Teaching Philosophy
College is a place where people make themselves better. I love being part of that process. I respect my students, and really enjoy the solutions they come up with.
Class time exists for the students and it is very valuable time. I feel the students have a right to expect me to be prepared and give them my full attention. I put hours of prep into every hour of class time. A successful class maintains an atmosphere of friendliness and total involvement in the concept at hand. Students depend on my leadership to direct focus and prevent distraction. I take extra care to be equally accessible to everyone and to give extra attention to those who need it.
Awareness of cognitive diversity is essential to my teaching style. Some students need a clear theoretical basis, or they cannot place their activities in context. Some students will pass right over the ideas unless they experience directly. Some need to discover for themselves.
As I lecture I use abundant visuals including archived student work. I pass out written material. I demonstrate. If possible we will begin to do the assignment in class under supervision. Then the students take the work home. I try to approach each topic from every angle. The work comes back for peer critique and the students benefit from feedback. Finally I give them the chance to correct their work based on the critique. Written tests are always given twice. Once based on memorization, and once as essay.
We also confront emotional barriers to learning. We discuss strategies to deal with embarrassment, defensiveness, timidity, motivation, rigidity, detachment and mental block.
Finally I teach from my own experience. I love filmmaking, art and story. I have written, directed, produced, and edited documentaries, fiction, educational films and animation. I continue to expand my horizons. I have moved from Illustration to cartoons, to stop motion, to documentary, to dramatic fiction. I believe my right to teach comes from my own experience and willingness to learn.