Teaching 

Teaching is a privilege and an extension of my lifelong love of learning. For the last year and a half while in graduate school I have worked and gained experience teaching as Dr. Loerstcher’s assistant for his graduate students. Along with weekly Zoom workshops and instruction I facilitated one on one instruction meetings with graduate students to assist students in reaching their learning outcomes. For the last ten years I have also worked running my own fine art business online, and one of the many services I have offered is art workshops for groups or individuals. I also regularly do tech support lessons for basic technology tools like Microsoft, Google Suite and other scholarly technology tutoring sessions on Zoom with graduate students.  

My approach to teaching is to foster and facilitate a shared space, in person or online, that is free of shame and encourages exploration and innovation through questions and experimentation with patience and creative problem solving. When one is encouraged to be curious and explore, one can discover new learning and understanding. I love allowing time and space for people to go at their own pace. I encourage people to feel free to ask questions in the Socratic method of instruction, and offer guidance as needed for the student to find the information or content in their own way. By doing this students uncover a learning and discovery method they can apply for the rest of their lives. Other times it is important to set down strong foundational instruction with specific inputs and outputs required to build foundational knowledge. With many students coming to the learning environment with some digital literacy skills, teaching can be like approaching a puzzle of what is and is not known to the student. How well do they critically evaluate sources to determine credibility? How confident are they in their information literacy abilities?  How well do they utilize different information literacy skills? Finding out where each student stands on their learning path, and meeting them there, walking with them through discovery is an exciting adventure every time. Knowledge and exploration is key to fostering lifelong learning. We all approach subjects and learning from different angles and we can all continually learn from each other and problem solve collectively as new challenges emerge.     

I believe with enough time, and creative approaches to the content, a student can learn anything and spark a deeper curiosity that could grow to new levels of knowledge and understanding. By embracing our diversity and unique perspectives we can work collectively in learning environments. Sometimes I have to demonstrate something -like a complex search using multiple databases for a cross-disciplinary question, and have them repeat the process step by step. For many technology lessons it is about establishing an understanding of what tools the student is currently working with, what they have access to, and modifying the lesson based on their skill set and access. Other times it might be a better fit to ask more questions and discover together as if you are walking the same path. 

A successful lesson is one where students walk away with more than they came with. Often in digital literacy lessons I see students leave with the skills and understanding to get started on the next lesson independently, and with a deeper understanding of the process so even when they do not know the answers, they know how to start on their journey. None of us have all the answers, but if we know the process of discovery, and a foundation of tools and understanding to begin, we can learn anything.