My Philosophy of Teaching and Learning
Although it is hard to sum up in just a page, here is my philosophy of teaching and learning. I hope this will give you a sense of how these classes work and why:
1. Each person is unique. You bring your own interests and needs to the class, and as a teacher I want to respond to those specific interests and needs. I am really glad that the flexibility of the online format allows us to work together as individuals, person to person. (More about teaching online and individualized learning.)
2. Curiosity is the best basis for learning. Everyone is curious about different things, and I believe that you will learn more if you pursue your own interests. That's why I use an "UnTextbook" approach where you choose what to read each week. (More about the UnTextbooks for Myth-Folklore and Indian Epics.)
3. Stories are powerful. Each week you will be reading stories from other places and times, and you will also be writing stories of your own. I hope that you will remember many of these stories long after the class is over and that you will be able to use what you have learned in new contexts. (More about the Storybook projects in Myth-Folklore and in Indian Epics.)
4. Every person is creative. I want this class to be a chance for you to get in touch with your creative powers and to share your creativity with others. The more everybody in the class can create and share, the more we will all learn. (More about the storytelling experiments in Myth-Folklore and Indian Epics.)
5. We learn best together. This is especially true for a writing course: writers need an audience of readers to appreciate their writing. In this class, you have lots of opportunities to interact with other students as well as interacting with me. (More about the student-to-student comment stream.)
6. Reading and writing take time. These classes are reading-intensive and writing-intensive; there are no short-cuts. You will need to spend appx. 6 hours on this class each week and, in return, you will learn reading and writing skills that should be useful in any career you pursue. (More about a typical week's work in these classes.)
7. Learning to write means learning to revise. You will get feedback from me and from other students, and based on that feedback you will practice editing and revising your writing. I focus on sentence-level feedback so that you can get lots of practice with basic writing skills. (More about the writing process.)
8. Grades should reward learning rather than penalize mistakes. There are no tests in these classes; instead, your grade is based on the completion of numerous reading and writing assignments each week, with a wide variety of assignments to choose from. (More about my philosophy of grading.)
9. Fear is the enemy of learning. Throughout the class I try to promote something called "growth mindset," which is about learning without fear and embracing new challenges as something fun. I believe that we learn by doing things that are difficult and by not being afraid to make mistakes!(More about growth mindset.)
10. Follow your bliss. That is the motto of Joseph Campbell, and I really hope that you will be able to follow your bliss in this class — reading some great stories, uncovering your creativity, and encountering ideas and images that inspire you. Follow that bliss! (More about Joseph Campbell.)
(From the Growth Mindset Memes blog.)
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