Monday 10/14
No journal today.
Wednesday 10/16
Today I introduced Unit 3. The projector wasn't super well-behaved today, which was frustrating. But we ultimately got through the Unit 3 prompt and requirements. I think they are really excited to have Unit 2 being put behind us, even though I had us complete one last peer-review session for that paper.
Unit 2 didn't seem to go amazingly. I have to wonder if it is my performance as an instructor or my students' performances as explorers. I know that many of them have commented that they procrastinate too much, and I don't know how to encourage them to overcome that procrastination and anxiety in order to do their work. It makes me curious if their procrastination is an effect of lack of interest or if it was a result of my implementation of hooks' engaged pedagogy. I wonder if I put too much emphasis on the collaborative effort and if that decision to place some responsibility on them was one that was made too early. I've let them help decide the fluctuation of our course and when/how we approach the material.
I think it could also be my lack of experience which created the results of Unit 2. I may not have been as organized as possible, or as prepared as possible, as we began to move into the lesson plans for Unit 2. I'm concerned about my potential as an instructor, and I have begun to wonder if this is really the job or vocation that I can really do.
Am I an effective instructor? It's a question that feels important, even as or more important than the necessity to create the "brave space" and a sense of openness. How can I be effective while allowing for equal exchange and reciprocal communication, if I struggle to remain organized and structured when giving opportunities for reciprocal communication and student input? I think that question really highlights my secondary struggle, the one that has come after my struggle to adopt a voice. But, yet, it seems to be in coordination with the struggle to be an authoritative voice.
Friday 10/18
Today was my teaching evaluation! I was super nervous, but Molly Lehman is really nice. Today was the first time I had met her, but she seems really polite and it was cool.
It was a little nerve-racking to be teaching, knowing I was essentially being graded/evaluated. It was also a little strange. Like, I know that my students aren't evaluating me as a teacher but are simply looking for their lesson. It was weird to have her in there watching me teach so she could comment on my teaching; it felt like a performance or at least a different type of performance than usual teaching is.
It makes me wonder how my teaching would be effected on a daily level/basis if I knew that my students were evaluating me based on my pedagogy. Like, if they were aware of the things that I now know about teaching composition, and the different styles and thoughts of teaching composition - as well as teaching in general.
I relied a lot more on powerpoint today, which is strange. I like having open discussions and activities, and I kinda wonder if I should have tried harder to translate my powerpoint material into an activity that was both fun and allowed for hands-on learning instead of a lecture.
No journal today.
Wednesday 10/16
Today I introduced Unit 3. The projector wasn't super well-behaved today, which was frustrating. But we ultimately got through the Unit 3 prompt and requirements. I think they are really excited to have Unit 2 being put behind us, even though I had us complete one last peer-review session for that paper.
Unit 2 didn't seem to go amazingly. I have to wonder if it is my performance as an instructor or my students' performances as explorers. I know that many of them have commented that they procrastinate too much, and I don't know how to encourage them to overcome that procrastination and anxiety in order to do their work. It makes me curious if their procrastination is an effect of lack of interest or if it was a result of my implementation of hooks' engaged pedagogy. I wonder if I put too much emphasis on the collaborative effort and if that decision to place some responsibility on them was one that was made too early. I've let them help decide the fluctuation of our course and when/how we approach the material.
I think it could also be my lack of experience which created the results of Unit 2. I may not have been as organized as possible, or as prepared as possible, as we began to move into the lesson plans for Unit 2. I'm concerned about my potential as an instructor, and I have begun to wonder if this is really the job or vocation that I can really do.
Am I an effective instructor? It's a question that feels important, even as or more important than the necessity to create the "brave space" and a sense of openness. How can I be effective while allowing for equal exchange and reciprocal communication, if I struggle to remain organized and structured when giving opportunities for reciprocal communication and student input? I think that question really highlights my secondary struggle, the one that has come after my struggle to adopt a voice. But, yet, it seems to be in coordination with the struggle to be an authoritative voice.
Friday 10/18
Today was my teaching evaluation! I was super nervous, but Molly Lehman is really nice. Today was the first time I had met her, but she seems really polite and it was cool.
It was a little nerve-racking to be teaching, knowing I was essentially being graded/evaluated. It was also a little strange. Like, I know that my students aren't evaluating me as a teacher but are simply looking for their lesson. It was weird to have her in there watching me teach so she could comment on my teaching; it felt like a performance or at least a different type of performance than usual teaching is.
It makes me wonder how my teaching would be effected on a daily level/basis if I knew that my students were evaluating me based on my pedagogy. Like, if they were aware of the things that I now know about teaching composition, and the different styles and thoughts of teaching composition - as well as teaching in general.
I relied a lot more on powerpoint today, which is strange. I like having open discussions and activities, and I kinda wonder if I should have tried harder to translate my powerpoint material into an activity that was both fun and allowed for hands-on learning instead of a lecture.
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