Near the beginning of this year I was asked to teach some classes up yonder at Randolph College. I briefly chronicled my experience here. Part of teaching, and part of living for that matter, is to be self-critical. I basically struggled as a professor. But as my anecdote details, I wasn't given much prep time. I jumped in anyways because it was something new and different. At the end of it all I thought, hmm, that's part of my legend now, I can move on. But I didn't. I often mused about how I would go about it differently if I had another chance. My mentor at Randolph, Jennifer, was big on the "if you had another chance" mantra. So I adopted her wisdom and applied it to self. Although I had taught a lot of young adults how to be showbiz accountants, I never formally learned how to be an educator. I was ok with the subject I was teaching, photography and filmmaking, because I had decent experience and I was always practicing. But I never felt at peace in the classroom. I never felt comfortable being an authority, a phenomenon that I recently learned is called, impostership. I needed to fortify this aspect of my experience. I needed some teacher training. So I enrolled in this online course offered by Columbia University called, "Inclusive Teaching: Supporting All Students in the College Classroom." In general, the course was about establishing and supporting an inclusive course climate; setting explicit expectations; promoting diversity and inclusion through course content; designing all course elements for accessibility; and cultivating critical self-reflection. It was perfect. I guess my main takeaway was learning to not universalize my experience. Oh, and that teaching is a process. As my good friend Jesse often says, "Relax hotshot." Good advice. So I'll just keep learning stuff along the way. Mama was right. And btw, Jennifer sent me an email asking if I'd like to teach again in the spring.
I said, sure, I'd love to.
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