Part of what was making me feel so disconnected with my work is the fact that I'm TAing a course that has absolutely nothing to do with my research. Seriously, today I was leading a seminar about Aztecs and explorers. Aztecs! I last learned about explorers when I was in grade 5. And so how am I qualified to teach this?
So, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed and under-qualified. I felt like I hardly understood the readings, and I was dreading how big my seminar group was going to be. How on earth was I going to get these students out of their shells and discussing?
The group seemed a little reserved when I came in, but I seem to always forget that we're all a little reserved when we first meet. But they surprised me when I went around the group at the beginning: name, program, initial thoughts on the readings, and favourite superhero. That "first turn around the group" took up a significant portion of the class time, because they had prepared so heavily for this session that they had a whole bunch of first thoughts. This initial discussion led quite naturally into the discussion questions, and the whole seminar ran itself.
Seriously: I had to make them stop discussing so that we could put the desks away and give the room to the next class. My entire job was to act as traffic cop and make sure everyone had a chance to talk who wanted to talk. I have a tendency of making a check mark every time each student talks, which is how I discovered that nearly every one of my 26 students volunteered something.
I'd forgotten that nothing gets me more inspired than my students being excited about history.
3 comments:
That is SO COOL.
You should tell the class how much the Aztecs had to pay for sugar beets.
How much did they have to pay? It's great when students don't need you, isn't it? I kind of like TAing stuff that isn't related to my research, I learn so much more that way.
Post a Comment