One down, ten to go

So, I just taught my first class as the instructor of record, and I think that it went well, though I will see exactly how well next week. I did lose a few students during the break, but I'd rather lose them now so that they can find classes that will work for them before the term's too far gone.

I inherited the class from one of my committtee members, and I really like the way the class is structured so far. It's engineered to get all students talking and relating to each other, as well as to the material. I'm also doing my best to create a learning community rather than merely a competitive format, which I think is one of my strengths.

As far as my students go, those who've stayed seem to be an engaged bunch, and fairly diverse. I have one elder woman who's auditing, and a veteran on one end of the age scale, a handful of early undergrads, and the rest are Jr./Sr. students who were interested in the class for the material's sake (two of these are ESL exchange students).

My big concerns at this point are grading fairly/appropriately, and making sure that the lectures are both interesting and well-structured enough for the students. And making sure that I don't get so lost in course prep that I ignore the dissertation.

posted by: schoolsmelt at 20:55 | link | comments (1) |
teaching

Comments:

#1  17 January 2007 - 08:04

 

I'm impressed by people who manage to get the students to interact with and learn from each other. It's so much easier to simply dictate wisdom from the mountain. Sounds like you have a good mix of students to help that along.

-Skye

Mo'nonymous

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