Michael's Teaching Statement

From the time when I first began to tutor classmates in high school, teaching has been the biggest ambition of my life. My goal, in every class I teach, is to foster the acquisition of a base of concepts and learning skills that will empower students to become leaders within their chosen field. To that end, I will try to emphasize critical thinking, problem-solving skills, communication, and collaboration in hopes of making them attain a high level of scholarship in specific content areas, especially in graduate courses in which course content is directly relevant to students’ careers. Of course, I also expect my students to make the most of the proper learning techniques for a broad range of demands in future academic and occupational settings.


In business classes, I try to use as many primary documents as possible: memoirs, letters, speeches, journals, even court cases. I want students to understand the actions and thought process of business leaders who experienced similar scenarios relevant to course study. Of course, in combination with a few carefully chosen secondary works, those primary documents also give students a chance to question concepts, the assumptions of their peers, and why the business leaders did what they did.

With almost every text I teach, I urge students to find, choose, and bring in an article that relates to that days class’ topics. How can you connect this article to today’s class topics and discussions? What do you find significant and why? I insist that they make an effort to understand the correlation between class teachings and their relevance to today’s world.

I always supplement lectures with structured discussions, demonstrations, or cooperative learning activities that encourage students to think actively about the material and relate to it personally and practically. Possessing a background in business I will often generate enthusiasm and facilitate discussions by sharing personal experiences. However, I believe in democratizing the classroom, so in a seminar setting, I make it clear to students from the beginning that the responsibility is on them to lead the discussions. I want them to go through the active process of making discoveries by comparing perspectives and disagreeing with each other rather than simply listening passively to my interpretation of a given text. I generally encourage students during discussion to validate their points by way of references to specific pages. At the same time, in my own preparation for class I always make extensive notes regarding essential points I want to see covered in our discussion, and I will consistently draw the discussion back to those points when we get sidetracked.

Writing proficiency is a critical component of a university education and all of my courses involve writing assignments and a mixture of examination question types. These writing assignments are designed to alert students to apply course material to settings outside the class, and in doing so reinforce important concepts. Not all of my students arrive in my classroom equipped with excellent writing skills, so rather than using writing solely as a form of evaluation, I teach students the process of writing. With all writing assignments, I encourage students to take advantage of the writing centers on campus and to submit rough drafts so that I can provide constructive feedback, and occasionally I will offer the opportunity to students to rewrite their final papers for additional credit.

In addition to making changes in response to student progress toward course goals and student feedback, I continually refine my techniques by incorporating my personal business experiences and seeking informal consultation with experienced colleagues. As a result, I believe I am continually improving and evolving as a teacher. As an instructor I believe it is very important to continue to search for additional ways to grow as a transformational leader.


What else is there to say but goodnight and goodnight to you Mrs. Amore, wherever you may be.