Cerisa R. Reynolds, PhD
Professor of Anthropology,
Aims Community College

I have always enjoyed learning, and as a child eagerly awaited the next school year. However, as I grew up, I found that many classes were not so much about learning as they were about regurgitating information for exams in hopes of receiving a passing grade. Few teachers focused on teaching us (or even encouraging us) to grow, on how to integrate what we were learning into the world beyond the classroom, or on how to think of course materials as important in their own right rather than worth covering simply because it was in the curriculum and would be on the next exam. Even as someone who has always loved school, and who often succeeded academically in this system, repeatedly taking courses like this was a tiring, defeating, discouraging process.

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The teachers that moved beyond this pattern, though, who came to the classroom with enthusiasm, with a desire to interact with students, to share their knowledge, to encourage students to try as hard as they could, to ask questions, to move beyond the basic facts that one was expected to memorize for the sake of passing an exam, to learn for the sheer joy of learning and for the great power that comes with knowledge, these are the instructors who kept even the most jaded classmates of mine in the classroom--paying attention and eager to learn! Two teachers from high school and a handful of professors from college stand out as being such inspiring leaders, and these are the instructors who, by their example, encouraged me to go to college and graduate school. They made learning a rewarding process again, and made me desire something I had never expected to want: they made me want to teach; they made me want to challenge students to learn more than the basics; they made me want to help students believe in themselves; they made me want to develop, reignite, or reinforce a student's love for learning. 

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I therefore enter the classroom believing that my students are capable of far more than traditional teaching often provides room for. When teaching, I strive to create an environment where students can improve their critical thinking skills, communication skills, and problem solving skills, skills that will help them within and beyond the classroom. I challenge my students to apply themselves and take an active part in the learning process, and I encourage them to connect course content to their lives, experiences, and passions. This usually means that my courses are less memorization-heavy and are instead heavy on thinking, discussing, writing, and applying. Students thus leave my classes with much more than an understanding of the course content. They leave with a greater ability to think critically of the world around them and to express their knowledge through written and spoken means. And ideally, they leave the classroom with greater self confidence and an awareness that I care about them and their futures.