2017 Teaching Initiative Award Winner

Tara Kaczorowski, Ph.D.

Ph.D. in Special Education from The State University of New York at Buffalo (2015)
Assistant Professor, Department of Special Education

Teaching Philosophy

Good teachers model best practices and facilitate learning by encouraging a growth mindset, fostering self-determination, and holding students to high expectations.

Three most valuable approaches that I bring to my teaching practice are

Enthusiasm for content

Setting clear and rigorous expectations

Requesting and reflecting on student feedback on a regular basis

The best compliment from a student

I listen to them and really care about their feedback.

One teaching strategy that I would recommend to my colleagues to enhance student learning most is

Offer students choice in how they demonstrate their knowledge. It is more work for us to develop creative projects like this, but the quality of student work is much better when they are given ownership in their learning.

The most rewarding part of teaching for me is

Watching students blossom into independent learners.

photo of Tara Kaczorowski — “I want students to think critically about information presented to them and to make connections between my course content and the world around them.”