My mentor had to go to a conference for a couple of days. Thus, she asked me to teach the class during her absence. The topic that my mentor assigned was "how to use the library" to find sources for a research paper. Both the second and the third paper are argumentative research papers. Originally, a librarian was supposed to teach the students about library sources. However, the library visit was much later in the semester, and if waited that long, it would only give the students little time to prepare for their papers. In addition, from my experience as an undergrad, the last month of any semester is the busiest. Thus, any more delays may not benefit the students. In regard to the modification, I wondered whether teachers have the right to modify their syllabuses especially when they are TAs. The modification did happen and, I found it very efficient. I know teachers who have the same syllabus for years or use the same lesson plans for more than one semester with no modifications. Although this course has more than one section, each section is different. Nevertheless, they share many similarities such as the topics that must be covered and the numbers of major assignments.
I did not expect my mentor to send me a ready made lesson plan for the wonderfully surprising teaching day. Also, I wanted to see how it feels to make a lesson and teach it all on my own. In addition, this was a time for me to apply what I learned in my classes. Besides, my role as a student taught me what sources are the most helpful (e.g. JASOR, ProQuest, CAT) and what sources are not. I prepared the lesson earlier and developed instructional materials for it. Since I wanted them to apply the information I taught them, I asked my mentor to reserve a computer lab for this lesson. Teaching the students about research tools was an excellent starting point because I this is the first step for a research paper--finding sources! Since I do a lot of research anyway, and I enjoyed teaching them the databases that would help them.
Since I am teaching the students about a number of technical things, I feared that I may lose their attention if I did things at a fast or a slow rate. The one thing about technology is that we have to be patient because it takes time for the new user to use it. In one of my classes, I had a teacher teaching us about wikies. We had to make regular entries using that program. Since my English was not that good at the time, and because I was new to this academic setting, I was lost. I knew that I did not want my students to experience what I experienced. In addition, the library website has a LOT of links, which I find confusing! Thus, it could have been confusing for other students as well. In addition, sometimes the library would have the same link in two different names! Nonetheless, I should be appreciative of what the library is trying to do. They try to make the website easier for the students, but some of their trials are not successful. I kept these issues in mind as I developed the lesson. I also made sure to take snapshots of the different sources to make it easier for the students to recall them.
On the teaching day, I went to the right building, but I forgot the room number. It was a good thing that I came early! I saw one of the students, and decided to follow him. There was another student following me. Then, we were at a large computer lab that did not seem to be the right room. As I went to check my email, the student who was in front of me asks the student who was behind me about the location of the room. The second one said that he does not know--he just followed me (the instructor). The first student had a good laugh out of it. The second student merely smiled--he seems mature and serious all the time (He was the one who wrote KISS on his sheet and that why I was surprised to find him write that in the first place). I felt silly! I did not think that I was leading them. When all of this was happening, which was about a minute or two, I was thinking of what Dr. Kinginger said about her first day of teaching. I was embarrassed. The good news was that I did not waste the class time. I found the right room before the class started.
In the following entry, I will be talking about the lesson that I gave that day.
I did not expect my mentor to send me a ready made lesson plan for the wonderfully surprising teaching day. Also, I wanted to see how it feels to make a lesson and teach it all on my own. In addition, this was a time for me to apply what I learned in my classes. Besides, my role as a student taught me what sources are the most helpful (e.g. JASOR, ProQuest, CAT) and what sources are not. I prepared the lesson earlier and developed instructional materials for it. Since I wanted them to apply the information I taught them, I asked my mentor to reserve a computer lab for this lesson. Teaching the students about research tools was an excellent starting point because I this is the first step for a research paper--finding sources! Since I do a lot of research anyway, and I enjoyed teaching them the databases that would help them.
Since I am teaching the students about a number of technical things, I feared that I may lose their attention if I did things at a fast or a slow rate. The one thing about technology is that we have to be patient because it takes time for the new user to use it. In one of my classes, I had a teacher teaching us about wikies. We had to make regular entries using that program. Since my English was not that good at the time, and because I was new to this academic setting, I was lost. I knew that I did not want my students to experience what I experienced. In addition, the library website has a LOT of links, which I find confusing! Thus, it could have been confusing for other students as well. In addition, sometimes the library would have the same link in two different names! Nonetheless, I should be appreciative of what the library is trying to do. They try to make the website easier for the students, but some of their trials are not successful. I kept these issues in mind as I developed the lesson. I also made sure to take snapshots of the different sources to make it easier for the students to recall them.
On the teaching day, I went to the right building, but I forgot the room number. It was a good thing that I came early! I saw one of the students, and decided to follow him. There was another student following me. Then, we were at a large computer lab that did not seem to be the right room. As I went to check my email, the student who was in front of me asks the student who was behind me about the location of the room. The second one said that he does not know--he just followed me (the instructor). The first student had a good laugh out of it. The second student merely smiled--he seems mature and serious all the time (He was the one who wrote KISS on his sheet and that why I was surprised to find him write that in the first place). I felt silly! I did not think that I was leading them. When all of this was happening, which was about a minute or two, I was thinking of what Dr. Kinginger said about her first day of teaching. I was embarrassed. The good news was that I did not waste the class time. I found the right room before the class started.
In the following entry, I will be talking about the lesson that I gave that day.