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At the time of writing this post, I have not taught a college class before, however, I am on my third semester as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA). I believe that the journey of realizing someone’s authentic teaching self is a process that could start way before they formally become a teacher. I have always practiced … Continue reading Finding My Authentic Teaching Self →

The year 2020 has been rather interesting in the grand scheme of education. With a global pandemic on the rise,…

I did not know how to feel when I found out that I would be a graduate teaching assistant teaching a public speaking class comprising of approximately 80 students. I had never imagined that I would teach in any setting. However I come from a family of teachers, so maybe it was something that I …

Continue reading “Discovering My Authentic Teaching Self”

I was assigned some readings on ‘connected learning’ for class the other day, and I am happy to report that they were not only worthwhile reads, but also short and to the point. This post is focused on one of these readings, a blog post by Tim Hitchcock, Professor of Digital History at the University …

Continue reading “Telling My Story”

On average, I feel I’m part of a generation of academics that cares much more about teaching and pedagogy than some of our predecessors. It is still possible to get and keep a professorship while dedicating a minimum amount of time and attention to teaching, but it is no longer as “uncool” to care about […]

As we discussed during the class learning is a process of connecting between what is already known or understood and new information. Merriam Webster defines learning as “gaining knowledge or understanding of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience”. So, learning happens when people use their experience to deal with new situation, develop their …

Continue reading “Post #1 The Psychology of How People Learn”

I discovered early on that teaching is by far the most enjoyable activity for me. My favorite game was to gather children the same age and play the role of their teacher. I was lucky to have a younger sister … Continue reading →

Over my years of teaching, one thing has always been a pet peeve of mine: laptops, phones, smart watches… etc. As someone who doesn’t necessarily believe that controlling every little thing students do is necessary for a good learning environment, … Continue reading →

I struggle with finding my authentic teaching voice because while I do not want to be an overly rigid and authoritarian teacher, I am also wary about not being taken seriously by students. As Sarah Deel’s piece explains, there are some gender components to this dilemma. Female academics may feel that they have to setContinue reading “Discovering my Authentic Teaching Self”

By my calculations, between the years of 2011 and 2020, I have participated in at least 61 classes at three different institutions of higher education. I’ve taken courses ranging from “Existentialist Philosophy” and “Islam and Christian Theology” to “Finite Element Methods” and “Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering.” To say that I’ve been exposed to several different teaching […]

Prior to college, I had zero experience teaching and conveying information to others. This changed my freshman year of undergrad where I started working as a tour guide for my university, and later became an orientation leader. Through these positions, I learned how to convey information about the university, it’s policies, campus life, etc. and […]

I have never really reflected on this idea of “who I want to be in the classroom”. I was raised to be a very empathetic person, but still, hold the structure in everything I do. I think that’s what I want to take with me. I think it is important to be able to place …

Continue reading “Blog Post 1 – Discovering your authentic teaching self”

As a current graduate student and undergraduate teacher, I find myself oscillating between the two poles of student and teacher. I find myself constantly wondering how to approach the classroom and what I consider to be the most valuable aspects of teaching. I often ask myself what worked in my classes and how can I …

Continue reading “Discovering My Authentic Teaching Self”

The post by Sarah Deel resonated well with me. I felt like she was talking about me while reading her first 3 paragraphs. My first experience with teaching came in my second semester during my Masters program at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. I was the teaching assistant in one of the Civil Engineering […]