Extracurricular activities
So much for September. Due to the fact that I have yet to include the word "no" in my vocabulary, it passed in a ridiculous blur. Hence the long silence, although if I'd realized that my unfortunate copier soliloquy was at the top of the blog this whole time, I probably would have written something sooner. (Incidentally, the copier is functioning in that capacity but still not set up for printing.)
The last time I posted was one of the first days of classes; we're now finishing up week 5 of the semester. September always tends to be a busy month for me because I do a lot of those "what the library can do for you" presentations, but this year there was a couple of new twists. For one thing, I was responsible for a session on library resources in each section of the new freshman seminar (6 in all). (It was supposed to be a hands-on database discovery activity, but I was denied grant funding and the hinted-at institutional funding for my mobile laptop lab, so it ended up being yet another library resource show-and-tell.) For another, the instructor for whom I do most of the quick library show-and-tell presentations took two weeks off to get married (the nerve) and asked me to fill in as a sub for one session of each of her classes (another 6 in all). Oh, and I scheduled the annual field trip to the big Chicago Public Library for the freshman comp classes (4 of those). And, amusingly enough, all of those things (with the exception of two field trip groups) happened in the last two weeks. What's more, all but two of the presentations and one of the field trips happened between last Tuesday and last Friday. Did I mention that I need to learn to say no?
My experiences as a substitute were quite enlightening, in that I discovered I'm not much of a teacher. I'm definitely getting better; a couple of years ago I wouldn't have even been able to handle standing up in front of a room full of students. At this point I think I can safely say I've got the lecturing part down, but I haven't really gotten a grasp on the interacting-with-students part. Five of the six classes I subbed for involved talking about library resources for an upcoming assignment (three different assignments, but all art history). For those, I did an expanded version of my usual show-and-tell, talked through an online resource guide that I made, then gave them a half hour or so of library research and question-asking time and dismissed class a little early.
The sixth class was a professional writing course that I was supposed to be talking to about online resources for networking. I thought this one was going to be a piece of cake, so I started by preparing all the art history stuff, and I ended up completely running out of time. I did throw together a little outline with questions to ask and places for class discussion, as well as another little web page to use as a basis for discussion. But when I walked in to the classroom full of openly bored upperclassmen, I forgot everything. I ended up stumbling and stammering my way through a monologue based on the resource guide and then sent them all to the computer lab to cover my failure. Not my most shining moment.
That's not to say that I think I can't do it. If anything, I'd like more opportunities to practice, as well as a little guidance. That's the crappy thing about this librarian outreach concept--it's a great idea, but we're mostly unprepared to actually carry it out. My one library instruction class covered everything from education theory to technology troubleshooting, but I only got the opportunity to do one short and one medium-length instruction session of my own.
The experience made me a tiny bit relieved that I got denied the opportunity to teach my own freshman seminar section this semester. That relief was compounded by the section of the class that I had to face on Monday. Even though the regular classroom teacher was there and I was doing a very short library services overview (complete with scavenger hunt activity and bribe!), I was no match for a small knot of completely disrespectful 18-year-olds whispering in the back row. I'd like to say I'd learn to deal with them if I were their regular teacher, but I'm a little afraid they'd make me cry.
Thankfully, my time on the lecture circuit is just about finished--I've fulfilled my first-quarter obligation to the freshmen (they'll see me again for technology training in November) and my instructor friend returns on Monday. However, Tuesday is my big "all about me" talk as part of the faculty/staff lecture series. The co-curricular activities coordinator has billed it as "How Did I Get Here? The Journey from College to Career." I can't wait to find out what I'm going to say about that.
The last time I posted was one of the first days of classes; we're now finishing up week 5 of the semester. September always tends to be a busy month for me because I do a lot of those "what the library can do for you" presentations, but this year there was a couple of new twists. For one thing, I was responsible for a session on library resources in each section of the new freshman seminar (6 in all). (It was supposed to be a hands-on database discovery activity, but I was denied grant funding and the hinted-at institutional funding for my mobile laptop lab, so it ended up being yet another library resource show-and-tell.) For another, the instructor for whom I do most of the quick library show-and-tell presentations took two weeks off to get married (the nerve) and asked me to fill in as a sub for one session of each of her classes (another 6 in all). Oh, and I scheduled the annual field trip to the big Chicago Public Library for the freshman comp classes (4 of those). And, amusingly enough, all of those things (with the exception of two field trip groups) happened in the last two weeks. What's more, all but two of the presentations and one of the field trips happened between last Tuesday and last Friday. Did I mention that I need to learn to say no?
