Welcome to my homepage!
I’m happy you’ve come to learn something about me. My name is Martha (Bailey, if you are searching for me by family name). I teach part-time for PCC, among other work I do, paid and volunteer. The paragraphs below detail some information you might find helpful, but if there is something you want to know that isn’t here, please send me an email (mbailey@pcc.edu). The pictures on the page are my three cats, important parties in my every day activities, and distractors from getting work done.
What I teach at PCC
The subject areas I teach in at PCC are Religious Studies and Philosophy. Currently, I usually teach Asian Religions; Intro to New Testament; and Science, Skepticism and the Unknown. I have also taught, and might teach again, World Religions; Analysis and Evaluation of Argument; Manufacturing Reality: Critical Thinking and the Media; Being and Knowing; Ethics, and Philosophy of Religion. I’m also in a faculty group that is revamping Symbolic Logic.
My educational background
The short version of my background is that I started my journey in higher education studying Geophysics, earning a B.S. and working on an M.S. that was not completed due to a change in the job market. Later, I studied at a religious institution, earning an M.Div. and an M.A. in Christian Education. That led to an interest in Philosophy, and I did a third set of degrees, an M.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in Religion, and worked on a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion. I was writing my dissertation when my advisor died, and ultimately I gave up on trying to complete the dissertation under the guidance of someone else. Personal relationships and support are important to me, and losing the one with my dissertation advisor was very hard.
About me as a teacher-learner
I am a lifelong learner, and I love new information. That’s dangerous when one is a teacher, because there is always something new to learn, which means I can get sidetracked! I have to pace myself; I have countless (really!) half-read books around, because I needed to stop reading and do something “important.” I tend to read and listen to things more than watch videos. But I try to bring in learning materials to my classes that go across the spectrum: written, audio and visual. If I’m in a classroom, I may bring in tactical examples. One area I’m working to expand is online video presentations of class materials: I’m thinking of something like a highlight reel for each topic.
Connecting with me as a person
I was diagnosed with autism relatively recently, after a lifetime of trying to figure out “me.” This helps me–and you–understand when I respond outside of what is considered “normal.” My response doesn’t mean I care about or respect you any less, as my student or colleague, only that I may express that in a different way.
I am naturally introverted, and reticent with strangers. Once I get to know someone, I love to engage in dialogue, whether talking aloud or in writing. I do my best at the start of each term to welcome students to my classes. I want to build a learning community where we all connect with each other.
To help build that community, I ask my students to engage in an introductory discussion, mostly online these days, so we all get to know each other. I also require my students to complete an information sheet that is for me alone, where they can tell me more about themselves, and the grade they want to earn, which helps me know how to support and where to encourage each student. The discussion and the information sheet are extremely important to me, whether we are in-person or online. They help me guide the class in its learning, and help me feel comfortable giving a grade. If you take a class from me, I ask you to please do the discussion and the information sheet.
Some of where I am growing as a teacher-learner
I am a recovering perfectionist, which shows sometimes in my teaching and grading; I do a lot of self-correction, and tend to default to too much correcting of students, but I’m getting better at letting the trivial go. I prefer simple over fussy, can be a bit formal and reserved, and I like my adventures in measured doses. I have a long-time spouse who is much more spontaneous, which has helped me loosen up, some.
My commitment to supporting students and student learning
I am supportive of and willing to work with students who are dealing with more than school, particularly the challenges of life: differing abilities, especially those the world isn’t set up to deal with; personal and family concerns; medical and health matters; jobs and economic challenges of all sorts. And I welcome students who aren’t connecting with the class materials as presented to bring me questions, so we can together find a way to make sense of subject at hand. Student questions have led to all kinds of improvements to my teaching. I want to help you learn in a way that works for you.
Challenges for me to be my ideal best teacher-learner self
I have found, because of the energy I need to put out when I am with people, whether in-person, on Zoom, or even just through email, I have to be sure to rest, because otherwise I get overwhelmed. If I push myself to do a lot, I end up wiped out, without the brain power to carry on. I’m working on how to best pace myself, as I have become more aware of what slows me down. Of course, the unexpected can have a big impact, since that can’t be planned for. To that end, and to keep my perfectionism at bay, as well as to relieve student stress, I’m moving my classes to labor-based grading. That doesn’t mean there aren’t standards, but everything that hits the basic expectations counts towards the grade, no quibbling on a point here and there.