The purpose of this portfolio is four fold:

    The following is a discussion of my teaching background, teaching responsibilities, the courses I have taught and the kinds of students who take my courses.  I will also discuss my teaching philosophy, what I do in my classes ( classroom based and web supported) and why I teach the way I do.   Finally I will examine my teaching effectiveness and my efforts to improve the quality of my instruction.
    The profession of educator is my third career field.  I have served 20 years in the federal government and 8 years in the corporate world.  Fall 2011 school year marked my nineteenth year in the field of education as either a part time instructor in community colleges or at the university level or as a full time faculty member at the community college level and college level.  These schools include:

    In my time as a educator, I have taught the following subjects:

It is my responsibility as a teacher to provide students with the following:

I also believe that my students have duties to me, their fellow students and to themselves.  These duties support me in fulfilling my duties to students.  I believe that it is the students' responsibility to be supportive of the teacher and fellow students by being:

Because of the reciprocal nature of the duties between teachers and students, I believe that it may be inaccurate to view students as only customers or as clients because such a view incorrectly implies that the primary duties in the relationship are the teachers' duties to the students and virtually ignores the duties of students to their teachers, fellow students and themselves.

MY CLASSROOM APPROACH
    I try to bring the concept of collaborative learning into my classes.  Collaborative Learning is based upon the following principles:

1. Working together results in a greater understanding than would likely to have occurred if one had worked independently.
2. Spoken and written interactions contribute to this increased understanding.
3. Opportunity exists to become aware, through classroom experience, of relationships between social interactions and increased understanding.
4. Some elements of this increased understanding are peculiar and unpredictable.

    I  understand that teaching and learning are two parts to the same process.  As a student, you need to understand the burden of responsibility for learning is your own - regardless of the quality or effectiveness of the teacher.  This is a useful approach  for any student to adopt because it guarantees an active learner strategy that will pay large dividends.  It challenges you to become a skeptic and a critical thinker.  As a teacher, I strive to involve my students in extended discussions using the technical subject of the moment as a launching point to explore the effects on the discipline, the industry and society.  I have created this web site to supplement and reinforce my classroom instructions - to provide a location for routine lecture notes to enable the student to concentrate on critical thinking and interactions while in the classroom. It also serves as the prime resource site for any Internet class I may teach or mentor.

    In the classroom, all that you express may not go unchallenged, but this should not keep you from being candid.   Please set your egos aside.  Criticism is a part of learning and is a bitter pill for all.  We can learn just as much through validation as we can through invalidation.  If it appears that I am being picky or firm with you, it is merely one of my approaches towards stimulating you to do your best, to become a critical thinker and to get and maintain a focus on your education and in turn your life.  On the other hand, I welcome your challenges to me, to ask the hard question and to insure that I have clearly and completely explained that new concept - all done in a civil manner, of course.