NFE Reflections Newhouse 2006-7
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MCC New Faculty Experience Reflections, My Name, My Department, Mesa Community College, Contact me (mailto:myemail)
My Teaching Philosophy
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Reflection on Scholarly Teaching and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
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Understanding of MCC Culture Gained through NFE
NFE enabled me to feel more part of the overall culture and to gain insight into what drives us to excellence. Overall, it is clear to me that teaching and learning on every level at MCC has to be and appears to be a major focus. If we’re doing something that doesn’t take into consideration what’s good for our students, then we’re missing the point of what makes MCC such an outstanding organization. Through all of the exposure to different areas within MCC that has been imparted through NFE, I’ve learned that each one of them has a core intention that lends itself to improvement of our faculty, our offerings to the students, and our community.
Impact of NFE on my Approach to Teaching
Since we have so many disciplines in our group we have many different challenges but we also have many commonalities. The discussions we’ve had have shown me that teaching well is just as much of a learning experience as being the student. It’s a life-long evolution that needs to be revisited as our world changes and our student expectations change.
I’ve seen that we all are looking for better ways to impart an excellent learning environment, which I find exciting and inspiring. At the same time that we’re striving to be better we all take great pride in what we do and are thrilled to share our best techniques with everyone.
The impact on my teaching has been on where I feel stronger in my approaches, more willing to explore new ones, and even more assured that my students are getting the very best teachers in each class they take at MCC.
Reflection on my Experience in the NFE Community
I wish I could’ve attended all the NFE sessions. The ones I have been present for have proven very useful and have shown me how much MCC cares about their community of new faculty members. Throughout the year, I’ve gotten a sense of the wealth of opportunities a faculty member can take part in as well as many of the resources available. NFE is the only place I’ve heard of the majority of these, so I am pleased to have been apart of the group.
Another plus to NFE has been that I’ve gotten to know other faculty members in departments I might not otherwise have met and have seen others’ perspective on many issues we all encounter in our teaching environment.
The foundation NFE provides to a new faculty member has been invaluable. The sense of community imparted in each session has been genuine and something the NFE members have all participated in along with the presenters. At this point our NFE group could almost conduct an entire session on our own with each other because we’ve become such a solid community. The importance MCC places on educating its faculty and the way in which it is accomplished by providing a place where we can ask questions, share experiences, and connect with our college is imperative and the NFE has accomplished this perfectly.
Reflection on My Future as a Member of the MCC Community
I've loved getting the opportunity to learn of the many different departments and offerings that are available a member of the MCC community. Because of the passion displayed by all who have shared with us this year, I am looking forward to imparting the same to continue in the tradition. I've seen that those who have shared with us this year are committed to what they do because they have a vested interest in their area, so I plan to be involved in things that I can give to the most as well. Frankly, there are a lot of things I'd like to do with MCC now that I know of the many opportunities a faculty member has to give back in order to sustain and to grow MCC and I look forward to trying out many of them in the years to come. I'm very excited about the upcoming faculty mentoring opportunity, as it has meant so much to me when I have been given help along the way this past year. I hope I can be as valuable to new faculty as many have been to me.
