As a professor in the city of Houston I have worked with students from a variety of cultural backgrounds and with unique educational needs. I know that students learn best when the material they are asked to engage with speaks directly to their experiences and when crafting learning experiences I always keep that in the forefront of my mind. When I teach creative writing courses and craft my syllabi, I ensure that I always include BIPOC, LGBTQI+ and disabled writers whose work reflects the backgrounds of the students I teach. 

One of the greatest lessons I learned from my own mentors was understanding that the greatest growth occurs when students are encouraged and inspired to ask questions more than to answer them and for that reason I prefer to use the Liz Lerman critical response process when discussing student work in group settings in order to facilitate discussion and conversation. I believe this feedback process is less intimidating and more inclusive of the ways in which BIPOC students learn and respond to critique and provides a better framework for unpacking and developing a piece of writing. Finally, I believe in meeting students where they are as artists and writers and pushing them forward with enough rigor and compassion to help them reach their personal professional and artistic goals.

https://www.jasminnemendez.com