Statement of Teaching
I am a storyteller.
Unspeakable joy grips me when I come across an unconventional use of noun as a verb. I consider being interdisciplinary also in the same vein. This approach extends to my teaching too. As an instructor, my primary goal is to make content engaging and interesting. I believe that is when real learning starts.
I have taught a range of disciplines to diverse student populations both nationally and internationally. Not only have I taught at various academic levels, school, college, community college, university, design studios, but I have also taught diverse student populations, in virtual and real time settings. At the college and university level, I have taught creative writing, composition, and women's studies. The interdisciplinary nature of my research gives my teaching often a unique perspective.
I believe in a pedagogy that constantly evolves with changing times and students. For the past few years, integration of technology in my courses has been a consistent feature. Both in my own creative practice and teaching, I tend to focus on contemporary social and feminist issues. I keep abreast of the latest in technology, and go beyond the discussion board, blog, and powerpoint. I am passionate and excited about newer technology such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and regularly interact with people who research these domains and produce creative work. I was fortunate to be a part of the regular discussions and meetings of an MIT fellows program, The Open Documentary Lab in the English Department in 2016-17, when I lived in Boston.
It is not a surprise that our attention spans are shrinking. Longer videos quickly become boring. Classes I teach include as part of the curriculum, short videos, such as TED Ed, I Tunes, PBS. These usually lead into discussions. I try to use distractions and turn them into learning opportunities. For instance, I have used facebook as a research tool for an assignment, and followed it up with a written documentation of the process. Students wrote, learned how to research, and also how to write. Instead of starting out by writing an essay, students created narratives, interviewed people, included the lessons in short films that they themselves put together, and also wrote essays. They learned to write dialog in a more natural way, as they interviewed or observed people. I believe modern times demand that we change and evolve our approach. I feel I have been doing just that. Students find such work engaging and do not mind putting in extra time and effort.
I find the diversity of students an asset for the classes I teach as they contribute multiple perspectives to class discussions and projects. It only makes the class richer. For the past 6 years, all the work done in my classes has been online. I have not had even a single paper submission, and it seems to be working efficiently. At present I teach at a community college. The experience has been extremely rewarding. I have had students that are straight out of high school and also those that are 50 years old. In my teaching career, I have taught students that come from different countries as well as those that are local or from across the United States. Being from a different country and culture, I myself am an example of diversity. I think my own situation makes me empathetic toward my students and diversity, whether it stems from nationality, gender, race, or any other intersections.
As a writer and a writing teacher, language and communication is my prime concern. Having learned and taught composition in a university setting, I am a firm believer in this: Understanding the principles of composition make communication stronger. I am extremely comfortable writing across genres. In my own creative practice, I have found that no matter what I set to write, the content finally finds the genre that best represents it. My primary preference is how words flow in language.
Unspeakable joy grips me when I come across an unconventional use of noun as a verb. I consider being interdisciplinary also in the same vein. This approach extends to my teaching too. As an instructor, my primary goal is to make content engaging and interesting. I believe that is when real learning starts.
I have taught a range of disciplines to diverse student populations both nationally and internationally. Not only have I taught at various academic levels, school, college, community college, university, design studios, but I have also taught diverse student populations, in virtual and real time settings. At the college and university level, I have taught creative writing, composition, and women's studies. The interdisciplinary nature of my research gives my teaching often a unique perspective.
I believe in a pedagogy that constantly evolves with changing times and students. For the past few years, integration of technology in my courses has been a consistent feature. Both in my own creative practice and teaching, I tend to focus on contemporary social and feminist issues. I keep abreast of the latest in technology, and go beyond the discussion board, blog, and powerpoint. I am passionate and excited about newer technology such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and regularly interact with people who research these domains and produce creative work. I was fortunate to be a part of the regular discussions and meetings of an MIT fellows program, The Open Documentary Lab in the English Department in 2016-17, when I lived in Boston.
It is not a surprise that our attention spans are shrinking. Longer videos quickly become boring. Classes I teach include as part of the curriculum, short videos, such as TED Ed, I Tunes, PBS. These usually lead into discussions. I try to use distractions and turn them into learning opportunities. For instance, I have used facebook as a research tool for an assignment, and followed it up with a written documentation of the process. Students wrote, learned how to research, and also how to write. Instead of starting out by writing an essay, students created narratives, interviewed people, included the lessons in short films that they themselves put together, and also wrote essays. They learned to write dialog in a more natural way, as they interviewed or observed people. I believe modern times demand that we change and evolve our approach. I feel I have been doing just that. Students find such work engaging and do not mind putting in extra time and effort.
I find the diversity of students an asset for the classes I teach as they contribute multiple perspectives to class discussions and projects. It only makes the class richer. For the past 6 years, all the work done in my classes has been online. I have not had even a single paper submission, and it seems to be working efficiently. At present I teach at a community college. The experience has been extremely rewarding. I have had students that are straight out of high school and also those that are 50 years old. In my teaching career, I have taught students that come from different countries as well as those that are local or from across the United States. Being from a different country and culture, I myself am an example of diversity. I think my own situation makes me empathetic toward my students and diversity, whether it stems from nationality, gender, race, or any other intersections.
As a writer and a writing teacher, language and communication is my prime concern. Having learned and taught composition in a university setting, I am a firm believer in this: Understanding the principles of composition make communication stronger. I am extremely comfortable writing across genres. In my own creative practice, I have found that no matter what I set to write, the content finally finds the genre that best represents it. My primary preference is how words flow in language.
