Award-winning professor talks about how to balance it all
RONALD PALMIERI
Issue date: 3/9/10 Section: Campus News
he could conceive was a
long way off from being
completed. However, if his
back log reached only a
two month mark, he would
become nervous because of
a lack of work to do.
Finding the balance here
was a great feat for him.
After working in the industry,
Sfirri decided he wanted
something new. This is
when he came to Bucks.
He applied to teach at the
same time as 50 other qualified
applicants. "Some
were probably better teachers
and better artists but I
had one thing they didn't,"
he say, "industry experience."
He received the job thanks
to the job he took earlier in
his life that he wasn't sure
about. "Sometimes you
come to a Y in the road.
You never know what way
you should go at the time
but you need to pick a way,
so you depend on a feeling
and you don't know why
but it works out later in
life."
He is admittedly not a naturally
good teacher. Public
speaking makes him very
nervous, and woodworking
while teaching is a dangerous
combination. Being so
well organized, however,
he was able to work out a
system to becoming a good
teacher.
For one thing, he starts
with a great proficiency in
his subject area. If it hadn't
been for his work experience,
he says that he probably
would have been hurt
in the classroom. He doesn't
want to make it look
easy, and he wants to show
his students what can go
wrong. In the beginning, he
obsessed over his lectures
and what he was going to
say, in order to avoid
becoming choked up in
front of his classes.
He prefers working with a
smaller classes because he
can provide a more direct
educational experience to
his students. He recalls
when he was a student,
wondering why his teacher
cared so much and was
pushing him along.
Now knows why. He has
the knowledge and the skill
and wants nothing more
than to pass this on to his
students and almost feels
long way off from being
completed. However, if his
back log reached only a
two month mark, he would
become nervous because of
a lack of work to do.
Finding the balance here
was a great feat for him.
After working in the industry,
Sfirri decided he wanted
something new. This is
when he came to Bucks.
He applied to teach at the
same time as 50 other qualified
applicants. "Some
were probably better teachers
and better artists but I
had one thing they didn't,"
he say, "industry experience."
He received the job thanks
to the job he took earlier in
his life that he wasn't sure
about. "Sometimes you
come to a Y in the road.
You never know what way
you should go at the time
but you need to pick a way,
so you depend on a feeling
and you don't know why
but it works out later in
life."
He is admittedly not a naturally
good teacher. Public
speaking makes him very
nervous, and woodworking
while teaching is a dangerous
combination. Being so
well organized, however,
he was able to work out a
system to becoming a good
teacher.
For one thing, he starts
with a great proficiency in
his subject area. If it hadn't
been for his work experience,
he says that he probably
would have been hurt
in the classroom. He doesn't
want to make it look
easy, and he wants to show
his students what can go
wrong. In the beginning, he
obsessed over his lectures
and what he was going to
say, in order to avoid
becoming choked up in
front of his classes.
He prefers working with a
smaller classes because he
can provide a more direct
educational experience to
his students. He recalls
when he was a student,
wondering why his teacher
cared so much and was
pushing him along.
Now knows why. He has
the knowledge and the skill
and wants nothing more
than to pass this on to his
students and almost feels