TA Lecture Day

Today’s lecture went a lot better than I thought it would (not that I was hoping/expecting it to go wrong!). I was just worried at first that none of the students would respond to us (like in the review sessions). But all of the TAs did a good job and the ending was perfectly timed! During my lecture, I feel that I did good with transitions, voice (after the whole speakerphone thing was fixed), and that the students understood what I was talking about. A few times I did look to see the next slide that was coming up, instead of looking to see if anyone had any questions. Once again, I was used to review sessions, where no one asked questions.

I was somewhat nervous about talking, but once you start, things start to all flow together. I actually looked at that yellow booklet that you gave us during the TA meeting the night before about Delivering a Lecture (Ch 13). The strategies that I found most helpful were trying to talk to the students “as if you are speaking to an audience of one,” try to not read your presentation like a paper, taking deep breaths before your lecture (kind of ironic because we did the same calming exercise in the prior class), grabbing students’ attention with your opening (even though I am not sure if they got the link to Somatoform Disorders), maintaining eye contact with the class (which I  kind of screwed up when they had thier hands raised and I was looking to see the next slide), LAUGHING AT YOURSELF WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE (because you can only get so many bad microphones lol), pausing to see that students don’t look like they are lost, and avoiding “um,” “well,” “you know,” “ok,” and “so.” Of course I wasn’t thinking about everything I just mentioned while I was giving the lecture, but I defintetly recognized when I made one of the mistakes, and tried to catch myself before making it again.

I really think that speaking in front of a large group is good for the future. The reality is that it is not as bad as you think. Very few people probobly actually know when you screw up, and the more experience you have the BETTER you will get. 🙂

The Grand Finale

Today was the day that I had been most excited about, and at the same time most anxious about – Lecturing to 250 people.  That being said – today was AMAZING!  Being able to lecture to an intro class (even if it was only for a couple minutes), answering questions, interacting with the class, I loved all of it!  I was quite nervous beforehand… especially when practicing last night.  In fact lecturing to my desk, and thinking about having to lecture in front of 250 people definitely induced an asthma attack last night which resulted in an inhaler break from my practicing.  I think having that practicing and the susequent reaction the night before bruised my confidence going into things, if I had to do it again I would probably be better off just typing up my notes and not rehearsing.  Once I got up to the podium the nerves faded quickly.  I’ve been trying to lay off the over-preparedness, but it was difficult to restrain with the importance I put on today.

After the lecture I walked to have lunch with a friend I don’t think the smile could have been slapped off my face.  I had such an amazing time up there lecturing.  I felt like I fit in the position well.  I’m also really glad I chose not to use the mic; for me, just looking at the mic made me nervous – especially after seeing all the technical difficulties over the whole semester and immediately before I got up there.  Also this afternoon once I got to the commons to meet my friend, I saw a student from class and he said, “Hey, great job today!”  Which only added to the rush I already had from today.  I’m more sure than I have been all semester that I would really enjoy being a professor someday.

I would say today went a million times better than expected, and was a perfect addition to my literature review that I’ve been working on for the semester.  Coincidentally I finished my paper on undergraduate TAs last night as well.  I didn’t know how valuable of an experience being a TA was until I experienced this whole semester.  And now with less two weeks left, and the mini-lecture done, my paper done, it’s a little bitter sweet.  I’ve become so involved with being a TA this semester, learned so much, and grown immensely as a student, and also become so interested in my research – I kind of don’t want it to end…

…all it took was five (or so) minutes…

Before going to class this morning, I was feeling a bit anxious.  I wasn’t really nervous, like I normally feel.  I think I was actually kind of excited to get in front of the class.  However, right before starting class was when the nerves kicked in a bit, even if I was only talking for about 5 or so minutes.

Lecturing in front of the class was a bit different than leading a review session.  Having to provide information to the class that they only know a bit about was a bit intimidating for me.  After I got past the first two slides however, and was able to show the video clip, I felt more comfortable fielding questions than I did with presenting the information.  When I was presenting the information, I don’t recall looking at faces, or really making eye contact until after I showed the video clip.  I do believe I was at least looking up, but I know I was more than likely talking too fast.  I still hope that I got the key concept across.  Also, I didn’t notice that the mic was not working for me, but I think I was at least slightly loud enough for those in the back to hear.

Watching everyone else lecture was interesting, because all of us have a slightly different way of doing so.  By watching them, I realized areas I could improve in.  I also noticed, as Dr G had forewarned us about, that if we focus our attention on the front section, that the back and sides do not add much in participation.  They only chimed in when they had questions or had something to comment on.

Overall, those five minutes were not as bad as I thought.  I know there are areas where I do okay in, as well as areas that I could improve on, but overall, it was a good experience.

.:Just a quick Update:.

Today, I had a great reinforcement that I am actually doing something as a TA.  One of the students came up to me today in the hallway right before class and told me that the technique I had told them about worked well for her as she studied and read through the book.  I could not stop smiling after hearing this.  I was actually able to help someone learn a new way to take notes while reading the textbook, and it actually helped them, a lot! 

Another note… I am starting to become a bit anxious about Thursday.  Talking in front of 250 (or so) students is one thing I knew I would not be looking forward to.  As I look back, I realize that I was able to talk in front of my pod pretty easily (after the first time).  I talked longer in front of my pod than I will be on Thursday, so that helps relieve my stress a bit.  This makes me excited and anxious to see how Thursday will turn out.  I would actually be kind of interested in taping myself to see my nervous habits as I talk in front of them.

Until then…

Another Week Bites The Dust

This week was a bit different than other weeks when exams took place, because new material was presented before the exam began. This may have been one of the reasons why the attendance appeared to be lacking on Thursday. Some of the students in my POD even e-mailed me and asked if we still had class Thursday, or if the Study Groups were substituting for the class period. I really don’t think we can blame attendance on the weather this past week, because it was rather cool most days. But with spring allergens and viruses jumping from person-to-person (especially me!), I think that many students were sick this week!

My Study Group on Thursday was not an amazing turn out (2 people), but I felt that it helped the attendees nonetheless. One of the two girls that attended was having trouble understanding the bystander effect, the difference between projection and displacement, and the difference between Allport’s Cardinal, Central, and Secondary traits. To help clarify what they were, I first referred back to examples Professor Gurung gave in class to see if that refreshed their memory, and the I used my own examples to build on to Gurung’s. She did see things clearer once I broke definitions down! From the whole slide show, the two students showed confidence in their answers, more than the last exam review sessions. I feel from this (even though it was only 2 students) that scores will be better on this exam.

The idea of making the exam the same for everyone does increase the possibility of cheating. One student could take the exam, while three or so other students around them look up each answer on one web page. This sounds all too easy, but it also could make students very anxious about being caught. You could definitely investigate this by examining scores related to complete time to take test. The students who copied answers down could finish the test a lot quicker, and not think about how this would make them look like cheaters. Despite this, taking tests online is still not easy to catch cheaters with, because you do not have hard evidence for anything (besides maybe getting the exact same answers wrong among a group of students).

I think that Prof. Gurung handled addressing the death of Whitney well. I didn’t know her personally, but it still is always sad when someone so young tragically dies. These things can happen unexpectedly and it’s nice that the school, professors, and friends are showing their respects.