Reflection on Teaching Goals

In this post, I reflect on my growth towards my semester teaching goals: engage with tutoring and composition theory, develop feedback practices, facilitate dialogue, and evaluate instructional practices.

As I look back on each of my teaching goals, I can see that I've already learned so much from my Writing Mentor role and ENG 484 coursework. I've refined the way I teach writing, keep students engaged, and offer supportive, helpful feedback. I imagine that I will continue to learn more and improve upon my tutoring practices as I work with new students, keep an open mind, and am exposed to different theories.

Looking back at my progress thus far, I believe that I have begun to form effective strategies for fostering a positive learning environment.

Specifically, I have learned to better my feedback by limiting my comments, asking thoughtful questions, using direct language, referring to students as writers, and using relaxed, welcoming language.

I have also learned that I can empower students in writing feedback sessions by fostering a constructive, positive dialogue rather than a lecture. This dialogue allows me to better tailor my writing feedback and better identify and respond to specific class needs with supplementary learning materials.

Lastly, I think one of the most important ways I've progressed since the start of my writing mentoring is my new awareness that focusing on helping students convey meaning with their writing — instead of focusing primarily on grammar — leads to the most dramatic and positive learning outcomes.

As I reflect on my work thus far, I am happy with my improvement and glad that I've had the chance to impact students' first experiences with college writing. I am excited to continue working with students to help foster the writing skills they will use in their academic and professional lives.