I spent much of last night ruminating on my doubts about teaching. In my position at Westminster, I receive a very different picture of higher education than most students (or even faculty) do. Student complaints run on a continuum of very valid to ridiculously invalid. I often wonder how instructors deal with these complaints, and I wonder if my personality is suited to a teaching position.
Some of the biggest questions I would like to answer in this class (they might be too big for a one-hour class, but perhaps not) are
1. How do you convey confidence without being unapproachable?
2. How do you find a balance between being too rigid and too lenient (in terms of grades, critiques, due dates, etc.)?
3. How do you challenge the above-average students without losing the average or poor-performing students?
4. What are the main/most effective techniques for teaching writing (not sure if this has a set answer)?
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2 comments:
I don't have answers to your questions, just an observation. I don't think that it is possible to reach every student. The two teachers that I consider to be the best (see my post) both had many detractors, students that just didn't "get" them. I think that sometimes you connect and sometimes you don't. Of course, you should never give up, but I think that success is, as the book suggests, largely the result of finding your own persona, developing a genuine interest in your students, and being passionate about what you teach.
I think the hardest part is these two questions:
2. How do you find a balance between being too rigid and too lenient (in terms of grades, critiques, due dates, etc.)?
3. How do you challenge the above-average students without losing the average or poor-performing students?
I took a math class at Westminster and I was so worried that I would fail because I dislike math. I was fortunate enough to have a teacher that understood that many of the students disliked math too, but we needed to graduate and math is required. Well, I got a grade that did not add up. The grade was better than I expected but I believe the teacher understood my lack of competence and graded accordingly. I think it is important for a teacher to recognize individual student’s abilities. I literally failed sociology (of all things) during my first semester of college at the U of U, but it was a class full of 500 students. The teacher never had the opportunity to know me or my grievances with such cut-throat studies on society that sociology offered (I was very naive). At schools like Westminster we are lucky and privileged enough to have faculty that recognize our individual potential.
In reference to the above average students. This is my opinion so I will use absolutist language. Never point out the exceptional students in front of the other students because they probably know that student is smart or smarter than them. Arrange a time when you can get together with the bright ones and feel them out. Some may be smart but uninterested in the subject matter (depending on what you are teaching) while other may be motivated by your inquiry.
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