the broader social and political context. By the end of each semester, I find that my students
crave this kind of critical thinking and start asking critical questions themselves without my
insistence.
I find that part of students’ journey to become critical thinkers is the development of
agency in their own education. I ensure that students take ownership of their own learning and I
aim to act as a facilitator of learning rather than a disseminator of knowledge. One way I do this
is by meeting with students at the beginning of each semester to discuss with them their goals for
the class. This compels them to both think about and articulate what they want out of the course
which I then use to shape the class and inform the activities I plan for each unit. I also let the
class decide which direction to take many of our discussions by stating a broad goal of the
discussion (for example: invitational speaking) and allowing them to take the discussions in
ways and directions that are helpful and relevant to them. Allowing students to take ownership
of their learning ensures that my class is not simply a mark on their transcript but a learning
experience that influences other aspects of their education and professional futures.
Lastly, the promotion of critical thinking and agency set the foundation for a classroom
that fosters active learning. I refuse to allow my students to passively absorb information.
Instead, I integrate multiple activities into each lesson to ensure that each student is working with
the material directly whether that be as a class, in groups, or individually. I generally have four
or five activities available for each lesson and I let the class vote on which one or two are most
relevant and helpful to them. In doing so, not only am I promoting agency but I am discouraging
passivity and ensuring my classroom is lively and active every day that I teach. My students
know not to come to class if they do not want to get involved and I have had several students tell
me in person or through end-of-semester evaluations that my class was one of their favorites
because we were constantly thinking and doing and I rarely subjected them to lengthy lectures.
Taken together, I believe my pedagogical principles foster a class environment where
students know they are valued, where they can take risks, and where academic success is earned
only through hard work and commitment. As a young instructor, I find my approach to teaching
changes with each semester as there is still so much room for me to grow. However, the three
principles detailed above have consistently guided my teaching, grading, lesson planning, and
overall approach to my students and I consistently see success reflected in my students’
improvement and their evaluations of me. Therefore, I maintain my commitment to critical
thinking, agency, and active learning with the hope of promoting critical, engaged citizenship in
all my classes because, after all, our students are never just students; they are our future.