What is your teaching philosophy?

Teaching has always been rewarding for me, even in a non-formal settings. My grandmother and mother were teachers, and even when I was not at school, they were still teaching me. I think this becomes incorporated into your life. We think about being in a classroom with desks and students, but this is not always the setting for teaching. Some of the most rewarding teaching moments have occurred in my home with my son. Most of the rewards that one sees from their students are after the class has finished. As I see students throughout the city after they complete their program, I always see success with their job and motivation toward their job. They are always very happy, and many times tell me of the next challenge that they are going to pursue. All of these positive outcomes are why I teach. The classes that I teach include biology and microbiology, along with the labs for these courses. I do teach a portion of anatomy and physiology occasionally, but microbiology is my background specialty. Cell types and how they work have always been interests to me, and also understanding the pathogenesis of many diseases is very interesting and captivating. When I teach, I use PowerPoint lectures, blackboard drawings, group discussions, student presentations, and many hands-on techniques in lab. I measure effectiveness by whether the students feel that they may use the information that I delivered to them. Tests can be very difficult many times to measure effectiveness. Many students have bad days or emergencies, just as we all do. I also measure by attitudes, and I measure by their interests in the topics they choose. The goal is not for the students to memorize everything, because they will not retain it forever. They need to learn how to synthesize the information and understand themselves as to what terms mean and application purposes, and then I feel that my teaching was effective.