Students who had been highly articulate throughout the semester suddenly became silent. One of the shier students in the class, a young Puerto Rican woman, suddenly became animated and engaged in a way that class had never seen before. Although the composition course was not focused on the process of teaching, Professor Montes was imparting a lesson about inclusion and exclusion as part of an exercise in language and cultural fluency. It was this type of experience that provided the framework for the development of the essays and cultural explorations that make up the main content of this website. The two of us strongly believe that our being paired as part of a learning community significantly expanded not only the experience of our students but our own experience as well.
Teaching is by definition a dialectic process.
It involves the interaction between the teacher and the student in hopes of achieving a synthesis of ideas and perspectives. By having not just one but two expert voices, separated by disciplines, we were provided with a unique, shared perspective. This was a benefit not only to our students, but we also believe to ourselves. In addition, the matching of a senior professor with a talented beginner in the field infused energy in both directions. As a senior professor, it is not considered appropriate to talk too much about improving one's skills or renewing oneself as an instructor.