Teaching Philosophy

My goal in teaching is to encourage and inspire students to experiment with ideas — in writing, designing and shooting stills and video. I want students to step outside their comfort zone and challenge themselves with fresh ideas, not the same old, same old. I encourage students that any projet idea they have is possible if they really think it through. Maybe the finished story or design doesn't turn out the way they intended, but at least they experimented with their ideas and to me, that's success.

How to be an Editor

School of The New York Times · July 2026

Taught a class of high school students story shaping and copy editing skills. Students pitched, reported and wrote their own stories and edited their classmates' stories.

Writing the Big City

School of The New York Times · June 2021; July 2019

Taught a class of high school students how to pitch, write and report local stories about businesses and people.

Web Design Capstone

University of Florida · Fall 2013–Spring 2015

Mentored graduate students on their final capstone projects, which demonstrated the skills they learned throughout the online master’s program. Those skills were: logo design; photography; writing and research; programming; and web design.

Applied Online Journalism

University of Florida · Spring 2012; Spring 2011; Fall 2010

Mentored advanced students in storytelling with video and data visualization.

Visual Journalism

University of Florida · Spring 2012; Fall 2011; Spring 2011

Taught visual storytelling using typography, design, photography, video and data visualization.

Survey Research Methods

University of Florida · Fall 2011

Introduced graduate students to how to properly conduct an online survey. Students in the course conducted a study on social media using an online survey and wrote a full conference paper.

Web Publishing

University of Texas at Austin · Spring 2007

Instructed students on building Web sites with HTML and CSS for both personal and news websites.

Print Design

University of Texas at Austin · Fall 2006

Introduced students to design basics and guidelines for newspaper and magazine page layout; guided students on how to tell stories visually using sketching, concept-building and brainstorming activities.

Editing

University of Florida · Summer 2003

Taught students AP style, reviewed grammar and coached students in copy editing skills, fact checking, writing headlines and designing pages.

Graphics of Journalism

University of Florida · Fall 2001; Fall 2002

Taught elements of design, such as type contrast, unity and color; developed creative project ideas that encouraged originality; and taught layout design and Photoshop.