Spring new educators orientation

MyTeachingJourney:ThereandBackAgain

AProfessor’sTalefortheSpringNewEducatorsOrientation

LauraAlbertMcLayAssociateProfessor

[email protected]

@lauramclayhttps://punkrockor.com

Overview

IamgoingtotalkaboutmyjourneyfromapainfullyshyTAtoaprofessorwhoiscomfortableintheclassroomandwhentalkingtothemediaaboutresearchontheeveningnews.

Topicsinclude• WhatIwishIknewwhenIwasstartingtoteach• Tipsformanagingstudentexpectations• Activelearningtechniques• Timemanagement

Don’tworry!I’llleavetimeforquestions

WhatIwishIknewwhenIwasstartingtoteach

Ittakes5-10yearstobeagreatteacher

Goal:workonmakingafewimprovementseachsemester

TherearemanywaystobeaneffectiveinstructorAndintrovertscanbegoodatteaching!Findawaythatworksforyouandfeelsauthentictoyou

Teachinginvolvesalotofstorytelling

Studentevaluationsarenotstronglycorrelatedwiththequalityofyourteachingorlearning

• Itisapopularitycontest• Theyareaffectedbythingsoutsideyourcontrol• Studentsgenerallyprefer“easy”classes• Therearebiases

http://benschmidt.org/profGender/

Letsomethingsgo

…andgoeasyonyourself

Managingexpectationsiskey

Waystomanageexpectations

• Setupexpectationsonthefirstdayandinthesyllabus• Tellstudentsifitisahardclass• Warnstudentswhensomethinghardorunexpectediscomingup

• Donotmakesuddenturnsduringthesemester• Amplewarningmakesforfewerunpleasantsurprises

• Usethefirstfewminutesofeachclasstoremindstudentswhatyoudidlasttimeandtellthemthegoalforclassandforthesemester• Remindstudentsalongthewayhowfaryou’vecome• Remindstudentsthatyouareitintogether• Handoutgradingrubricsbeforepresentationsorprojectreportsaredue

HereisanexampleIusetoencouragestudentstonotchecktheircellphonesduringclass

Activelearningtechniquesandeasywaystoteachwithtechnology

Embraceawkwardsilences

Inclassexamplesgiveyouthealotofbangforyourbuck

Sidebenefits:• Youfigureoutwhatthestudentsdonotknow• Yougettoknowthestudents• Theactivitiesmimicexamquestionssostudentscanprepforexams(and

youmanageexpectations!)

Easyandeffectiveideasthathaveworkedforme

• MostlylecturethefirsttimeIteachacourse• Transitionmoreofthematerialtoactivelearningeverysemester

• Homework0forreviewingbackgroundmaterialinsteadofboringlecturescoveringbackgroundmaterial• Recordaudioforinstructions,explanations,recapofalecture,etc.• Recordvideo(screenshot)oflecturerecap/softwaredemo

• Jing,Camtasia,etc.• Takescreenshotsforstepbystepinstructionsofhowtodosomethingusingthecoursesoftware• Handouts!

• Googledocsforshareddataandcollaboration• In-classpolls/votingwithhands,clickers,orcellphones• Exampleswherestudentsgeneratedata(dice,M&Ms,etc.)• Askstudentstocomeupwithexamplesofwhentheywouldapplyamethodortheory

Sharefunarticlesandnewswithstudents

Example:https://punkrockor.com/2015/11/11/engineering-systems-critical-infrastructure-and-logistics/

Showashortvideoduringclass

Whatnottodothefirsttime*

• Fliptheclassroom• Courseblog,wherestudentswriteandcomment• Elaboratesemester-longprojectdonecollaborativelywithstudents• Havestudentsdevelopandpresentmaterial• Anythingthatisnotthenormorthatcouldbackfire

WHY??• Morework(a60-90minuteMOOClecturerequiresTWOFULLDAYSofprep)• Hardertomanageexpectations• Mustfrontloadthecourseprep• Youcandothesethingsnexttime.Rememberthatittakes5-10yearstobeagreatteacher?

*Unlessyouaregivenatemplateandmentoringfordoingso

Timemanagementtips

Therearetwobasicrulesfortimemanagement:Dolessordoitfaster

• Therearenorealtricks• Learnhowtosayno

Maketimefortheimportantbutnoturgentthings(yourresearch!)

