Misc.
So, teaching has been going well the last week and a half. I like it when we do discussion. I'm pretty good at getting discussion going and making the kids even want to talk. I like that I can make them laugh most of the time, too...
Student C: Kira, man, you say some weird stuff!
Kira: Only when I open up my mouth.
I know I can't get them all, but I get a lot of them interested and thinking. Today's discussion was interesting because the question I asked them and the criteria I set blew some of the kids away. See, the chapter we read involved different views on marriage. So, I started out the class by writing the words, "Why get married?" on the board. Then I pointed out that in some families, certain things are just expected. Nobody questions them. You go to college. You get married. You have kids. But the very fact that we don't question them means we don't have the motivation then to go through with it, so we don't finish college...we don't deal well with our children...we get divorced. I like making them think about situations that they don't normally question. It's good for them.
I feel like I'm a decent teacher, but I'm not really sure I'm in a position to give advice for most issues. However, I just found out today that my name came up in a discussion about Eng 103, and I'm going to be interviewed so that my advice can be written up to the new TA teachers who are given Eng 103 to teach. What the heck? Why me? I am mystified. I have never taken any education classes nor gone through Practicum. All I do is run on instinct. I have no idea how to tell other teachers to...teach! What have I learned that I can possibly share? I dunno. I've been thinking about this all day. I'm a little nervous over the idea that my words will be treated as wisdom on this subject.
This is what I've mulled over:
1) Make sure you get your kids to care about you and the class. That means you don't act distant, lordly, or above them. You should make sure that the friendliness and accessibility doesn't cross over too far so that you are no longer a teacher first and foremost, but when you show your kids that you care, they respond oh so much better than when you keep yourself aloof.
2) Find a way to make it relevant to them. No matter what the materials, make sure they understand why they should care. If you don't make that clear, they just won't put out the work they need to do.
3) Get them to think. Critical reasoning is a skill so many lack. On every topic, get them to question and think. Get them to argue for things they don't even believe in just to exercise that brain.
4) Always make yourself available via email and after class for that one-on-one time that many students simply NEED.
5) Be willing to adapt. Each class is a living organism that will have different needs. Listen carefully so that you can figure out what this class needs over that class, and then do it.
Hmm. That's all I can think of for now beyond the obvious (always be prepared for class and do your research; have backups in case something doesn't work, too; etc).
****
My dear Ariana got the lead in the little play her school is putting on. The part was for "the crocodile guy," and she was one of two kids out of thirteen who were voted by classmates as the best for the part, despite being a girl. Ariana then practiced the part diligently, and she then was voted by her classmates as the better of the two choices (the other fellow was actually a guy). So, now they are rewriting certain sections to say the "crocodile gal." Go Ari! She's such a little ham. When she was practicing for the part, Alex and I--former theatre geeks from high school ourselves--eagerly jumped in and gave her all sorts of advice. The best part was simply that she seemed to be having so much fun with it!
****
Ok, so Juanita has given me a tag. I guess I have to do it!
Here's her suggestion-- I'm going to make up a new game and it goes like this: Reveal five things that you WISH were your deepest, darkest secrets.
Okay. Here we go!
1) It's so hard for me to make a decision when every top named Uni in the USA wants me to enter into their PhD program in English. I guess I just might draw a name from a hat. I know that's not a good way to decide, but when Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and Brown all want you and are offering you a full fellowship, what's a girl to do?
2) They just won't sell me alcohol anywhere even though my driver's license is clearly not a fake because the folks insist I look under 21 no matter what the numbers state. So, I get Alex, my nine years younger husband, to buy it for me.
3) My domicile is so huge and vast that it looks empty. I simply have too much storage space and stretching out room. What a pain to clean!
4) It's embarrassing to have had two children yet be able to bounce quarters off my stomach. Nobody will believe that Ariana and Jared are mine because I'm so fit!
5) Having a fantastic memory is not all it's cracked up to be. I can't forget anything, anywhere. Sometimes it's helpful--like I don't need to take a list to the grocery--but sometimes it's not, like when I want to not remember something stupid somebody said.
There. That'll work. I won't tag anybody, but if you want to try this one on for size, go for it!
Student C: Kira, man, you say some weird stuff!
Kira: Only when I open up my mouth.
I know I can't get them all, but I get a lot of them interested and thinking. Today's discussion was interesting because the question I asked them and the criteria I set blew some of the kids away. See, the chapter we read involved different views on marriage. So, I started out the class by writing the words, "Why get married?" on the board. Then I pointed out that in some families, certain things are just expected. Nobody questions them. You go to college. You get married. You have kids. But the very fact that we don't question them means we don't have the motivation then to go through with it, so we don't finish college...we don't deal well with our children...we get divorced. I like making them think about situations that they don't normally question. It's good for them.
