Teacher Credibility
by Michelle Swindell

Confidence! Confidence! Confidence! That is what gives you credibility. I came to rhetoric as a teaching assistant from an art history background and was scared to death at the prospect of teaching the class. You must be prepared. I read the textbook as soon as it was given to me. Rather than take drastic experiments my first semester, I followed the generic syllabus. You don't ever want your students to have the impression that you are disorganized or don't know what you are doing. They should never know that sometimes you are only one day ahead of them. I re-read all of the readings before each class, typed out notes with an observation topic and discussion questions to keep each class discussions lively. I, like most people, do not work well ‘off-the-cuff.’ Unless you are a seasoned teacher well versed in the material, I strongly discourage this practice. I always dressed professionally and conservatively.

specially since I look young, I feel that it is extremely important to distinguish myself from the students. Stand tall, speak with projection, and be clear about your expectations and student behavior.

I found it best to be somewhat mysterious with my students and not tell them too much about me. Let them create their own ideas of you. Another benefit is that they cannot pinpoint my particular viewpoints and are more likely to speak more freely. By the end of the semester they are usually shocked when I tell them that I study art history. I usually have them ‘fooled’ thinking that I eat and breathe rhetoric—when I am actually more interested in the layout of the textbook cover.

If you make a mistake, acknowledge it, but don't openly doubt yourself in front of your students. You will lose their respect. Many of us can probably recall that teacher who didn't have it together—never checked roll, gave extensions freely, didn't know the material, or didn't arrive on time. You can also recall the type of effort that you put forth for that teacher—minimal, if any. Teaching definitely recalls that old adage—you get what you give.

Most importantly, you are the teacher—whether you just earned your B.A. or you have been teaching rhetoric for 20 years. Don't allow your students to walk all over you.

Provided by:
Michelle Swindell, a second year Ph. D. student at The University of Texas at Dallas, works in the areas of Humanities and Aesthetic Studies. She has presented papers at conferences in Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Lubbock dealing with gender studies in nineteenth-century Spanish painting. She obtained an M.A. from Southern Methodist University in art history and a B. A. in art and Spanish from Texas A&M—Commerce. Michelle was a Bilingual elementary teacher for three years for Richardson ISD. She was a high school art history teacher for one year at St. Therese Academy in Irving. She is married to a police officer and is a mother to three-year-old Cassiana.