eportfolio update

My eportfolio is almost done! Unfortunately, the University only gives us 450 KB ( I've written sentences that were larger than 400KB!) for our websites, so the ridiculous amount of PDFS I wanted to use will have to find another home or be converted to images and HTML. I should really just buy webspace from laughingsquid, I just need to come up with a domain name.

Library Instruction, Round Two.

Today I watched one section of an anthropology class and taught the other. I created the lesson plan for the two sections. Nothing went as planned; in hindsight, I really should have offered to instruct the class with more freshmen and sophomores rather than the class with upperclassmen. The class with freshmen and sophomores were forgiving and engaged. The class I taught just wanted to go home and-more importantly- go on spring break.

I feel like I'm starting to get the beginnings of teaching voice, but that I'm still too casual. I'm still on the level of peer rather than instructor. I've also got too much of my retail training in me. Teaching is about conveying information whethere the recipient enjoys it or not. In retail, it's all about pleasing the customer. Although I suppose either way, you don't want to turn off your audience entirely.

I forgot to tell them certain things, so I was glad Barbara was there to swoop in and make things clearer. There's really no consistent category of information that I forgot. In one case it was defining my terms, in another case it was a larger concept they needed to keep in mind. I think I was nervous and I think I needed to think through the lesson plan more and further in advance to be as thorough as possible.

B. says I'm better when I talk randomly than when I'm trying to remember stuff. I'm sure, eventually, I will get a better hold on all of this and be able to go with the flow like she does.Teaching is really a kind of performance; a ritual act. Once one knows the lines and understands the concepts, one can truly convey the meaning behind them with convincing sincerity.

My next class is on the 23rd. I'll be planning and teaching another Speech class with V.

Problem Based Learning.

On Thursday, I sat in on B.'s class where she used Problem Based Learning. She had let me be a part of the planning stages. First she studied the assignment and identified the task at hand. Then she created goals and objectives for the class. After that, she researched which databases and books would be most helpful. I also accompanied her while she visited the classes

Because the point of PBL is to get students to use what they already know to learn what they need to learn, the teacher can't do alot of lecturing and hand-holding, which is the traditional approach to teaching. In PBL, the teacher acts as a guiding force. They are the authority, they use socratic methods, they are commanding, guiding and challenging. Unfortunately, in PBL it is very easy for the teacher to become demeaning, condescending, obscure, and bullying.

A teacher engaged in PBL has to be very attuned to the state of the students and how to draw out their knowledge. This class wasn't terribly responsive (I don't blame them, it was 8:00 in the morning). B. did alot of looking at the list of students and calling on people by name. I don't think that's what I would have done, but it's better than the "Hey-you" approach.

What I like about PBL is that it really emphasizes that research is individual but involves learning from others.