What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe everyone has a heart that yearns to love and be loved. I believe that all animals enjoy happiness, but some do not know how to find it. I believe we all have a spark inside of us, some religions call it a light and science calls it life. From this life, we can encourage other life or other sparks. I believe that spark needs to be fed with love, and from this spark all good, positive, and healthy things grow. Speech is one of the most powerful tools we have. Proper communication can mean the difference between lighting a path to happiness and being lost in an unknown world. My goal, as a composition instructor, is to introduce students to college level writing, empower students, and enable the student to view composition as a useful tool in modern society. I truly believe each human being is capable of learning and has a primitive desire to communicate with the world around them. I understand there are expectations for that level of communication in the academic and professional world. I would like all my students to exceed the expectations of academic writing, become active participants in academic discourse, and have their voices heard. I am confident I can teach the course in a way in which students understand and are able to independently reproduce the information.

What might you do in a typical first session with a student?

Ask the student about their goals for the course in which I'm tutoring. Ask the student about their academic goal overall. Ask the student their academic strengths and weakness. Also, ask the student why they feel this way? What defines a strength and a weakness to them. Then, review course materials with the student and begin the session with the student.