My teaching philosophy boils down to this: Don’t be a jerk. Give your students the benefit of the doubt. College students are young adults or old adolescents, depending on who you ask. They go through a lot of brain and personality development during the four-ish years they spend in college. A few of them are entitled, or sociopathic, or just jerks who make your life harder. The vast majority are not. They are just young people who are trying to figure themselves out and get a degree. When I talk to professors about the things I’m passionate about (Trauma-Informed Pedagogy, Intersectionality, Critical Pedagogy) they are usually interested. But when I talk about my policies, or how I deal with students who are experiencing trauma,…