When I'm giving a lecture, I often wonder what my students are thinking about me. Are they confused about my explanations? Do they think my jokes are too corny? Am I a boring lecturer? I can sometimes read their minds through their facial expressions and body movements. Not everyone is going to be wide awake and interested about what I have to say, yet I am quick to assume fault for this. Irrational, no?
Today, I got the sense that my students were getting fed up with my teaching style. I covered a particularly unexciting section of organic chemistry, which involved writing out reaction upon reaction on the board. I admit that I wasn't fully prepared for this class - my boardwork was sloppy, my explanations unclear, and I made mistakes. As the class carried on, I felt that I was losing the confidence of my students, leading to doubts about my ability to teach. I was quickly reminded of my struggles during the training session for this job.
Why am I having these reservations? Maybe there are things that I don't like about this teaching position. Firstly, organic chemistry is not my passion. I don't get excited about electrons moving around, but I'm sure that there are some people who do. Secondly, teaching that requires intense board work for 2.5 hours is physically laborious. I feel like I have to bring a change of clothes, a towel, and a water bottle even though I'm not headed to the gym. Finally, my learning philosophy is fundamentally different from what the Princeton Review practices. Being in the shoes of a student, I know that there is limited value to lecture-based learning. It takes a lot of skill and practice to be an excellent lecturer, but if I could have it any other way, I wouldn't be teaching the material in this style.
Teaching does have its perks. It's always nice to interact with the students and help them reach the "Aha!" moment when they finally understand a concept. Questions that are asked during class encourage me to be quick on my feet. Finally, teaching is an opportunity to develop communication skills - you have to be clear and concise when conveying your knowledge to other people.
I suppose that I just had a bad day and things will pick up in the next class. I wish there was an opportunity to get more consistent feedback from my students so I could see where to make improvements. I'm not satisfied with being just an average teacher...I want to be a good one.
WC
Brace yourself. Carrying on from the MCAT stream of thought...you should know that momentum is never lost whatever the type of collision. Only...possibly kinetic energy. So all you have to do is pick it back up. I know the potential (energy)is conserved! :D :D :D :D
ReplyDelete(Okay...yeah...nerdy...but I couldn't resist. MCAT has saturated my head a little bit.)