Outstanding University Graduate Student Teaching Award

Omolola Lasisi, B.Sc.

• Second-year Graduate Teaching Assistant in the School of Communication at Illinois State University here at Illinois State University.
• She earned her B.Sc. from Oduduwa University in Nigeria in 2017.

The three most valuable or important methods/approaches/attitudes/etc. that I bring to my teaching practice are …

• Open communication (I strive to create a classroom environment where students feel safe to share, remain comfortable, and can speak freely with me and their peers)
• Collaboration (I want the learning experience to be an enjoyable one for me and my students, this is only possible when they see me as someone willing to work together with them to achieve their goals).
• Learning mentality (I am a continuous learner and I make my students aware of that. As they learn from me, I want to learn from their own experiences as well).

The resource or person that has been the most important influence in my teaching career is … (and why)

For me, it would be Dr. Cheri Simonds. Dr. Cheri is the Director of our teachers' training in the School of Communication. Watching her teach, made me fall in love with teaching all over again. She reminds me that there is a certain beauty to what we do when we give our complete best to students. Working with her made me realize that most of what I give to my students in the classroom depends on how much preparation and dedication I put in outside of the classroom. She is forever my inspiration.

The most rewarding aspect of teaching for me is … (and why)

Seeing students put into practice the theoretical skills we discuss in class in their speeches. I watched students who could barely make eye contact at the beginning of the class, deliver great speeches at the end of the semester. This is exciting for me because it proves that students can do whatever they believe they are capable of doing.

I want to continue to improve my teaching in the following ways …

By developing classroom techniques that help promote a positive and enabling environment for students to learn course concepts in a way that is supportive of their individualities and communicates my sense of care for the achievement of their academic and personal goals.

Best compliment that I’ve received from a student was …

"You are great with connecting with students individually; thank you for coming to class with good vibes"

The best moment/event in my teaching career is … and from it I learned …

It happened when a student who had not been contributing at all throughout the semester delivered an excellent Informative Speech which still remains the best speech I have heard on Autism to date. That experience taught me that students sometimes learn in different ways. It also taught me to include more practical and hands-on examples in my class discussions.

“Students can do almost anything if they are motivated and believe they can succeed.”