Hunter Thomas: Writing Portfolio
Teaching Experience
General Orientations, Literature, and Composition
Before I had even enrolled in graduate school, I gained experience in the field of education through adjunct work at nearby Southern Union State Community College, where I worked as a First Year Experience orientation instructor, helping students with the transition from high school to college.
Once I began my graduate program a year later, I worked two semesters as a teaching assistant covering both British and American literature. During this time, I assisted the lead instructor with large-format lecture classes twice a week before leading two of my own breakout sessions once a week. I also assisted in grading both papers and exams.
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Then, during the second and final year of my graduate program, I taught three composition classes over the course of two semesters; one class being Composition I, which focused mainly on research and composition on a basic level, and the other being Composition II, which does the same on a more academic level. I was responsible for all aspects of the class, including creating a syllabus, planning the semester, and theming the class in addition to day-in-day-out instruction.
Teaching Philosophy
As someone who finds the connection between the instructor and the students to be the most important facet of the pedagogical process, I believe that it is pertinent to find common ground. To do so, I try to focus on ways to incorporate an appropriate relatability into the process. In addition to developing a relationship with the student (learning their name, their background to an extent, their general interests in the subject being taught, etc.), I find that incorporating modern culture into the curriculum is an effective and efficient way to not only reach out to the students’ interests and everyday lives outside of the classroom, but to make the material more accessible inside the classroom as well. Multiple professors that I had in undergrad incorporated this method, weaving cinema and music into the literature curriculum in a way that not only educated me, but inspired me as well.
I also find it of the utmost importance to make sure that all students are in the same place with regards to understanding and incorporating the information taught. I feel that there are two ways to do so; one would be through the classic technique of scaffolding, in which we begin by finding where each student is, meeting them at their level, and making our way up the ladder together. However, I also believe the aforementioned method of incorporation of modern culture to be effective when used in tandem with this method; in including modern culture of all different sorts, I attempt to reach each and every student in the classroom and make sure that the accessibility I’m aiming for is inclusive of all involved. This way, we move through the curriculum as a group and in a safe space, putting no students in a difficult position.
An example of my methods in action: During the instruction of my first college English class, I was teaching the concept of British Gothic literature to my students. We had already gone through a few different characteristics thereof on a different class day, and after I listed those on the board, I had the students give examples out loud (as I wrote them on the board as well) of a few different writers, movies, musicians, or other pop culture touchstones that they would consider Gothic. We then connected the original characteristics back to these examples before connecting both back to the works that we’d originally read for class, creating a trifecta leading to understanding for all involved.
Teaching Artifacts
Below are a few artifacts of from my time teaching composition at Auburn, spanning my time as a Comp I instructor to my time as a Comp II instructor. Though I was provided samples of each of the first two documents, I edited them each - the first heavily and the second slightly - to make them fit my vision as an instructor and as a thinker.