Wednesday evening I received an e-mail from a student that I had spoke with before class… she e-mailed asking a question about learn smart – and I KNEW THE ANSWER!!! I was so excited and eager to answer, that I’m almost positive my over a paragraph response was a bit of overkill, but I wanted to be extra thorough. Whether or not the response was overkill, I went to bed feeling pretty darn good.
Thursday was met with more questions from students during the group activity, all of which I knew the answer to, but tried not to give it away. When a student asked if the reason Chmura sexually assaulted the 17yr old girl was biological or behavioral, I answered with, “It depends on what explanation you think is correct, do you think he did it because or an excess of testosterone or because he learned to behave that way?” I feel like that didn’t lay it out, but I think I may have gotten a little carried away with the answer. I wish I would have said, “It depends on why you think he did it.” But I feel like if I would have answered with that then those students wouldn’t have thought I wasn’t very intelligent. It is a difficult balance to strike, but I have a feeling it just takes time.
During Thursday’s class I sat in the back of the classroom, which was definitely a different perspective to take! I felt like the excitement level about the material wasn’t as high as it was on the first day, but still for the most part I felt like the students were paying attention for the majority of class. Once Dr. Gurung stated that they should write down notes in their own words rather than frantically copy notes from the power point it seemed as though students were more active with their note taking. An especially entertaining part of class that helped lighten the mood of the class room to take a mental break from everything was the part of class where Dr. Gurung tested sensitivity on one of the students. I think these activities where we take a break from just straight up lecturing students are much more attentive afterwards there are more heads up, and less fidgeting afterwards.
Overall, aside from nearly tripping on the stairs in my still unfamiliar heels, all was very exciting the second day of class. I think the most exciting part was getting to answer questions about psychology.
Outside of class I’ve been reading the Teaching Tips book, and I just finished reading about a really fascinating topic. Student growth over the course of their college career. It dawned on me, not only how much my critical thinking skills have changed over the past 2 and a half years, but that this course will affect not only the students GPAs but their life. This course will help them develop not only as students or as future professionals, but as people. I know it’s true. But how? And what can the professor do to help ensure this, and what can I do as a TA to help ensure that development is fostered? I look back and I can’t pin point any one class or professor that helped me make the transition from high-school graduate to college student. I know the transition happened, but how? Is it one course or all combined? Can it be one course? Would this development happen naturally with time? Does it depend on the subject? A fascinating thought process that really had me wondering about this class and how it is/will affect the students.
Until next week!