I almost did not become a speech-language pathologist. Near the end of my undergraduate degree, I became discouraged by my field of study, which up until that point, focused exclusively on theoretical concepts and principles. However, in my final semester, my clinical methods instructor helped me to understand the connection between the theories I had been learning and their application in treatment. I fell in love with clinical work, especially the moment the client experiences a breakthrough in their treatment. As a teacher, I love to see this same moment of discovery when my students use the concepts they have learned to find solutions to their questions. I love the subjects I teach, and I hope my motivation will stimulate my students' engagement with the course material. When students leave my class, beyond their understanding of course content, I hope they will leave with a sense of curiosity to want to know more. To this end, in both my online and face-to-face courses, I have implemented the following evidence-based teaching strategies from the research in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
 

Prior Knowledge: According to Brown et al. (2014), all new learning requires a connection to prior learning and experiences.
 

Didactic and Clinical Settings: At the beginning of each semester, I use Google Jamboard, a shared digital whiteboard, to have the students retrieve as many concepts as possible from previous courses or life experiences that may be relevant to a central theme of the current course or clinical focus. I use this activity to reinforce accurate connections and to reteach inaccurate connections the students might make. In this way, I can identify gaps in their knowledge and address these early in the semester.
 

Growth Mindset: According to Dweck (2006) and Eyler (2018), it is important to approach learning with a growth mindset. When students understand that making mistakes and learning from them is part of the learning process, they can reduce the stress they feel about potential
failure, thus freeing their working memory to focus on the concepts they are learning.

Didactic and Clinical Settings: As an instructor and clinical educator, it is important that I establish a safe environment that can address mistakes and use them as a learning opportunity to strengthen the student’s future performance. I model this mindset by sharing growth opportunities I have experienced. I can also coach students who have experienced setbacks and help them identify opportunities for growth.
 

Targeted Feedback: Ambrose et al. (2010) discuss the importance of practice and targeted feedback to allow students to continuously improve their knowledge and skills.
 

Didactic Settings:

I use small-stakes course deliverables, such as quizzes and assignments, to introduce multiple practice opportunities and to gauge my students’ learning several times during the semester. With this approach, I can identify and address any gaps in their knowledge as soon as
possible.

I use Google Forms to elicit anonymous 1-minute responses at the end of each class session to help me identify possible gaps in the students’ knowledge. A typical prompt is: “What was the trickiest point from this week’s material?” I address the students’ responses in the following session, allowing me to close knowledge gaps from the previous week.

Clinical Settings: I use OneNote to give my students consistent written feedback after each session. The feedback form is modeled on the grading rubric I will use to determine their grade at the end of the semester. This helps them to target potential weaknesses and identify areas of strength.
 

Peer Learning: According to Ambrose et al. (2010), peer learning provides students with opportunities to discuss learning strategies and practice new techniques to encode and consolidate information.
 

Didactic Settings: I incorporate group work in each weekly class session so that students can practice new concepts and learn strategies from one another.
 

Clinical Settings: At least once each semester, during team meetings, students present a question about a current clinical case, and their classmate’s problem-solve possible solutions. The Clinic Director and I created the Clinical Mentor Program to give second-year clinicians an

opportunity to mentor first-year clinicians during the early part of the fall semester. Because the clinical mentors have a very recent memory of their experience as new clinicians, they are well suited to teach the first-year clinicians the strategies they found helpful in their first
clinical year.

Self-Reflection: According to Ambrose et al. (2010), students must complete the Cycle of Self-Directed Learning to become effective learners. An important part of this cycle is self-reflection at the end of a task. By regularly reflecting on whether a task was successful or not, students are able to identify components that worked well and those that didn’t work as planned. Through this process of self-reflection, students can continue to build their knowledge and skills.
 

Clinical Settings: During weekly debriefs, graduate clinicians practice the routine of self-reflection. This routine assists them in reflecting on their clinical skill development in preparation for their midterm and final conferences and in their future roles as speech-language
pathologists.
 

Cultural Responsiveness: According to Hopf et al. (2021), speech-language pathologists can best support increased diversity in the profession by developing a mindset of cultural responsiveness. By adopting an attitude of self-reflection and continuous learning, we can better support our clients and the students in our training programs.
 

Didactic and Clinical Settings: It is important that I model an attitude of cultural responsiveness and an awareness of the biases and identities that I bring to the learning environment. My experiences as an expatriate in multiple countries and as a resident of one of the most diverse cities in the country have taught me to value the knowledge and practices that are brought to learning by students from a multitude of backgrounds.