Teaching Philosophy

To me, becoming a FIG leader evolved from two ideas. If not for friends I would have floundered my entire freshman year due to the anxiety that stems from navigating both harder academics and a new social environment. However, I also feel that my time at University of Washington has taught me that our experiences as both students and people can make an impact on others, whether indirectly or directly. Through my interactions, I feel as if I am more capable and ready to help serve as a role model for my students to help them through not only the common academic pitfalls, but also for self-growth in other avenues of their college experience.

This all begins with the approach I plan on taking with my students: creating an honest environment that will allow them to critically analyze themselves, the material, and the world around them. Since working as a FIG leader and as a TA in an ESL classroom, I have found that offering my students a place to feel open and be themselves is paramount to helping them learn. Therefore, my approach to leading my FIG is based around exposing them to a wide variety of ideas and teaching practices that are used throughout UW, including lectures, individual reflections, group conversations, and peer instruction. I hope that through these experiences, my students can better be acquaintances with the college, but also their strengths and weaknesses. As a result, I hope that they will find the assignments rewarding in improving their capacity to change their attitudes towards different challenges in their undergraduate careers. Simultaneously, I hope that they will be inspired by their own progress throughout the quarter, since I believe that instilling support and self-confidence are key lessons I hope to impart.

Through my experience, I have tried to tweak my activities to make sure students are able to connect these abstract ideas back to their own experiences as people, even to their future careers here at the UW or beyond. I have found the “think, pair, share,” in particular is helpful in creating a sense of solidarity, affirming a student’s individual ideas, but also gaining insight into someone else’s. Rather than giving overbearing amounts of guidance, I hope that my students will seek help from me and their peers when they are truly stuck, which would help them foster a sense of independence and also show them that collaboration is essential to college. This is in direct relation to my experience in GEN ST 470 last year, as help was available if I needed it, but never pushed upon me.

I believe that with these emphases, my FIG students will understand that UW is a place for growth, and that their failures are not setbacks, but rather new opportunities. This has been my own personal experience at the UW and I am still surprised at how much I have grown, just as I hope that they do.