Teaching
The Mental
Groundwork
Spend
some time thinking about how you view yourself as an educator. What
is your persona? How do you want to be viewed by students?
Develop
a philosophy of teaching. Are you a motivator? A dispenser of information?
A facilitator? Recognize that faculty tend to teach as they themselves
were taught. a good exercise is to ride out your teaching philosophy--
it helps make unconscious assumptions explicit.
For
example, the following emerged as the author's list of important elements:
-
Creating
a sense of community
-
Giving
education as a two way, interactive process
-
Respect
for the individual
-
Accountability
-
Humor
-
Timeliness
-
Continuing
my own education
Common
anxieties of beginning instructors:
How
to combat first day jitters:
-
Be
prepared
-
Arrive
early and engage students in conversation
-
Don't
try to be perfect
-
Talk
with colleagues
-
Take
your time to consider a response before speaking
-
Wear
a watch to pace yourself
-
Avoid
unrealistic expectations
-
Visualize
yourself doing a great job
Students'
pet peeves about faculty:
-
Poor
organization and planning
-
Poor
teaching mechanics (e.g., poor use of the board)
-
Lecture
style and technique
-
Testing
procedures and exams
-
Poor
use of class time
-
Monotone
voice
-
Respecting
differences: diversity in the classroom
Be
Alert of Discrimination
Instructors
who are not themselves members of a minority group need to be alert
to demonstrating subtle forms of discrimination (e.g., boyfriend or
girlfriend instead of partner).
-
Don't
permit students to use "loaded" terms.
-
Don't
single out minority students to represent "their" perspective.
-
Try
to create an open environment where even strong feelings can be
expressed.
-
Faculty
should be sensitive to invisible disabilities like dyslexia.
-
If
a student scapegoats you, try to listen non-judgmentally to their
complaint.
Grading---Do
I have to read every sentence?
-
Totally
new load, consider peer review.
-
Another
option is to great simply for completion.
-
You
can also take up homework randomly. However, if the student has
invested a lot of time in an assignment, he/she tends to get miffed
if you don't collect it!
