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End of my first term as a teacher
Mar. 4th, 2008 11:36 amHi all,
Well, last night was my last class for the Microsoft Office class I was teaching. I basically had to keep the class occupied for four hours, without a set syllabus because the set syllabus for the class said "turn in final project" and that was it. So I prepped four labs for the first hour and a half (expecting my students to get at least three done), then had the students present their own business proposal from earlier in the term, then I had listed on the syllabus the PowerPoints for topics we'd skipped over or missed earlier in the term due to lack of time.
However, even before the class started I was upset a bit because I got a phone call from a student saying she wouldn't be in class, she didn't care if she failed, and it was all my fault!!! Now, mind you, I *didn't* feel it was my fault -- she'd missed 3.5 days in an 11 week class! And she never did any homework after like week 6. So, like, fine. Then I had two more students who sent e-mails saying they wouldn't be in class, one of whom, I figured was too embarrassed to show up because she had been caught cheating (she allowed two other students to copy her research papers). (Which, by the bye, was ANOTHER thing that bugged me - students cheating and expecting I wouldn't notice? I may be green as a teacher but I'm not dumb!)
The actual class went OK. For once, I actually had students working on their labs in the lab (Tho' I had one who did homework instead and two more working on their final project, with permission).
I was actually fairly impressed with the presentations, so much so that I will definately add that as an assignment (over and beyond the set ones) for next term - the assignment does only count as week 11 participation, tho'.
Gradually during class I had students leaving (of the ones that showed-up, another issue!) But the three that stayed til the end of class were actually great. I had three students who actually worked on finishing homework or the labs I'd assigned that day! Woo-hoo! Plus, we had a nice conversation, too, which was really, really fun! And that is one of the things about teaching I really like - talking to the students about just stuff. I mean, I do have the experience of going to grad school while working and balanicing everything, plus I have work experience in accting support (and secretarial work) prior to getting my IT degree and very, very luckily getting my teaching job.
By the bye - a couple of weeks ago I got my schedule from my boss. Well, bosses -- I had the business chair and the IT chair "fighting" it out over my schedule (originally the business chair was trying to get me to teach a class that almost overlapped my IT class which would have resulted in working 8 straight hours on Saturdays with no lunch break or breaks at all).
But, when the dust settled I ended-up with three classes to teach! Woo-hoo!!! So now I have the XP class on Monday nights, and the Microsoft Office class on Friday nights and Saturday mornings (I know - that's going to be tough, but I'll get used to it). I still need to set-up my help labs / office hours (I need to figure out how many hours I'm expected to pull down in lab).
Overall, tho', I'm really happy about next term - I managed to survive my first term as a teacher!!! Considering how many times I had my doubts or felt like I had NO IDEA what I was doing, I think that's pretty good.
--Olivia
Well, last night was my last class for the Microsoft Office class I was teaching. I basically had to keep the class occupied for four hours, without a set syllabus because the set syllabus for the class said "turn in final project" and that was it. So I prepped four labs for the first hour and a half (expecting my students to get at least three done), then had the students present their own business proposal from earlier in the term, then I had listed on the syllabus the PowerPoints for topics we'd skipped over or missed earlier in the term due to lack of time.
However, even before the class started I was upset a bit because I got a phone call from a student saying she wouldn't be in class, she didn't care if she failed, and it was all my fault!!! Now, mind you, I *didn't* feel it was my fault -- she'd missed 3.5 days in an 11 week class! And she never did any homework after like week 6. So, like, fine. Then I had two more students who sent e-mails saying they wouldn't be in class, one of whom, I figured was too embarrassed to show up because she had been caught cheating (she allowed two other students to copy her research papers). (Which, by the bye, was ANOTHER thing that bugged me - students cheating and expecting I wouldn't notice? I may be green as a teacher but I'm not dumb!)
The actual class went OK. For once, I actually had students working on their labs in the lab (Tho' I had one who did homework instead and two more working on their final project, with permission).
I was actually fairly impressed with the presentations, so much so that I will definately add that as an assignment (over and beyond the set ones) for next term - the assignment does only count as week 11 participation, tho'.
Gradually during class I had students leaving (of the ones that showed-up, another issue!) But the three that stayed til the end of class were actually great. I had three students who actually worked on finishing homework or the labs I'd assigned that day! Woo-hoo! Plus, we had a nice conversation, too, which was really, really fun! And that is one of the things about teaching I really like - talking to the students about just stuff. I mean, I do have the experience of going to grad school while working and balanicing everything, plus I have work experience in accting support (and secretarial work) prior to getting my IT degree and very, very luckily getting my teaching job.
By the bye - a couple of weeks ago I got my schedule from my boss. Well, bosses -- I had the business chair and the IT chair "fighting" it out over my schedule (originally the business chair was trying to get me to teach a class that almost overlapped my IT class which would have resulted in working 8 straight hours on Saturdays with no lunch break or breaks at all).
But, when the dust settled I ended-up with three classes to teach! Woo-hoo!!! So now I have the XP class on Monday nights, and the Microsoft Office class on Friday nights and Saturday mornings (I know - that's going to be tough, but I'll get used to it). I still need to set-up my help labs / office hours (I need to figure out how many hours I'm expected to pull down in lab).
Overall, tho', I'm really happy about next term - I managed to survive my first term as a teacher!!! Considering how many times I had my doubts or felt like I had NO IDEA what I was doing, I think that's pretty good.
--Olivia
