Entry the Ninth or: “stop talking to the people in the fishbowl…do NOT feed them!”

This week’s reading assignment was focused on scenarios that don’t apply to me as a teacher (at least not yet). So I found it harder than usual to pull from them, but I found some interesting bits of advice.

• The first thing that struck me is on pages 257-258 in McKeachie’s Teaching Tips and it focuses on methods of getting students involved that haven’t been covered thus far. The method that I really like and have been wanting to do in the classes I teach is debating. My students were actually the ones who came up with the idea in class but unfortunately there isn’t a lot of leeway for adding an assignment like a debate to the class schedule. I think debates are great ways for students to learn about persuasion, arguments, and how to maintain their demeanor while under verbal attack. It is a tool that I wish I had time for in class.

• This section also talks about the “fish bowl” which is when a few students are selected to be “in the fishbowl” which means participating in a discussion, while the other students observe the discussion and take notes. I like this idea, but I fear my classes (at least one of them) wouldn’t take the activity seriously enough, or they would just talk to each other instead of observing the people in the fish bowl. They aren’t bad students they just get off track easily, which means that I have to impose more structure to make up for the time spent talking with one another. I love my students, but there are a few things that I can’t bring into the classroom because I know they won’t work. Sad.

• The second chunk of reading that I really liked comes from First Day to Final Grade, which was all about feedback this week. The section on how students should contact teachers was of some interest to me. I liked that it suggested that teachers make a variety of venues available for feedback. I think this is mainly to make students comfortable, because many students may be nervous to give feedback. It is important to let students know that feedback is welcome and encouraged.

• I actually got a lot of little tips from this section that I’m going to put into use next semester. I like the idea of the drop box where students can write down their feedback and retain their anonymity. I also like the idea of e-mail as a venue but would first need to set up a dedicated feedback account so that it doesn’t clog up my regular inbox.

• The third thing that I found vital in this week’s reading also comes from First Day to Final Grade. Pages 172-173 focus on reading your teaching evaluations and the book offers some tips on how to “keep negative evaluations in perspective.” I liked quite a few of these and I will probably need to refer back to these pages when I get my evaluations back. The thing about evaluations that really scares me more than anything else is the idea that students might have been miserable sitting in my class but never opted to say something. I hate the idea of students disliking the course, but at the same time I understand that some probably do.

• I always have to remind myself not to take things personally, but teacher evaluations are kind of a personal thing…so yeah, sick burn on me. The tip that I really like from this section of the book states “reread the positive ones and remember that not every student is going to like your course or teaching style.” This helps to put things into perspective. I also have to think about teachers that I didn’t care for but other students adored. It all comes down to what works for people and what doesn’t. I just hope that my course worked for most of the people who took it.

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Sci-Fi meets Fantasy