COMM 6385
Communication Instruction in the Communicative Arts
Digital Portfolio
For my final assignment, I have put together my Teaching Philosophy, Curriculum Vitae (CV), a Sample Syllabus, a Critical Review of a Journal Article, my Top Three elements of successful higher education teaching and learning experiences, and an Assessment Visual.
These six key projects will serve as a continuously adapting foundation for my future career in teaching and guiding students to find their own path on their journey.
My Story
My father is a diesel mechanic and my mother was an English literature teacher. So anytime I needed to know the answer for something, my father would show me how to recognize and fix a problem; while my mother showed me how to understand how to look at a different perspective of what the problem was and the different solutions on how to fix the issue.
Often in my youth, both of my parents had separate ways of showing me that many problems can be adjusted by the way I would see what was happening. For instance, if tire went flat on the truck, the problem could be a nail in the tire, a bent rim from the driver running into something, or even just wear and tear on the rubber. Assessing the issue was often just as important as repairing the problem. On the other hand, in one instance, I was reading Ray Bradberry’s, “Fahrenheit 451,” and a question that I was asked was, “Were the firefighters burning the books because they did not like them, was it because they wanted to control the population, or was it for both of those reasons?”
As having a concrete answer can work in some situations, some answers require more thought to actually pinpoint what real question is being asked. As an instructor, these situations can be experienced daily in the classroom. It is not the instructor’s responsibility to just give the answers, but to allow the student a place to ask, understand, interpret, and grow safely.