I feel like I'm a decent teacher, but I'm not really sure I'm in a position to give advice for most issues. However, I just found out today that my name came up in a discussion about Eng 103, and I'm going to be interviewed so that my advice can be written up to the new TA teachers who are given Eng 103 to teach. What the heck? Why me? I am mystified. I have never taken any education classes nor gone through Practicum. All I do is run on instinct. I have no idea how to tell other teachers to...teach! What have I learned that I can possibly share? I dunno. I've been thinking about this all day. I'm a little nervous over the idea that my words will be treated as wisdom on this subject.
This is what I've mulled over:
1) Make sure you get your kids to care about you and the class. That means you don't act distant, lordly, or above them. You should make sure that the friendliness and accessibility doesn't cross over too far so that you are no longer a teacher first and foremost, but when you show your kids that you care, they respond oh so much better than when you keep yourself aloof.
2) Find a way to make it relevant to them. No matter what the materials, make sure they understand why they should care. If you don't make that clear, they just won't put out the work they need to do.
3) Get them to think. Critical reasoning is a skill so many lack. On every topic, get them to question and think. Get them to argue for things they don't even believe in just to exercise that brain.
4) Always make yourself available via email and after class for that one-on-one time that many students simply NEED.
5) Be willing to adapt. Each class is a living organism that will have different needs. Listen carefully so that you can figure out what this class needs over that class, and then do it.
Hmm. That's all I can think of for now beyond the obvious (always be prepared for class and do your research; have backups in case something doesn't work, too; etc).
****
My dear Ariana got the lead in the little play her school is putting on. The part was for "the crocodile guy," and she was one of two kids out of thirteen who were voted by classmates as the best for the part, despite being a girl. Ariana then practiced the part diligently, and she then was voted by her classmates as the better of the two choices (the other fellow was actually a guy). So, now they are rewriting certain sections to say the "crocodile gal." Go Ari! She's such a little ham. When she was practicing for the part, Alex and I--former theatre geeks from high school ourselves--eagerly jumped in and gave her all sorts of advice. The best part was simply that she seemed to be having so much fun with it!
****
Ok, so Juanita has given me a tag. I guess I have to do it!
Here's her suggestion-- I'm going to make up a new game and it goes like this: Reveal five things that you WISH were your deepest, darkest secrets.
Okay. Here we go!
1) It's so hard for me to make a decision when every top named Uni in the USA wants me to enter into their PhD program in English. I guess I just might draw a name from a hat. I know that's not a good way to decide, but when Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and Brown all want you and are offering you a full fellowship, what's a girl to do?
2) They just won't sell me alcohol anywhere even though my driver's license is clearly not a fake because the folks insist I look under 21 no matter what the numbers state. So, I get Alex, my nine years younger husband, to buy it for me.
3) My domicile is so huge and vast that it looks empty. I simply have too much storage space and stretching out room. What a pain to clean!
4) It's embarrassing to have had two children yet be able to bounce quarters off my stomach. Nobody will believe that Ariana and Jared are mine because I'm so fit!
5) Having a fantastic memory is not all it's cracked up to be. I can't forget anything, anywhere. Sometimes it's helpful--like I don't need to take a list to the grocery--but sometimes it's not, like when I want to not remember something stupid somebody said.
There. That'll work. I won't tag anybody, but if you want to try this one on for size, go for it!
posted by Kira | 6:21 PM
14 Comments:
Good job, you cracked me up! I have many of the same problems, I just didn't think of them... I guess I'm just so used to them by now.
I'm convinced that you are the queen of common sense teaching. Even if someone can rattle off every education theory known, if s/he can't engage the students and make them understand the practical reasons/applications, the theory is useless.
All of your points are on point, but you left out one important point. Sometimes the administration is so far out of touch or so engrossed in political BS that they don't realize how worthless the curriculum has become. In those cases, ignore the administration and do what you think is best for the students.
Yay for Ari!
I have too much Vicodan in my system for this tag. I'd tell my deepest, darkest secrets to anyone right now.
But...but...but...those things are all true, aren't they? I am wishing they are....
Don't forget that your students love you for your enormous boobs. All that other crap you mentioned is secondary. Add boobs as your number one suggestion.
If you ever do get a chance to take some classes, you're most likely going to feel validated by the fact that your instincts are supported by the theories. (At least the good ones, anyway. You'll quickly figure out what your philosophical camp is.) People who rattle off theories by themselves probably don't really know that much. But people who can rattle off theories and back them up with real life examples are the ones who really know what they're doing. (I'm thinking specifically of Dr. Y, whose c.v. I shared with you eons ago. The man is AWESOME as a teacher AND as a researcher.)
