I kid you not, since my last post in this "Teaching" section of the blog, I have taught two full semesters of BIOL 110. This means that 1) my teaching requirements for the Biology Ph.D. program are fulfilled and I most likely won't have to teach again in graduate school; and 2) that I have a decent amount of experiences to share with you all that will hopefully come in handy in one way or another. I absolutely loved every minute of being a teaching assistant, and hope to hear about some of your stories as I share some of mine :)
I thought the most useful thing I could do for you, my reader(s), would be to sum up my top teaching tips in one post and elaborate on some of the experiences a bit later on. I hope you'd all agree with my strategy here, but your approval doesn't really matter much anyway because you don't get to read this until it's finished...so yeah, on we go!
I thought the most useful thing I could do for you, my reader(s), would be to sum up my top teaching tips in one post and elaborate on some of the experiences a bit later on. I hope you'd all agree with my strategy here, but your approval doesn't really matter much anyway because you don't get to read this until it's finished...so yeah, on we go!
Tip #1: Be organized.
Before you think I'm copping out on a good tip, hear me out. The number one thing that I've found that really bugs the crap out of students is when their instructor seems unprepared for the day. There is nothing more worrisome than feeling like you have a better handle on the situation than the person who is supposed to be imparting wisdom, knowledge, and guidance. "I mean, this is supposed |
to be their job, right? Teaching us *fill-in-the-blank*." If you are going to have to teach a class of any kind, whether for a requirement or for your paycheck or whatever, take the time to teach that class well. Make some pretty slides, read over assignments ahead of time, check your emails as often as possible without driving yourself crazy, and, above all, know what is on the syllabus, especially due dates for assignments and quiz/exam days. Channel your inner Leslie Knope and get it done!
Tip #2: Tell Your students how long that particular class is going to take.
This one is fairly straightforward, but extremely easy to implement and always appreciated, especially in a lab-type class where there are multiple moving parts involved. I never even directly mentioned it during class, just wrote up an agenda for the day on the board or projected it on a slide for the students to see as they walked in, like the one below. You are demonstrating to the students that you respect how valuable time is, and that you won't waste theirs if they don't waste yours. This seemingly simple trick even helped to bridge the gap between the varying levels of student preparedness. By writing an agenda up, every single student knew exactly what to expect from our class that day, regardless of whether or not they'd done the background reading. Another benefit is that the students can sort of police themselves in their work if they have some idea of how long each task should take them, even if it's a general estimate. But really one of the nicest things about this trick is that your students will (hopefully) never ask you "How long is class going to take today?" because that gets annoying very quickly...
Tip #3: Have fun and make it memorable.
One of my favorite parts about teaching is seeing a student's eyes light up as something finally clicks into place in their brains. There truly is nothing so satisfying as teaching someone something new, whether it be how to knead bread dough, fill up a car with gas, why biologists use gel electrophoresis, or tie a sneaker knot. And you know, I think what makes that moment feel so special is that you've finally figured out what works for that student, whether its some kind of new visual aid, a video or sound clip, or even just using a different tone of voice. |
There are often many different approaches one can take to teaching a concept. I'm a big fan of implementing hands-on physical activities, letting my students work out problems on their own with whatever tools, instructions, and examples I've provided (just like the dog above - what a fine way to learn how to crawl!). Daniel is an absolute champion of answering a question with another question, which might frustrate people at first but forces them to really think about their problem and try to shift their point of view. When trying to work out how to teach a concept, first think about what would work best for you if you were the one being taught. Then try to explain the concept to someone else with your chosen method, and see if it works. Trial and error are a huge part of educating, but if you have fun with it and radiate positivity, even in the aftermath of an awful demo or jumbled up speech, your students will laugh and learn with you :)
So that's where I'll leave it for today. Like I said earlier, please feel free to comment your teaching tricks and tips, even if you feel as though you've never taught anyone anything in your entire life (trust me, you definitely have, intentionally or not). I really would love to read them, and, after all, what's the point in experiencing anything if you don't share your wisdom about it afterwards? Cheers everyone!