Author: MARTHA DAVIS

My experience as a TA has given me a whole new perspective on not just teaching, but also on how to perform better as a student. One thing that I learned is that students can learn a lot more just by how much attention they are paying to the professor. Prof. Gurung walks around the whole class and shook lectures up with activities, which kept the students awake and alert. In one of my other courses this past semester, my professor just stood in the same spot the whole class, lectured nonstop for the whole hour and twenty-minutes, and whenever I looked around, other students were either dazing off or sleeping. Another thing I learned was that teaching means connecting the material to a students’ own life, not just naming off facts. For instance, with the somatoform disorders I presented, I did not merely present it as a fact that was going to go down in their notes. I wanted to present it as something that they can understand on a deeper level. So, before I began on the material I questioned students about new pains that have developed at the end of the semester, and I also presented a video with a man relatively close to the ages of the students (man had somatoform disorder). Connecting/relating material to students helps them recognize the similarities/differences between them and the material, and how they can relate it to other material. I also learned about how important teacher/student communication is both in and out of class. In class, I learned how to ask and answer questions with students. I also learned about the deep consideration that needs to go into issues outside of class. For example, talking about why students text or skip class, what the punishments should be for cheaters, and even how to get feedback on issues (such as the end-of class questionnaire we created). All student issues, no matter how big or small, deserve to be looked at with the same consideration and fairness.

My reaction to being a TA was at first hesitant, but am now very comfortable and thankful that I had this experience. Facing the students, instead of sitting with them, has helped me see what kind of pressure and dependence students put/have on the professor. Doing a presentation in front of a group of classmates can be nerve-wracking but doable, but being a professor takes a great amount of practice and skill. I believe that being a TA has helped me build on some of my teaching skills that I had weaknesses or little knowledge of (mentioned in the latter paragraph).

I enjoyed being a TA, especially because I got to work with such friendly and supportive member-TAs, as well as a encouraging professor. I only knew one of the TA’s before this semester, and I hardly knew Gurung. Now, I feel like I’ve become good friends with the TAs and can go to Prof. Gurung for advice or to just chat. Each class brought something new to the table and challenged my thinking about teaching in some way. During a lot of classes, I would take little notes on specific things Prof. Gurung did while teaching, and used these for my own teaching experiences and also to better understand how to communicate with others. In the future, I hope to have another TA experience somewhere, to build further on my understanding of and skills in teaching.

The last day of class went by really fast! I think that it was a good idea to start off the class finishing off Freud and then doing the class evaluations. That way, they had the gears going in their minds so they could concentrate more on the answers. Like Prof. Gurung said, it’s good to do different things throughout a class, to keep students’ attention. I also thought it was a really good idea to leave the disorders/therapies until the end of the semester. A lot of times, it’s hard to concentrate at the end of a semester, and doing disorders, which is exciting, def. caught a lot of students’ attentions.

A lot more students attended class the last day than I expected to. In other courses that day, there were sometimes HALF the students that usually attend. I’m not sure what the head count was the last day, but it def. wasn’t bad!

I received the e-mail from prof. Gurung about some of the comments students had about the TAs. I glad that the students thought we did a good job. I’m not sure what the situation was with the Dev. TAs they compared us to. I’ve had TAs in the past that just sit in the front every class, and barely interact/speak to the class. I’m glad that Gurung pushed us to interact with the students and speak in front of them by ourselves. Overall, the last day went well, nothing too crazy, but a good finish to a fun semester! 😀

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. 🙂

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.

Today I hosted Study Tables and one student turned up. She had the study guide with her and a few questions about it. One really cool thing that she told me was that she did not only take notes in class, but she would also take notes from each chapter. I peeked at them, and it looked like she was getting down a good amount of material. It’s good to know that some do read the text! I think that it is important to mention to students that the study guide is just a general guide through “main points” in the material, and that all the material should be looked at before an exam. Too many students that I know tend to live by study guides, and when they are not provided, those students are lost.

Thursday’s class was a bit warm, but the fans did help. Sitting near the back was also alright, because of the open doors. I think that the shock of nice weather has worn off, and more will show up to classes for the remainder of the semester. The sad thing about attendance is that some students just don’t care about coming to classes. If they are tired, they sleep in. If they are hungry,they will eat breakfast. Some things are ok to not care or think too much about, but going to class is something you’re paying for to make a better life. I’m not saying the students who are skipping are ruining their lives. This is just another example of why a student may not come to class.

I hope that students in class who related to the  prejudice/stereotypical material took it well. I caught myself kind of huffing when you were mentioning how “Jesus could have been a woman,” but knew it was for educational purposes, and were not your own views or beliefs.