I like your advice on how to teach. Especially the part about getting kids to think.
(1) Our teaching styles seem fairly similar. I certainly understand where you come from in your philosphy of teaching. You're probbly a natural at it, like my dad. Me, I had to take the ed courses in college.
Perhaps the Jaded Primadona can give you some tips now and then?
(2) Tell Ari I said, "Break a leg."
(3) Lol on the reverse tag, but have you ever seriously thought about applying to an a-list university for a doctorate?
Kira should definitely apply to Duke to get a PhD. She'd probably get in. :) Then she'd have to move to Durham. Bwahahaha.
Boobs? What boobs? No boobs or ass, I say. That's what I like about her -- I'm just attracted to her mind, and not sexually attracted to her at all. Not. ;) You know Kira, I'd like you even more if you'd post more often. :-P
That Grant is so helpful! You know...I have a big set of knockers. Maybe I could teach. Nah. I'll just continue to be a naughty nurse.
God, this blog gets me HOT these days! Woo! Excuse me a sec -- I gotta run.... ;)
Juanita--yeah, it's rough when you have so many problems like that...they all blur, right? ;) And the world needs naughty teachers AND naughty nurses, so just keep up the good work!
Amanda--yeah, the administration definitely interferes with what is best for the students from time to time. One has to make the judgement based on the severity of the donkey poop the administration is doing. If it's mild, it might not be bad to just follow orders. But there are definitely things that are so detrimental to the students that sometimes, one just has to go ahead and do what she thinks is right and know that even if she's fired, she's done the right thing and that is what is best.
Hoss--well, you've seen me in person, so surely you remember how young and skinny I looked *cough* :)
Grant--they ARE hard to miss, even when I'm not wearing a cleavage shirt, eh?
Angie--if I ever were to take courses, I'd want to make sure that I'm taking ones that WOULD be in my philosophical camp so that they'd be useful for me. I guess I'd just ask you about the dept. offerings and see what you can recommend in that case! You know me well enough by now to know what would work for me or not, I bet.
Gary--thanks! One of my office mates handed me an article that stated that the kids of this generation are not taught how to think and reason as much as previous generations. It stressed that for papers, the kids like to do things like go to the net and copy/paste what they find because there's enough out there to get away with it these days, and this contributes to a student not actually LEARNING anything. I figure if I can force them to learn how to analyze and think through a situation, that's definitely a skill they can use AND one that they likely did not have when they walked in. Besides, I hate the "mommy told me so and therefore it's true" mentality so badly that it's my personal crusade to eliminate it.
X.dell--I actually sat in on one of Angie's classes the other week to glean from her mind how she uses technology in her classes. That's positively one of her strengths, and I can learn a lot from her in that area. As far as the a-list for a PhD, well, I'd have to probably do a full year of studying ALL of English lit so that I could get a decent score on the English subject exam that is usually required for entrance. I did fine on the GREs, my grades were good in English as an undergrad and grad student, and I could get good references. I'm also sure that I could give them an excellent sample paper. But the subject test is what almost kept me out of the master's program (they gave me a fellowship so obviously they wanted me, but I KNOW that my score on that stupid standardized test was the bare minimum needed to get in!). Basically, here's my problem: as an undergrad, to the best of my ability I took all medieval and renaissance English classes. The subject exam, however, covers American lit and Brit lit in all time periods. I'm certain that if you did a breakdown of my score, you'd find I got nearly every single one of the questions in my area correct. However, I know squat outside my area. I looked at the list of scores needed on the GREs and subject test for the master's and phd program at USC after I got in, and was horrified at that time to realize that I literally had THE minimum on the subject test for the MA program. I need 100 pts higher for the PhD program. That will involve learning a lot of new things. My GREs were way above what was required, so that one wasn't an issue. Additionally, I don't know how I'd be able to move to another area to finish my PhD as long as my ex demands via custody issues that we stay in the area. I can only plan to go to school much later on.
Joe--see above with Xdell. I need a higher subject test in English (unless the requirements for tests needed to get into the programs have changed and it's not needed anymore). I'd LOVE love LOVE to move back to the Durham/Raleigh area. I have so many friends there plus some family too. Man, that'd be heaven. And come on, my mind IS a sexual organ :)
Hey - Where did you go?
I would've LOOOOVED to have you for a teacher. I think your list is perfect and if that doesn't help the teacher, then there's obviously something wrong with him/her.
GO ARI!! That's so cute! I wish I could see her in the play. I too was a drama geek.
Ok, your grades are in, and it's been a month since you've posted. Cough it up, babe. ;)
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