I started tutoring students in high school and discovered I had a talent for teaching students who were having difficulty with concepts in both science and math. I believe that my ability to teach has been directly related to the difficulties that I had with my own learning. Those who have struggled with learning have an advantage when it comes to teaching when compared to those who have always learned easily. Those who have learned easily do not always understand why students do not grasp a concept the first time it is explained. Those who have struggled can better relate to their students when they do not understand and, as a result, are better equipped to meet their needs.

This is why I believe that when it comes to meeting the needs of the student, it is the primary job of the teacher to meet students where they are. This means presenting the material in a way that is understandable to the student. This may mean using several different ways to explain a concept to find a way that the student understands. It can take imagination and ingenuity to construct an explanation that is suited to the needs of the student; however, the enhancement of the student’s understanding is well worth it.

Learning is best achieved by building an understanding of the logic of the underlying concepts first and then moving to more complex concepts. A good example occurred when I took over teaching pharmacology for another teacher mid-semester. The Behavioural Science students did not have an anatomy course as a part of their program but needed to learn the different types of medications for psychiatric disorders. While I normally try and stay as close to the original teacher’s presentations a possible when taking over mid-semester, given that tests and exams are usually already set, I found that to best explain the actions of the drug groups, I needed to add slides that gave background on the neurotransmitters that were being affected. By building the lecture this way, I was able to clearly explain the actions and adverse reactions for each group of drugs.