Teaching Philosophy

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I am very passionate about teaching and working on my craft.  I continuously dedicate time to becoming a more holistic, creative, and authentic teacher. I have attended pedagogy conferences, been involved with faculty learning communities, and regularly attend faculty development workshops aimed at improving my teaching. In addition, I have taken pedagogy classes, served as a teaching assistant, developed new courses, read books on pedagogy, received feedback and learned from seasoned teachers, and reflected on my own educational journey through journaling. It is through these activities that I have developed my personal beliefs about my teaching and student learning. These beliefs directly influence my teaching philosophy and how I engage with students. 

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Beliefs about my teaching

• It is an art and a science

• It can be interactive, purposeful and intentional

• It is about caring about and for students

• It is harder than it looks; thus, practice and feedback are needed in order to improve

• It is about making choices as the class evolves

• It is important to build onto students’ existing life experiences

• I can and will learn from students

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Beliefs about student learning

• It can happen outside and inside the classroom

• It can be fun and life giving

• It can be personal and emotional

• It is up to the individual, but can be enhanced and inspired by the teacher

• It should be active and not passive

• It happens through thinking, processing and synthesizing information

• It can be lifelong

• It can be liberatory

 

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Student Reflections

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“This class has been such an amazing experience. THANK YOUUUU!!!! The source materials were EXCELLENT, the projects were fun and exposed me to new ways of learning, and your approach to teaching was refreshing/inclusive/wonderful.”

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“Enjoy this class and the professor's ability to allow different perspectives and view points of student to be expressed fairly.”

 

 “This class really helped me prepare and get ready for taking the next step in achieving my academic career and hopefully leading to my career. Professor Lissa Stapleton is a great professor and is caring and ready to help her students. She personally helped me in many ways. I am very grateful that I was able to get into this class, it has been very valuable for my future planning.”

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“It was quite an interesting class. You can tell she really has a passion for the subject and enjoys sharing it.”

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• Remote Guest Speakers Enrich CSUN’s Virtual Classes

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