Teaching Portfolio

I have taught Composition I at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for two semesters. As I have worked my way through my early experiences as a teacher, I think I have learned as much from my students as they learned from me. This page is a collection of documents I have prepared for my classes.

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Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy has been developed based on what I have learned from my experiences at UALR in the University Writing Center, the Summer Bridge Academy, classes such as Composition Theory and Teaching Practicum, and my own Composition I class. I focus on students as individuals, fostering their literacy, critical thinking, and technological skills.

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Annotated Syllabus

This is my syllabus for my spring 2014 Composition I class. This version has been modified and annotated based on what I have learned in my first semester of teaching. It documents the reasoning behind many of the choices I have made as a teacher. Annotations are in italics.

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Project 1: Scholarship Essay

The first major assignnment in my Composition I class is for students to find scholarships to which they are eligible to apply and write an essay for one of their choosing. Documents I have prepared for this project include formal invention work, peer review guidelines, and a reflective memo.

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Project 2: Career Research

The second major assignment in my Composition I class is for students to research their planned career path or selected major and present on it to their classmates using multimodal composition, with a secondary goal of discovering whether their careers are right for them. Documents I have prepared for this project include peer review guidelines and a reflective memo.

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Project 3: Letter to the Editor

The third major assignment in my Composition I class is for students to find an issue, take a position on it, and write a letter to the editor for a newspaper or magazine of their choosing, keeping in mind audience, length requirements, and tone. Documents I have prepared for this project include peer review guidelines.

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Teaching Observations

For my Teaching Practicum class, I observed one of my classmates, Bryant Lytle, as he taught his Composition I class, and an experienced colleague, Jennifer Atkins-Gordeeva, as she taught her Composition II class. Additionally, another classmate, Holland Colclasure, observed my class.