My experiences as a substitute were quite enlightening, in that I discovered I'm not much of a teacher. I'm definitely getting better; a couple of years ago I wouldn't have even been able to handle standing up in front of a room full of students. At this point I think I can safely say I've got the lecturing part down, but I haven't really gotten a grasp on the interacting-with-students part. Five of the six classes I subbed for involved talking about library resources for an upcoming assignment (three different assignments, but all art history). For those, I did an expanded version of my usual show-and-tell, talked through an online resource guide that I made, then gave them a half hour or so of library research and question-asking time and dismissed class a little early.
The sixth class was a professional writing course that I was supposed to be talking to about online resources for networking. I thought this one was going to be a piece of cake, so I started by preparing all the art history stuff, and I ended up completely running out of time. I did throw together a little outline with questions to ask and places for class discussion, as well as another little web page to use as a basis for discussion. But when I walked in to the classroom full of openly bored upperclassmen, I forgot everything. I ended up stumbling and stammering my way through a monologue based on the resource guide and then sent them all to the computer lab to cover my failure. Not my most shining moment.
That's not to say that I think I can't do it. If anything, I'd like more opportunities to practice, as well as a little guidance. That's the crappy thing about this librarian outreach concept--it's a great idea, but we're mostly unprepared to actually carry it out. My one library instruction class covered everything from education theory to technology troubleshooting, but I only got the opportunity to do one short and one medium-length instruction session of my own.
The experience made me a tiny bit relieved that I got denied the opportunity to teach my own freshman seminar section this semester. That relief was compounded by the section of the class that I had to face on Monday. Even though the regular classroom teacher was there and I was doing a very short library services overview (complete with scavenger hunt activity and bribe!), I was no match for a small knot of completely disrespectful 18-year-olds whispering in the back row. I'd like to say I'd learn to deal with them if I were their regular teacher, but I'm a little afraid they'd make me cry.
Thankfully, my time on the lecture circuit is just about finished--I've fulfilled my first-quarter obligation to the freshmen (they'll see me again for technology training in November) and my instructor friend returns on Monday. However, Tuesday is my big "all about me" talk as part of the faculty/staff lecture series. The co-curricular activities coordinator has billed it as "How Did I Get Here? The Journey from College to Career." I can't wait to find out what I'm going to say about that.
posted by Madame Defarge at 4:55 PM
2 Comments:
I'm sure the class wasn't a failure and that you did a beautiful job. I think you'd make a kick ass teacher.
I know the feeling though of a lesson not going according to plan and students not appreciating the hours of effort you put into the lecture. The funny thing is, like you mentioned, that you actually want to improve it and work harder the next time. I don't know if it's the profession, or just a stubborn-obsessive personality thing, but the more things go wrong, the more I want to fix it and put together a killer lesson.
Kids can be assholes though, there's no doubt, and I imagine I'd have even less patience with the college level students. Being in classes this semester i'm absolutely floored by the lack of maturity and respect the students seem to have for the classes. One girl was texting all the way through class despite the syllabus prohibiting the use of electronic devices. But then then professor didn't do anything about it either. I also read an article about professors and the difficulties they're having with classroom managment at the college level. I can't decide if it's the result of a changing culture compounded with the advancements in technology, or the sub-par standards at a community college. I remember at U of I being terrified to come into a class late, or christ, somtimes even daring to ask a question, because the professor would roar you down, belittle you and then tell you to not bother coming back. I think we need to bring a little of that back.
Last night I dreamed that I subbed for one of the freshman comp teachers and a student spat at me. I'm not sure where that came from, but it made me feel like crap all day. One of my teacher friends says that she likes the freshmen and seniors best because the freshmen are easy to intimidate and believe everything you tell them, and the seniors just don't give a fuck anymore. I like the idea of freshmen, but my most successful sessions of the class visiting marathon were with the upperclassmen. The freshmen and the sophomores were openly bored. And don't even get me started about the texting thing. Or the kid who put his hood up and his head down and went to sleep. Rrrrrr.
Post a Comment
<< Home