TEACHER
My teaching is significantly informed by the rhetorical concepts of kairos (timeliness) and poiesis (making/creating). That is, I strive to keep my courses and assignments current by encouraging students to work in the moment, taking advantage of the most opportune “writing” tools, technologies, and research.
Yearly, and often quarterly, I pull new sources, tools, and projects (kairos) into my syllabi for the purpose of encouraging students to read or interact with these texts. They in turn bring their interests and lived experiences into classroom discussions and their “writing” projects (poiesis). In my UX courses this has meant that students are using the most current tools and are developing skills that will assist them the most in building a strong portfolio for the job market. For professional writing courses this means students read and create projects that reflect the most current “writing” (text, video, visual, etc.) in their various majors/fields (e.g., healthcare, UX, biology, etc.). For my basic writing courses it means guiding students through the process of becoming academic writers by encouraging them to use their own experiences as writers both inside and outside of the classroom to inform and shape their academic writing.
I also keep my teaching current by working as a practitioner/consultant in UX and professional writing. I bring the methods, tools, and texts I learn and use in my consulting into the classroom. I often invite professionals into the classroom so that the students can interact with current practitioners and begin to build their networks.
You can find more information about my teaching (courses, extended philosophy, sample syllabi, etc) in my Teaching Portfolio.