Teaching 

Adaptive: I ensure I take the appropriate precautions to address the needs of my students. I acknowledge this ability to adapt to students’ needs can be labor-intensive; however, I believe that as an instructor, I should be held accountable for how I address student needs whether it is a matter of accessibility or general learning style. 

Rhetorical: Often, I am my student’s first Black female writing instructor, thus exposing them to an instructor whose pedagogical practices they assume may vary from what they are used to, and they are right. Thus leaving the course rhetorically driven from the start. I am aware that physical embodiment shifts the climate in the classroom as well as influences pedagogical practices (Thompson, 2000). Furthermore, my embodiment shapes students’ receptiveness, willingness to learn, and ability to engage controversial subjects within the classroom thus requiring students to situate themselves within the context of the conversations within the classroom.

Critical: I assess the needs of my students alongside helping them situate themselves within the context of the assignment, I provide space for students to (re)claim their agency and complete tasks how they see fit, within the limits of assignment guidelines. As described by Franita Ware’s (2006) article “Warm demander pedagogy: Culturally responsive teaching that supports a culture of achievement for African-American students,” I am a “warm demander” that requires students to unequivocally reach the expectations I have set for them and the ones they have set for themselves. This critical awareness leads to knowledge transfer, thus providing students with lessons and rhetorical practices that can be implemented in many facets of their lives.