Ted Scholz

Scholz, T. (August, 2013). Preparing Future Minority Faculty Using Distant Technology. 29th Annual Distance Teaching and Learning Conference, Madison, WI.

Scholz, T. (April, 2012). Teaching the Millennial Generation: Myths and Realities. Chicago State Faculty Workshops, Chicago, IL.

Scholz, T. (November, 2011) Seeds for Innovation: Blogging as a Form of Scholarship and Collegiality. Chicago Area Faculty Development Network Conference, Chicago, IL.

Scholz, T. (October, 2009)A Teaching Apprenticeship Approach to Faculty Development.Poster Presentation, National Professional and Organizational Development Conference, Houston, TX.

Scholz, T. (July, 2009) Creating a Natural, Critical, Learning Environment: An introduction to Surface, Strategic and Deep Learning and the Ken Bain Approach to Teaching. Annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Institute, Chicago, IL.

Scholz, T., Barret, T., Copeland, E., Marino, S., & Martyn, M. (May, 2011) What's Quality? Professional Education in the 21st Century. Annual Multi-Campus Integration Conference, Chicago, IL.

Scholz, T. (May, 2011) Faculty Supporting Faculty: The Importance of a Strong Mentoring Program for Faculty Development. Annual Multi-Campus Integration Conference, Chicago, IL.

Scholz, T., Bartlett, A., Johnson, R. (2002) Using your MA Degree Panel, MMLA Conference, Chicago, IL.

Scholz, T. (1999) Nat Turner: The Quintessential Other Paper, New Jersey College English Association Spring Conference, South Orange, NJ.

Scholz, T. Eds. Brian Railsback and Michael J. Meyer.The John Steinbeck Encyclopedia. 2006.

My teaching philosophy mirrors the advice my grandfather gave me about how to succeed in life after graduation. He said to me, "Ted, when you leave this auditorium, I want you to pay particular attention to what is written on the doors. On one side, it will say, 'push' and on the other side, it will say, 'pull'. If you want to get anything out of life, you are going to have to push and pull....and you know what, there is nothing wrong with that." I think that a professor's job is to 'push' and pull his or her students academically in the classroom. This comes not so much by giving them complex formulas or indecipherable material to digest but by providing them a base of knowledge and then urging them to find greater solutions. A teacher's job is to also 'push'and 'pull' his or her students as individuals, as people of character and responsibility. A good teacher can do this in a variety of ways. One way is by exposing students to cultural experiences around them, a method I use often to foster my students' awareness of the richness of the human experience. Lastly, a teacher's job is also to 'push' and 'pull' his or her students toward a specific, and clearly delineated goal. This comes with the 'nuts and bolts' part of teaching, in the hours of preparation and research that faculty spend before class, in the time going to conferences and keeping up to date in his or her field. Indeed, a student's vision of a learning goal is only as good as his or her teacher's.

Be patient and allow yourself time to adjust to Graduate School. Moreover, communicate with your professors when you are feeling confused or overwhelmed.