Keep on keeping on...

 

When I applied for PTP, I was treading water in a metaphorical ocean. The vast expanse of water represented all of the work I was drowning in. A speck of land in the distance was the unknown job I was swimming towards. When I was selected as a PTP fellow, I knew teaching would either be a shark that bit off half my thigh while I was on my way to that speck of land or a majestic albatross flying overhead, inspiring me to keep swimming. I am happy to say that although I am still dutifully swimming towards my ultimate goal, my thigh meat is fully intact after my PTP experience.

 

Although I have been the Instructor of Record for college courses before, my PTP experience was my first foray into teaching an entomology class. As a trained wildlife ecologist, I initially wondered if teaching a wildlife course would be wiser than stepping outside the box. Then, I reminded myself that I like kicking it completely outside the box. Indeed, I aspire to keep both my research and teaching as interdisciplinary as possible. In the end, I am very glad I chose to teach “Insects and People” in particular, and I believe I have grown as a teacher, professional, and person as a result.

 

I learned a great deal about teaching from my experience as the instructor of “Insects and People”. I have noted a few of them below (list not exhaustive):

 

• Be yourself and leave your ego at the door – One of the more rewarding aspects of teaching “Insects and People” was the rapport I had with my students. I think our great rapport stemmed from the fact that I was real with them, learned with them, and learned from them.

• Be a mentor – Helping students personally can be just as important as helping them academically or professionally. I have learned educators can be in the unique position to do all three.

• Know your audience – My “Insects and People” class included non-major freshman undergraduates (i.e., those not necessarily interested in insects) from a diversity of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Several of them also were student athletes. I catered the delivery of course content as best I could to reach each individual student in some way, with their interests and background in mind. I believe this made me a more effective teacher. Also, it turns out college freshman aren’t graduate students. As such, I adjusted my assessment of student work to match the level of the students’ academic experience.

• Make technology work – PTP prepared me well to use technology in the classroom. Teaching in the field of ecology can be greatly enhanced with the use of technology to illustrate ecological interactions or animal behavior, supplementing field-based learning.

• Cultivate creativity – I believe student performance on exams only tells part of the story. I developed several assignment for “Insects and People” that centered on creativity, effort, and teamwork and collectively contributed to almost half of my students’ grades. The student’s appreciated the chance to work on less boring, more creative projects and the control they maintained over their grades when test-taking was not their strong suite.

 

PTP and my relationship with my faculty mentor, Dr. Clyde Sorenson, helped me realize that teaching is an important aspect of being a well-rounded scholar. Clyde helped me realize the many ways to make teaching about insects fun and showed me invaluable strategies to incorporate active learning in a lecture-hall type setting. The PTP seminars helped me shape not only my teaching style, but also helped me gain clarity in relation to my personal, institutional fit.

 

On a personal level, my PTP experience made me I realize teaching truly makes me feel good. As such, I would like to continue doing it. Of course, there are areas of my teaching approach that need improvement. However, I believe my drive to be the best teacher I can be will facilitate my constant improvement as an educator.

 

I am deeply indebted to the PTP program, Dr. Beth Overman, and Clyde for providing me with this experience, and I will use what I have learned teaching “Insects and People” throughout my academic career.