My teaching philosophy in a nutshell
I emphasize the development of transferrable skills and scientific creativity in a collaborative, inclusive active learning environment. I am especially passionate about honing students’ formal and informal writing skills and connecting classroom learning to the outside world and active scientific research. I believe all students should have a chance to succeed, and I actively support the learning of students from a variety of backgrounds.
I developed my teaching philosophy through experiences working with students as a writing associate at Oberlin College and as a teaching assistant at Washington University in St. Louis, by reflecting on my own student experience, and through engagement with pedagogical theory and teaching as research at Oberlin and at the Teaching Center at WashU.
The most important skill I learned was how to adapt my approach to the needs of my students and mentees: not every student will learn the same way and by taking a flexible approach to teaching and mentorship, I can best include a diverse set of student learners in the geosciences.
The most important skill I learned was how to adapt my approach to the needs of my students and mentees: not every student will learn the same way and by taking a flexible approach to teaching and mentorship, I can best include a diverse set of student learners in the geosciences.
Key aspects of my teaching
- I center students' observations in their learning: noticing details is the key to being able to ask creative questions and engage with the course!
- By incorporating research projects in classroom learning, students understand how fundamental principles apply to bigger, real-life questions and stay excited to learn
- Practice with formal writing in my classroom helps students build transferrable skills and gain competency with reading and writing scientific literature in a comfortable, structured environment
- Implementation of informal writing projects allows students to process their learning in their own words, reflect on course material, and communicate interesting concepts more readily with friends and family
- I use outreach as a teaching tool (community based learning) that mutually benefits locals and students alike. These interactions break down the gown-town divide and can make the geosciences more accessible to underrepresented groups from the community
Some outreach snapshots
I don't have any pictures of me in the classroom, but I wanted to share some snapshots of outreach activities I've been a part of. Outreach--especially in urban areas--is extremely meaningful to me. Growing up in New York, I didn't understand why geoscience would be an important active discipline (except to find dinosaur bones: so rad!), but my first class in geology changed my mind. I am excited to work with local teachers and museums to share my science with those who might not know about geosciences yet and give them a different view of our planet.