I heard many tips from other Professors before I began my teaching assignment.
' Be stern and strict.'
' Don't smile too much - they would not take you seriously.'
' Establish whos the boss.'
' Ask them to call you by last name.'
I tried to implement these tips but found it difficult. It is very hard for me to be strict. I cannot help smiling. I don't like to boss around. I don't even have a loud voice ! So how was I going to control a large class ? Teaching labs were so easy compared to this !
This was my toughest problem. Just when I turn to one side and talk, the other side would start talking. There were days when I would get angry (but that was rare). This was not like India where I can throw someone out of class. I cannot even scold anyone ! There were some students who would try to annoy me on purpose. But...I somehow managed to surive.
It was hard to prepare for the class; it took me approximately 4 hours to prepare for each class. I used a lot of ppt slides and pictures. I made notes in a book and would look into it as I taught.
Soon, I realised that I would run out of material to teach even before the class ended. And since I was not a pro in the subject, I could not even ramble my head off. So, the class always ended sooner (the students din't complain though).
My students were non-science majors - so teaching them science was quite a challenge.
Spring ended peacefully. I was offered the same position in fall again. This time the enrollment increased to 160 !!! ( Does it mean I was good, heheheh). I asked them to call me by first name. I could manage the class more easily. I loved this class. I was more confident. I already had my notes, all I had to do was glance through them before class. And I learnt the art of rambling...I would chit chat in most classes and complain to my students about my own exams and other topics like black holes, elections, clubs, movies, music, books etc. Most classes ended up in interesting discussions.
The only glitch in the whole experience was that teaching was very time consuming. It was hard to manage my own courses and research. This semester, I got a research position. But, I sure miss teaching !
I do bump into my ex-students in the city occasionally and I feel good when they tell me that they enjoyed my class.
' Be stern and strict.'
' Don't smile too much - they would not take you seriously.'
' Establish whos the boss.'
' Ask them to call you by last name.'
I tried to implement these tips but found it difficult. It is very hard for me to be strict. I cannot help smiling. I don't like to boss around. I don't even have a loud voice ! So how was I going to control a large class ? Teaching labs were so easy compared to this !
This was my toughest problem. Just when I turn to one side and talk, the other side would start talking. There were days when I would get angry (but that was rare). This was not like India where I can throw someone out of class. I cannot even scold anyone ! There were some students who would try to annoy me on purpose. But...I somehow managed to surive.
It was hard to prepare for the class; it took me approximately 4 hours to prepare for each class. I used a lot of ppt slides and pictures. I made notes in a book and would look into it as I taught.
Soon, I realised that I would run out of material to teach even before the class ended. And since I was not a pro in the subject, I could not even ramble my head off. So, the class always ended sooner (the students din't complain though).
My students were non-science majors - so teaching them science was quite a challenge.
Spring ended peacefully. I was offered the same position in fall again. This time the enrollment increased to 160 !!! ( Does it mean I was good, heheheh). I asked them to call me by first name. I could manage the class more easily. I loved this class. I was more confident. I already had my notes, all I had to do was glance through them before class. And I learnt the art of rambling...I would chit chat in most classes and complain to my students about my own exams and other topics like black holes, elections, clubs, movies, music, books etc. Most classes ended up in interesting discussions.
The only glitch in the whole experience was that teaching was very time consuming. It was hard to manage my own courses and research. This semester, I got a research position. But, I sure miss teaching !
I do bump into my ex-students in the city occasionally and I feel good when they tell me that they enjoyed my class.
15 comments:
160 students in a class? whew! I hope you had a mike to talk to them. Or else I understand why your voice has gone quiter :)
And I agree with you - if you had been strict n stern, your students would have turned away if they bump into you.
Adutha series - researcher pathiya?
after a point...it makes no difference if they were 100 or 160...its just a large class !!!
There was a mike...but to use it one had to stand near the podium. And since I liked to move around in class..I dint like the confinement...so never used it :-)
Hmmm next series...is not abt researcher...that will only be after I "finish" the research :-)
:-)! I think teaching kinda grows on you. I used to be sooooo scared for the first few TA discussions - spent quite some time on prepartion, wondering what to talk etc. etc. By the third quarter of TA-ing for the same course, I used to start running over topics as I biked to my discussion class :-D
well .. in a way u learnt how annoying it can be for a teacher while students talk in the class.. haha.. u cant be a Ms Snooty arnd here.. u gotta be more friendly yet stern.. good for ur students if they found ur class interesting.. if i were in ur class u wud c or not c me in the last seats sleeping..hehe
Archu,
:-) u r right...it gets easier each sem.
Vivek,
I never cared if students dozed off in class or listened to music or browsed...anything as long as they dont talk and disturb !
Nice blog....I think teaching a class gives sooo much value addition to your personality as such ...not only do we come to know abt the plight of our good ol' teachers but we see to it we do not to do things that some of our annoying teachers use to do to the students...remember Sampathkumari ma'm maths teacher...ha ha ha I can't stop laughing....
unga students ellam home work seiyalena ,enna punishment kudupenga Teacher;)hee hee
Hey Nice one Shilpa. I am reminded of my grad school days and my friends who were TAs, they shared similar stories.
You are right about the time consuming part. :))
Keep em coming! :)
naan kooda thaan ennoda vaathiyaar ellam paarthaa 'class nallaa irunthuthu' appdinnu ellam solluven.... ithu ellam formality, shldnt take it as a compliment ;-)
jus kiddin... nice write-up!!
Prasanna,
LOL abt Sampathkumari ma'm...
I think I tried to avoid being like some of my own horrible teachers :-P
Gopalan,
I took the easy way out...no hws !! yaru adaellam correct panuvanga ? I din't have a TA to assist in grading...so I dint want more work.
SK,
Thanks !
Kutti,
ne anda dialogue sonnena naa namba maten..hehehe...ana inda oru makkal...well u know right...they can just walk past u and just ignore...so when they say something they mean it :-)
Teaching can be a very challenging job at least for first timers I agree. And with more than 100 students :-)! Specially when they know that their teacher is only a young student just a few years elder to them. They would surely like to pull your leg here or there. :-) Great that you soon found the patterns and found your way! I admire that. :-)
I think if I had to teach, students would fly paper aeroplanes in my class!
Archana,
Luckily they dont fly paper planes in class here or make funny noises ( we used to do that)...
You seem to have met the challenge of teaching if you could handle this big a class! Very interesting post.
Exams-Projects-deadlines ellaam over-aa?
Arvindh,
Yeah it was a big challenge :-)
Prabhu,
not yet....innum konjam naal...will be free soon :-)
Post a Comment