Teaching

I teach writing as both a craft and a practice of inquiry. I believe that writing, at heart, is an act of thinking—a way of discovering new ideas and learning more about ourselves and the worlds we inhabit. In my composition and creative writing courses, I encourage students to approach writing as both intellectual and creative work: to draft, question, revise, reconsider assumptions, experiment with form and language, and imagine new possibilities on the page. My goal is to help them gain confidence in their voices, sharpen their critical and creative thinking skills, and develop transferable reading, research, and writing knowledge.

This philosophy shapes the design of my courses, and I employ research-based methods for teaching reading and writing and preparing students to transfer their skills. For example, my courses help students develop engaged reading habits, approach writing as a process, apply lateral reading to research, gain genre awareness, think rhetorically, and practice metacognitive reflection. Moreover, I strive for a classroom in which we work together to learn and grow through strategies like active and collaborative learning, community agreements, scaffolded activities, social annotation, and collective writing. I design assignments and discussions that encourage critical engagement with new ideas and draw on culturally responsive pedagogies to create inclusive learning environments. For example, in first-year writing courses, I invite students to consider Dr. Carol Dweck’s ideas about growth and fixed mindsets alongside Dr. Luke Wood’s critique, based on his research on the experiences of students of color. Students then discuss how the authors’ ideas relate to their own educational experiences and write analytical reflections about how they imagine incorporating these ideas into their college experience. My approach to assessment incorporates labor-based grading, reflection, and opportunities for revision to support student learning.

As our lives are increasingly shaped by generative AI and an overwhelming flow of information—much of it unreliable—I emphasize both information and AI literacy in my classes. Students learn to evaluate sources, question credibility, and examine how information is produced. We discuss the risks of shortcutting learning, the value of foundational reading and writing skills, and the importance of trusting their own ideas and developing voices. I encourage students to approach AI critically and cautiously, particularly in first-year writing, where practice and working through challenges are essential to learning. We explore how generative AI tools may be helpful to learning if applied in limited and strategic ways, such as prompting for feedback on a draft, but only if the AI tool is treated as one source of feedback, alongside instructors, human tutors, and peers, and only if the writer thinks critically about whether and how to apply that feedback.

I hope students leave my classroom with greater confidence in their voices and a deeper trust in their own thinking. I also hope they take with them a reflective and creative approach to writing—one that values curiosity, revision, and imagination. In a time of rapid technological change and information overload, the ability to trust one’s own thinking and to approach writing reflectively and creatively feels more important than ever.