My teaching combines discussion-based learning, collaborative inquiry, project-based learning, and interdisciplinary approaches that help students connect ideas across history, literature, music, media, and culture. Across both academic and athletic settings, I strive to create active learning environments in which students build confidence through participation, reflection, experimentation, and teamwork. In practice, this often includes structured seminar discussion, comparative case studies, collaborative presentations, multimedia analysis, mind mapping, primary-source inquiry, and opportunities for students to revise and reflect on their work over time. I aim to balance intellectual rigor with creativity, structure, and relational trust so that students feel both challenged and supported.
Teaching Poetry, History, and Writing
I have found that students often learn most effectively when traditional academic skills are paired with collaborative and embodied forms of learning. When teaching poetry and literature, I sometimes draw on my background in musicology by introducing students to basic concepts of rhythm, meter, phrasing, and musical counting. Connecting literary analysis to sound and performance helps students experience language as something dynamic and expressive rather than abstract or intimidating.
In one project at Brown and Towson Universities, advanced undergraduates helped high school students learn and record a piece of West African music as part of a larger multimedia project on the Black Atlantic. Students explored connections among African, Caribbean, and African American musical cultures not only through reading and discussion, but also through participation and performance. Experiences like these have reinforced my belief that students often understand cultural systems most deeply when they engage with them directly.
Project-Based Learning and Collaborative Inquiry
I believe students develop deeper understanding when they take active roles in shaping questions, testing ideas, revising work, and reflecting on outcomes. In humanities classrooms, this can involve collaborative presentations, multimedia projects, comparative case studies, or inquiry-based discussions that encourage students to approach complex problems from multiple perspectives.
Project-based learning also creates opportunities for students with different strengths and learning styles to contribute meaningfully. Some students excel verbally, while others think visually, spatially, socially, or creatively. Collaborative projects help students recognize and value these different forms of intelligence while developing communication, adaptability, and teamwork skills that extend beyond the classroom.
Mind Maps and Visual Learning
One of my favorite teaching tools is the use of mind maps and visual organizational strategies. Mind maps help students organize, connect, and retain complex information by visually representing relationships among ideas. I use them alongside traditional note-taking, outlines, discussion, and writing assignments to help students recognize patterns and think more flexibly across disciplines.
Mind mapping can be especially valuable for students who struggle with organization, executive functioning, or abstract conceptualization. As students move between verbal and visual forms of thinking, they begin to see both the big picture and the smaller relationships within complex historical or literary arguments. I have found that visual learning strategies not only support diverse learners but also encourage creativity, curiosity, and higher-order thinking for all students.
Small Group Learning and Relational Equity
Many teachers are reluctant to intervene carefully in group dynamics, preferring to let students self-select or work out their own roles. But research on collaborative learning consistently shows that the composition and structure of groups significantly shapes both what students learn and how confident they feel doing it. This finding has directly influenced how I teach.
In practice, I think carefully about how groups are formed, how participation is structured, and how students with different strengths, backgrounds, and communication styles are positioned to contribute. My goal is not simply to complete projects efficiently, but to create conditions where students develop empathy, communication skills, and a sense of shared responsibility while working together, or relational equity. When group dynamics are structured thoughtfully, collaborative learning becomes one of the most powerful tools available to a teacher.
Coaching, Collaboration, and Community
My work as a coach has deeply influenced my approach to teaching and mentoring. In both classrooms and athletics, students learn best when they feel safe, respected, challenged, and accountable to a larger community. Effective teaching and coaching require clear communication, empathy, structure, and trust.
Through nearly fifteen years of coaching basketball, soccer, lacrosse, and wilderness trips, I have seen how much young people grow when they are given real responsibility, genuine challenge, and consistent support. These experiences have reinforced my belief that education should develop the whole person. Whether working with athletes, writers, musicians, or history students, my goal is to create collaborative environments where students develop confidence, leadership, empathy, and a sense of shared purpose that extends beyond any single classroom or season.
Mind Maps and Visual Learning
One of my favorite teaching tools is the use of mind maps and visual organizational strategies. Mind maps help students organize, connect, and retain complex information by visually representing relationships among ideas. I use them alongside traditional note-taking, outlines, discussion, and writing assignments to help students recognize patterns and think more flexibly across disciplines.
Mind mapping can be especially valuable for students who struggle with organization, executive functioning, or abstract conceptualization. As students move between verbal and visual forms of thinking, they begin to see both the big picture and the smaller relationships within complex historical or literary arguments. I have found that visual learning strategies not only support diverse learners but also encourage creativity, curiosity, and higher-order thinking for all students.
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