Kristen Palana's Teaching Philosophy

There are many qualities I feel are integral for a teacher to successfully educate and communicate with individuals from a multitude of backgrounds, cultures, abilities, and life experiences.

First I believe in setting firm goals that will spark interest and excitement among the students. Two examples are having a beginning Web Design class create their first personal online portfolios for future employers, friends, and family to see, or have students new to the field of Graphic Design participate in a logo competition for a real world client such as The UN’s World Food Programme.

I believe it is important to be approachable and non-intimidating as a means of developing successful relationships with the students. Once a rapport has been developed, I encourage the students to focus on their strengths and interests when pursuing a project. This method produces more passionate and thoughtful work and helps to keep students trying when obstacles and frustrations turn up or they attempt to overcome their weaknesses in a particular area of study.

As an educator, my goal for every class is to present material in a clear, interesting, and easy to understand manner. Particularly in the Computer and Technology fields, the subject matter can at first seem overwhelming and intimidating. I believe that a combination of lecture, visual and audio examples and aides, demonstrations, critiques, and individual help not only benefit those new to an area of study, but also to those with more intermediate and advanced skills.

Other important qualities found in a successful educator are patience and flexibility. Whether a computer has just crashed, a demonstration gone wrong, electricity suddenly is unavailable, or an entire class of new students turns up without the required prerequisites, things will at some point run less than smoothly. While I can't possibly predict every mishap that may occur, I often find myself with a back-up plan and can react swiftly to a situation while still teaching the students.

Finally, one of the most enjoyable things about teaching I have found is that I am constantly learning as I go along. Students as well as colleagues will often raise an issue or ask a question I'd never considered before. Since one can never know all there is to know, and since new developments in the field of Computer Graphics in particular happen frequently, it is important to keep learning. I believe the most important thing a person can learn is how to learn. I hope to continue to discover things for myself as well as to foster this sense of discovery in others.