Wow this semester went by super fast! It has been a very interesting and eyeing opening semester. Being a TA definitely gave me a new perspective. I have learned a lot about blogging, public speaking, organizing a class, and teaching. It has been an amazing time. I still can not believe that it is over already.
First I just want to say that until this semester I had never blogged before. Blogging was not something that comes natural for me. I did not understand why we needed to blog because I could remember what I did in the class easily. However today I was just looking back on my first blog of the semester and I came to realize that I have changed so much. Without me blogging I would have not realized that I learned/accomplished a lot of things that I wanted to. While I do not think I will create another blog anytime soon I do see its importance and I am glad that I did make entries. It gave me a lot of insight into what I was feeling at the time it happened.
Blogging was not the only thing I felt uncomfortable with or was new to me during my TA experience. I also feel uncomfortable with public speaking. Being a TA with 250 students definitely got me over my fears of public speaking. At first I was very nervous especially during my first review session. It was only 50 students but I still felt that was to much. Also during my first review session I got into a confrontation with one of the students. This small incident only lead me to being more nervous. However after the first time speaking the second review session went a lot better. I felt more prepared and even though some things did go wrong I was somewhat able to get back on task and help the students. I liked how we (TAs) progressed up to talking to 250 students. This was helpful and made me more comfortable with public speaking
Besides public speaking and learning how to excel in that area I also learned a lot about how a class can be organized and how to teach an effective class. I did not know that when professors teach a class they should take about three months to plan their course. This includes picking out a text book, writing goals, writing a syllabus,, and planning each lesson. Picking out a text book is actually harder than it seems. One has a lot of books to choose from and look over. It is also important to get a book that can be taught in mostly a linear fashion without the need to jump around a lot.
I have also learned that planning is very important and very hard. There are so many variables that can affect the actual lecture come class time. While one needs to prepare for the class it is also important to be flexible. Rushing thru a lecture to get everything done is not always the best route. Students need time for questions and activities. This can be a difficult balance to find.
Speaking of activities I have learned a variety of ways to teach a class. While lecturing is important it can also get boring to students. Mixing it up a little can prove to be beneficial to learning. A couple of things I did not think about when teaching a class would be to have interactive activities where a couple of students come up to the front to demonstrate a concept. Another way to get students motivated or interested in a class would be to use real life examples that can pertain to their daily life.
I learned a lot from the TA experience. I have learned how to speak in front of people especially my fellow peers. I’m not nearly as nervous about giving speeches or trying to teach concepts as I was before being a TA. I have also learned how to explain concepts and other things to people to help them learn it better. It has been very beneficial for me. This experience has been great I have learned a lot of things that will help me later on in life.