Contact:

Renata R. Lafler

geologyrenata@gmail.com


 

Teaching Philosophy

We live in a wild, "wiki"-world, dominated by cyber giants like google, myspace, youtube, and wikipedia. Our students have enormous amounts of information at their fingertips (over 61,600,000 google hits on "geology" alone). How do I engage my music-downloading, facebook-browsing, hulu-watching, cyber-savvy pupils? I believe that incorporating three fundamental elements can foster a successful learning environment: 1) the process of discovery, 2) learner-centered activities, and 3) passion.

Marcel Proust says it best, "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." I believe in challenging my students to view content with "new eyes;" to help students see that the "right" answer and the steps taken to discover the answer are mutually important. I believe that by emphasizing the process of learning, I am preparing my students to become life-long learners. By encouraging my students to support their ideas and responses with content-based evidence, I can be confident that they will continue to explore and question even after they leave my classroom.


I believe teaching and learning are most effective as learner-centered, interactive processes. Learning can be an exciting, hands-on journey guided, not dictated, by the instructor. I believe that students learn better if they actively practice what is being taught and are given the opportunities to instruct their peers. When appropriate, I provide my students with auditory, visual, and kinesthetic stimuli to tailor course topics to a variety of learning styles. Students will be directly involved in development of assessment techniques and the course syllabus, cultivating an atmosphere in which students take ownership for their learning and clearly understand my expectations.

I love geology and I'm not afraid to show it to the world (my license plate reads: IDIGROX). By sharing my enthusiasm with my students, I keep them engaged and curious. By divulging what interests me, I promote a classroom community in which the students can feel comfortable exploring what may or may not interest them (and I appear less like an unapproachable Wizard of Oz, and more like a human being).

I owe my academic success thus far to a few exceptional teachers; professionals, who dared to be different, were not afraid to get excited and share their passion with others, people who related to me on a very human level. My ultimate goal is to be that teacher for someone else.