• “BigRocksFirst”managementstrategy• Getthingsdonebeforedeadlines• Getsleepsoyoucanfocusonimportanttasks• Youwon’tmagicallyhavemoretimeinthefuture—don’tkeepputtingthingsonyourschedulefornextweek

IMPORTANT NOTIMPORTANT

URGENT URGENT/IMPORTANT

URGENT/NOT IMPORTANT

NOT URGENT NOTURGENT/IMPORTANT

NOTURGENT/NOT IMPORTANT

Parkinson’sLaw:WorkexpandstofillthetimeavailableProtip:setdeadlinesandgivetaskslesstime

Corollary:youshouldhavealife!

Myfriend,thatisapint!

Timemanagementtipsfromafriend

• Youhavealreadyhad15-20yearsofeducation,duringwhichyouhavehadplentyofexamplesofgoodandbadteachingtolearnfrom.Emulatethegoodthings.• Avoidemailfromstudentsexceptatsettimes• Onlyhandleit(email,etc.)once• Overprepare forexams• Returnallassignmentsinaweek• Maketheclassrooma“safeplace”foraskingquestions(don’tbeintimidating,embraceawkwardpauses)• Keepacalendar• Acceptthatyou’dliketospendmoretimeonteachingbutyouhavetosetreasonablelimits

Youwillgetsomewell-meaningbutbadadvicealongtheway

“Thereisonlyonewaytobeagoodinstructorandit’smyway!”

Betteranswer:therearemanygoodwaystobeaninstructor.Yourideaisgood,butI’dpreferamenuofideasandchoosewhatworkforme.

“Justbeyourself”

Butthisis me!

Betteranswer:Ittookmeawhiletobecomfortableinfrontofalargeclassroom.Thatisnormal.

“Justrelaxanditwillallfallintoplace”Thisiscodefor:don’tbeintroverted!

Betteranswersabouthowtorelax:• Fakeituntilyoumakeit!• Chatwithstudentsbeforeclass• Smiletoeverystudentwhoasksyouaquestion• Emulatepeoplethatyouaspiretoteachlikewhoarelikeyou

Relaxanyway!

(Bilboisalwaysmorerelaxedafterclass)

Ieventuallyfoundmygrooveintheclassroomandevenlearnedhowtotalktothemedia!

Inthenews!

31https://punkrockor.com/in-the-news/

CONFESSION!Ittookmeawhiletodosomethingseffectively

• Notfeellikeafraudinfrontoftheclassroom• Answerquestionsinawaythatwasn’toverthestudents’heads• Notgetdefensiveinclasswhensomeonedidsomethingrude• Berelaxedandconfidentwhendealingwithdemandingstudents• Becomfortableenoughtotellajokeinfrontofaclassandownit• LearnthatcutecatpictureswillgetstudentstopayattentionJ

Takeawaysforstartingyourteachingjourney

1. Therearemanywaystobeagoodinstructor2. Manageexpectations!

• Startwiththesyllabusandcoursepolicies• Conveyexpectations/whereyouaregoingeveryclass• Bigimpactontheclassroomwithlittleeffort

3. Prioritize!• Trythingsthatareeasytoprepwithahighpayoff• Setlimitsandmaketimeforresearch• Savesometeachingideasfornexttime

4. Ifyou’renotanaturalatspeakinginfrontofalargegroupofpeople• Fakeituntilyoumakeit

5. Bepatientandunderstandingwithyourself…

6.Whatworkedformemaynotbetrueforyou

You’llsurvive,Ipromise!

Formorereading

• http://punkrockor.com/2014/04/18/time-management-tips-for-assistant-professors-and-everyone/• https://punkrockor.com/2014/01/27/how-college-is-like-choosing-between-going-to-the-movies-and-watching-netflix/• https://punkrockor.com/2016/04/21/what-i-do-for-diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-classroom/• https://punkrockor.com/2016/04/29/teaching-hack-student-moderators-for-in-class-presentations/• https://punkrockor.com/2012/02/29/the-flipped-classroom/• https://punkrockor.com/2015/11/11/engineering-systems-critical-infrastructure-and-logistics/

Thank youforlistening!

GotopunkrockOR.com forslidesofthispresentation