Teaching Philosophy

I'm going to open with a weird claim, material things have no value. Only people have value. An empty house, for instance, is worthless. It is only through the human effort of creating a home that a dwelling becomes valuable. Similarly, a blank page and pen has no value. But when we use these tools to create, we endow them with value. We create something beautiful through our efforts. Following this line of reasoning, the most valuable of our works are those that empower others to create their own value. We all have something inside us that is worth sharing. My special something just happens to be chemistry. I feel a moral imperative to share my knowledge and skills with others. By the same logic, I feel a compulsion to learn from others, to recognize their talents and skills for the valuable commodities that they are.

The world is a challenging place. Most of us operate under a tremendous amount of economic and societal pressure. It's easy to see education as just another barrier to achieve the security we all deserve. To see our teachers as gate keepers to the next chapter of our lives. I believe it is my responsibility to challenge this conception. To remind students that education is for their own personal enrichment, as much as, it is about developing marketable skills. I want my students to take pride in their work, to see their time in college as a journey of self discovery, and think about how they will use their education to make the world better (or at least not worse).

Ideals and grand statements are fine. But, in the end, you have to be an effective teacher. It's a difficult thing to measure learning. How can we be sure that we are transferring our brain worms 100% effectively 🪱 I put forth a lot of effort to record my methods. I then correlate them to objective outcomes for my students. I've learned a few things...

1. Do not underestimate your students. Make the work challenging. Tell them that they can do it and mean it. Remind them that the body of human knowledge is not static. There is more and more to learn each and every year. But we are only allotted a limited time to complete our formal education.
2. As much as possible, do not make time a factor in your assessments. People can improve the time it takes to complete tasks after they have mastered them, not while they are learning them.
3. Give many opportunities for students to demonstrate their abilities. Give some leeway for them to fail without penalty. No one performs at their best 100% of the time.
4. Do not simply tell your students they are wrong and move on. Make them repeat the tasks until they get it right. Repetition and correction cements concepts in our minds.
5. Model the behavior you want to see in your students. Provide detailed notes, answer questions thoroughly and thoughtfully, respond to emails promptly, be on time, and always be respectful. If you work hard for them, they will work hard for you.
6. Always remind your students that it is through hard work and dedication that we succeed. No one is born smart or talented.