My Teaching Goals and Plans

I have never formally taught a class before. I’ve been a TA for two college classes and a third-grade class, I’ve facilitated discussion groups, been a tour guide, a tutor in many subjects, and co-led a creative writing after school program for middle school students (although almost nothing was actually accomplished besides having fun in that last one). Oh, and I definitely taught my little brother how to read and do arithmetic. My point is, I’ve been an educator of one kind of another many times in my life, but I’ve never been responsible for running an entire classroom on my own before. But I will next semester! And then maybe I’ll be a professor some day? It’s an option. But even if I don’t become a professor, educating others is a part of of many jobs, not to mention life. So here is a categorized bullet list of things I want to incorporate into my teaching:

Big-Picture Things

• I want to be intentional about what I want students to get from the class, and structure the class accordingly. I want my class to be helpful/meaningful for them in some way, whether that be in learning some specific knowledge, developing skills, gaining the ability to think about things from different perspectives, etc. I want to focus on these goals: I would rather prioritize a few key topics than try to shallowly cover lots of material.
• Seymour Papert says, in “Yearners and Schoolers,” “Geometry is not there for being learned. It is there for being used.” I like this perspective and want to keep it in mind when developing my class materials. I hope to structure my class so that students aren’t wondering why they need to “know this stuff.” I want to have the “why” built directly into the material itself.

Day to Day Classroom Stuff

• Tell students ahead of time what to expect in class. If we are having a big discussion next week for example, I want them to know about it. I want my syllabus to be as clear as possible. As a student (and a person), I like to be as prepared as possible so I will give my students that opportunity.
• Break the class up by having some lecturing, some group discussion, some bigger class discussion, videos, etc.

Physical / Emotional Aspects of My Teaching

• I won’t be very formal with my students. I don’t think I could be if I tried. I will be approachable, and smile, and encourage them to be brave in the classroom. When I think back to the teachers I liked the best and felt most comfortable around, they were the ones that weren’t overly “popular” or “fun,” but still had a friendly, informal approach in the classroom.
• Sarah E. Deel in “Finding my teaching voice” mentions that she acknowledges to her students when assignments might seem “silly” to them. I like this approach. I always appreciated when teachers would acknowledge when certain things would be silly, or tedious, or difficult. A statement like “I know this may seem ___ to some of you, but it’s important because ____.” was always appreciated.
• Be physically energetic in the classroom. This is brought up by Shelli Fowler in “The Authentic Teaching Self and Communication Skills.” I have noticed that it’s easier to pay attention to teachers and presenters when they move around the room.
• Dress sharply. I am very short and people sometimes think I’m a teenager. I may have to dress more professionally than other professors in order to stand apart from the college students.
• I have a really quiet voice. I’m going to need to work hard at amplifying! This may be a struggle for me.

I’m sure I’ll come up with more ideas about how I want to be as a teacher but this is what I have for now!