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“Here is the syllabus,” said
the director
of the program that had just hired me to teach two undergraduate
courses. “Good luck!”
From my conversations with
other Graduate Teaching Assistants on this campus, this wasn’t an
isolated occurrence; yet its frequency did not diminish my
uneasiness. The syllabus I
was to teach in the fall discussed heavy issues such as race, class,
privilege, gender, sexuality, language, power and post colonialism –
and though I had previously taught four discussion sections at the
University of
Maryland, this would be the first in which I was facilitating the
discussion of such important and sensitive topics. As a student I
have made sure to enroll in classes where these ideas were
discussed, still, the idea of teaching them left me excited and a
little apprehensive: I looked forward to the challenge, yet I didn’t
feel that I was adequately prepared by my experience, or
sufficiently supported by campus resources.
What to do? Thankfully, during
a presentation at the Academic Achievement Program, for which I was
an instructor last semester, Dave Eubanks from the Center for
Teaching Excellence mentioned the University Teaching and Learning
Program. I applied and attended the Graduate Teaching Assistant
Orientation in the Fall, which provided invaluable information and
practical tips, but that syllabus still haunted me.
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"...the most valuable tool
I took away from that
class was a network of
like-minded colleagues
with whom I could
discuss real-life issues
and problems in the life
of a GTA.” |
To bolster
my self-esteem as an instructor, and to expand my teaching
“toolkit,” I enrolled in the College Teaching course offered at the
College of Education with Dr. Steve Selden.
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We discussed pedagogical theories
of various professors around the country and were given terrific
resources, such as McKeachie’s Teaching Tips and a handbook of
Classroom Assessment Techniques. Yet the most valuable tool I took
away from that class was a network of like-minded colleagues with whom
I could discuss real-life issues and problems in the life of a GTA.
I tapped into this network immediately. Pulling
aside a kindhearted classmate, Hillary Clemens, after the first
session of College Teaching, I explained my
...“I didn’t anticipate
how difficult it would
be for me to hand over
control of my class to
the student groups...” |
concerns and asked for some practical suggestions. She
advised me to let the students take over by assigning weekly student
presentation,
and I quickly incorporated the idea of student groups leading the
class into the syllabus. The following day I explained to the class
that they were to become an expert on an area of their choosing. As
part of this process, they would connect the reading on their topic to
a scholarly journal article, connect the reading to a pop culture
issue or current event, discuss controversies surrounding key concepts
in the reading, and provide the class with a handout/activity to help
the other students develop deeper insights about key concepts in the
articles.
In addition, student expert groups were to meet with me for about
30 minutes to an hour in the week before class to lesson plan. This
gave me valuable face time with my students, and provided them with
opportunity to think through the process of pulling out the most
important ideas from the reading, ensuring the class understood
them, and facilitating a discussion that would encourage their
classmates to personally engage with these ideas with their
instructor. |
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"I can think of no better way to
increase student learning than by giving students ownership of
the material by asking them to teach it...”
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The response was incredible. Though this
assignment was not graded (less work for me!) the pressure of
presenting in front of their peers drove the students to excel.
Correction: they excelled once I stepped back. I didn’t anticipate
how difficult it would be for me to hand over control of my class to
the student groups, and in the beginning I would dominate the
discussion, only letting the student group lead an activity in the
last 20 minutes of the class. As I watched them work, and saw the
class respond, I began to let go, often encouraging them to lead the
class from the beginning; I would step in at the end if there was an
important point
that had not been raised. I still remember watching one group of
girls
guide a conversation toward the end of the semester, and wondering
if they would connect
the reading to the service the
class was doing in the community. I
had to bite my tongue not to take over
the conversation, when suddenly I
heard one of them ask “Now, how does this relate to our service?”
And there it was. The idea of co-teaching with my
students is now a must for all of my classes. And so when I heard
about the opportunity to apply to the Lilly-East Conference on
College and University Teaching this spring, I knew exactly what my
topic would be. I called Hillary to ask if she would like to
co-present with me, and we were accepted to lead a 45-minute
workshop on “Team Teaching with Your Students: How to Lighten Your
Load while Increasing Student Interaction & Learning.”
“To teach is to learn twice,” wrote Joseph
Joubert, and I can think of no better way to increase student
learning than by giving students ownership of the material by asking
them to teach it to me and their classmates.
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