As an instructor, I serve as a guide on an intellectual journey, opening and broadening curious  minds by exposing them to new thoughts and ideas. I encourage students to expand their  horizons and guide them to examine their beliefs critically, especially when exposed to world  culture and diverse identities, values, and ways of thinking.

I ask my students to self-confront their ideas by reading different points of view, whether in a  French classroom or a creative writing/literature environment. This translates into an interactive,  art-oriented classroom focusing on language building and culture acquisition (literature, art,  geography, philosophy of thought, etc.) in my French classes.

My experience as a Psychology Teaching Assistant for Diverse Populations and Research and  Methods gives me a unique opportunity to contribute to students’ growth. I encourage students to  overcome their hesitations and fears about research and writing by enraging them to seek a richer  understanding of topics they are passionate about. In this process, they appreciate various  research methodologies such as quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, and art-based, which  are research foundations. I help guide them to see theoretical frameworks as researchers’ tools  and not feel intimidated by the subject’s vocabulary. My written feedback promotes insights and  students’ progress while challenging their critical thinking. I am enthusiastic about their work and feel part of their journey as they read articles and write literary reviews. I am proud of my  students and of how far they have come.

I use a direct instruction method, group discussions, role-play simulations, and various activities  to stimulate students’ learning experiences in my French classes. We practice language and  grammatical structure through exercises, writing, and translation. I also encourage students’ creativity by bringing art into the classroom, asking them to reflect on the piece in a journal, and prompting them to write skits in groups.

My Composition/Developmental English courses highlight different approaches to guided work  in small groups producing a learning situation where the students can comfortably share and  discuss their ideas, literary interpretations, and rhetorical structure. By analyzing their peers’ essays, they learn to detect rhetorical structures and logical fallacies to teach them to become  better readers of their work. By continually writing, revising, and rewriting, they know to  translate their thoughts into a reader-friendly argument that is coherently structured, well-argued,  and aware of its audience. Furthermore, I allow students to rework their statements and improve  their writing skills through interrelated paper assignments and revisions. Finally, I emphasize  group workshops to create a class environment where the students know, teach, and help one  another in their writing.

My Literature classes are a mixture of theories that present students with the vocabulary to  discuss their methods of argumentation, critical thinking to open debates among the students, and  student essays, both as examples and to train essential reading. I introduce the students to authors  from the canon and texts within the context of more significant literary movements and cultural  diversity. My use of directed group work allows the students to engage with the text as it is a

historical, philosophical, and social framework and show the interactions between literary culture  and society.

My Creative Writing classes focus on the energy of language, its possibilities, and its playful  potential. I encourage students to enjoy the act and art of making something new with words. As  the instructor, I am also responsible for teaching students writing conventions and the literary  craft of their chosen genre. The story, poem, or essay a student shares with a workshop may express the student’s most profound experiences and their relationship with the  world. For this reason, a safe place must be created where writers from diverse  populations feel comfortable sharing their art. It is my responsibility as a workshop leader  to maintain such an atmosphere. A good class connects students to the aesthetic art on the  page, their peer writers, and the community.

I guide each writer to locate the piece’s strength, heart, and lungs, and I then challenge students to go beyond craft and access what Ed Hirsh calls ‘duende.’ I aim to help writers  find the best way to craft their pieces, find the wild, and surprise the audience. I also  encourage revision and “re-vision” and encourage my students to take risks. As Dickson  says, I expect students’ work to make me feel “as if the top of my head was lifted.”

My inclinations as an instructor are towards conciseness of the language, humor,  surrealism, dadaism –anything which shows risk-taking on the page. I encourage students  to go far in their work and their lives. Above all, I ensure they feel valued as students and  people and that their voices and opinions matter.