Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy changed after I taught a class for the first time, and it changed again during my first semester in front of a class, and now that I’m back in school it has changed again. You might think that being a teacher would put me permanently on the side of the teacher, but this has not happened. Instead, while I sit in class as the minutes tick by and all I can think about is getting out, my rebellious instincts threaten mutiny and occasionally take over. The same thing that happened to me in high school happens now in graduate school. I look out of the window, when there is one, and I wish I were someplace else. While I was supposed to be working out my teaching philosophy, these thoughts took over instead. Then it hit me: that’s my teaching philosophy. I can communicate with students because I understand them. I understand them because I am one of them, and will always sigh while I roll my eyes at the clock. I love teaching and learning.