Statement of Teaching Philosophy

Joe Morgan

Statement of Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy is Engagement.

The three most important aspects of my teaching philosophy are. . .

i. Class Interaction

ii. Exploration Through Multiple Means

iii. And A Chance for Experimentation

So what does that mean?

Well, techniques vary. Mine is motion.

I talk with my hands

I move through the classroom

I turn

I turn and face the board so the problem is no longer mine for the students, but one we are trying to solve together.

Once, while discussing subject headings,

I told the class a story about how a new woman began showing up in my brother’s photos on facebook.

“So,” I ask the class, “I have never seen her before. She starts showing up at all of his concerts. Her name is tagged at the bottom of the page. What’s the first thing I’m going to do?”

“Click on her name,” answers one student, nearly falling out of her chair.

“Exactly,” I answer. “I click on her name to find more information.”

“It’s no different than this.”

“Well, maybe a little. . .”

Students leaning forward into the question, answers being given with a smile instead of a sigh

That’s engagement.

So, what’s exploration?

When I finish a session, my goal is for all students to be confident enough to approach library research.  So with every tool, with every concept, I do three things:

I Show it

I Explain it

I Let them try it

I always have

3 And I demonstrate each one

3 ways.

learning objectives

My instruction is a lot like tic-tac-toe.

So, after all that talking. Students are more than ready for. . .

A Chance To Experiment

Students find relevance by using tools to solve immediate problems.

Working in groups is good, too.

Working on their own projects is better still.

During this time, I can move through the class, filling in gaps.

It’s easier to meet with 5 groups of 3

than 15 individuals.

In summary,

Engaging students in these 3 ways helps concepts become firmly embedded.

In each class there is time for. . .

Puzzlement

Experimentation

Mistakes

and Discovery.

That is what I try to provide.

www.josephsandersmorgan.com

Photo Credits all are available under the creative commons licence (by slide):

4: http://www.flickr.com/photos/damiaosantana/6388208/sizes/o/5: http://www.flickr.com/photos/60162443@N00/3348965637/6: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WebZ/FETCH?sessionid=01-46367- 439598445&recno=59&resultset=2&format=F&next=html/nffull.html&bad=error/badfetch.html&&entitytoprecno=59&entitycurrecno=59&entityreturnTo=brief9: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gi/2879088619/sizes/l/10: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazyevaluator/2937056945/11: http://www.flickr.com/photos/idiolector/37479346/13: http://www.flickr.com/photos/orangeacid/2292315767/sizes/l/22: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdctsevilla/4052593758/sizes/l/24: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13492637@N07/2114683166/26: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ultimateslug/3179362232/sizes/l/30: http://www.flickr.com/photos/19659450@N00/2301701534/31: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WebZ/FETCH?sessionid=01-46445-252900874&recno=12&resultset=10&format=F&next=html/nffull.html&bad=error/badfetch.html&&entitytoprecno=12&entitycurrecno=12&entityreturnTo=briefbw 38: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79613030@N00/2268845904/39: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donsolo/2349550374/sizes/l/40: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34427466731@N01/2192192956/41: http://www.flickr.com/photos/heidipeters/3223557025/sizes/o/