Teaching Flashcards
(55 cards)
*How do you feel about teaching large classes? How would you teach it?
They want to know that 1. you get that you will be teaching big survey courses, 2. you get what the discipline expects students to learn in those classes and have a plan to assure students learn it. They want to know that even though they are hiring an expert in the power dynamics of gender on Mars it does not mean you will hijack their Introduction to Anthropology class and teach it through a Martian gender theory lens. In other words, they want to know that you will not take their courses off the rails and leave them with ill-prepared students in their 200 level courses.
HOW I TEACH A SURVEY
Challenge: breath + depth
1. broad coverage of a literary period or history
2. major themes and debates in the field
3. create balance between lecture, discussion, group work
4. match it to the course description
5. teach academic writing to all levels
*Book: Teaching the Literature Survey Course
IMPORTANCE OF A SURVEY
- As a survey, it gives students a broad understanding of a specific literary history
- this is the place to learn the value of literature in society, their daily lives, and future careers
- recruitment: It provides a good foundation for those who will not enter the major. But I believe this is also a crucial stage to inspire students to enter the major
*What is your philosophy of teaching?
STUDENT-CENTERED, LEARNING-CENTERED
- everyone should feel they have something valuable to contribute regardless of their major, level of education, background; not condescending, no talking down; I learn a lot from them, especially when they make connections to social media, sports, music, etc.
- I check their majors and I refer to them occasionally during discussion
MY ROLE AS GUIDE
I guide them and facilitate discussion by giving the tools:
Example: Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
1. techniques of close reading
2. larger historical context (decolonization of the 60s)
3. concepts (different forms of colonialism)
4. genre conventions (postcolonial novels)
HOLISTIC
I understand that students are often dealing with other factors outside of school such as family, jobs, physical and mental health, etc. I make sure to show compassion when these are expressed to me, and I always offer to work with them to complete their work.
To accommodate different economic backgrounds, I try my best to reduce the cost of taking my course. I provide most of the readings and other supplementary materials, I include language in my syllabus offering my assistance if there are issues preventing them from buying the books.
To accommodate different learning backgrounds…I once worked with a first generation transfer student who was struggling a little bit in shifting from the environment of where he came from, which was a technical college, to Clemson. His major concern was writing–a lot of office hours time (he came in often with a draft of his writing)
To accommodate different racial backgrounds…
To accommodate gender differences…
ANTI-RACIST PEDAGOGY
Tools:
1. a list of outdated terms
2. clear definitions of terms
3. histories of concepts:
a) Early American Lit such Edgar Huntly – history of “savage” – noble, brutal
b) revisit the original text where the term “manifest destiny” was coined (John O’Sullivan) – what did he actually say?
c) Alicia Garza’s essay about BLM (#HerStory) – what are the foundational concepts of the movement?
DIVERSE & INTERDISCIPLINARY
- other fields such as history
- media other than written such as film
- larger scholarly debate
- diverse content
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
When I tutored underserved students in Los Angeles, teaching and mentoring are done in tandem
*What do you consider your teaching strengths/weaknesses?
STRENGTH
I’m passionate about teaching and what I teach
I truly want students to succeed and I achieve this through feedback that give meaningful compliment but also pushes for improvement; providing tools such as thesis-writing worksheets and workshops
WEAKNESS
overloading both my syllabi and daily lessons. I divide my courses into sections, and it is always challenging to design the introduction to the section because I tend to pack it with scaffolding and background information.
example: World Lit: “World Ecologies” – Amithav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide; partition of British India into India and Pakistan; I have learned to break them apart into smaller chunks and spread them out throughout the section
*If you have a student who is doing poorly in your class, but has not missed classes and appears to be a good student, what would you do?
I reach out indirectly through my comments in their assignments. I point out aspects that improved since their last assignment as well as aspects that did not. I remind them of previous advice I gave and that they should be followed to improve the current assignment. Lastly, I always end by encouraging them to see me during office hours if they need help, and I name the issues concretely
There is a strong move to infuse interdisciplinary work into the curriculum. With what other disciplines could you work (teach/research)? Have you done such work in the past?
answer
*How would you evaluate student learning?
MEASURE LEARNING:
quizzes: assess knowledge of reading and concepts
papers: apply writing and critical methods learned to a specific text
exams:
GUIDE LEARNING:
rubric, feedback on assignments, advice during office hours
IMPROVE:
mid-term survey, daily feedback
*What is the difference between collaborative and cooperative learning?
collaborative: they create together
cooperative: they learn a concept together
overlaps in benefits: share strengths develop weaknesses accountability deal with conflict
Could you tell us about your teaching experiences?
answer
*How have you used technology in the classroom?
CANVAS: f2f, synchronous, asynchronous
YELLOWDIG: used only during the pandemic
PERUSALL: annotation
VOICETHREAD: remote collaboration and presentation
Canvas: blended format where pre-readings are located, and everything else
*How do you feel about teaching students of mixed abilities?
LEARNING STYLES ADAPTATION visual learners auditory learners body-kinesthetic learners individual learners group learners oral expressive written expressive sequential learner global learner
ADAPTING TO DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES
I am mindful about adapting to different learning styles. My syllabus describes “participation” widely to include speaking and listening as I know some students are more orally expressive and some need more time to think.
I also mix individual and collaborative work. In my writing course, in-class activities include both a chance for students to revise their own work and to engage in a peer-review with others
My lessons combine elements that speak to both visual and auditory learners – PowerPoint, blackboard, handouts, websites + discussion, reports
*If you could teach any course you wanted, what would it be? What would you teach next if you could teach two of them?
“Plot and Plantation”
TOPIC
intersection of Native American and Af Am literatures
settler colonialism, slavery, and futurisms
Blackness and Indigeneity
3 GOALS
1. bring together two fields that are often studied separately
LESSON OF VALUE
ORGANIZATION
Afrofuturism
Indigenous Futurism
TEXTS Samuel Delany Octavia Butler N. K. Jemisin Leslie Marmon Silko Rebecca Roanhorse Film: Wakanda Art: recent exhibit at Institute of American Indian Arts
THEORY
Sylvia Wynter, “Plot and Plantation”
Tiffany Lethabo King, The Black Shoals
Tiya Miles, Ties that Bind
*If you could teach your dream upper level specialty course, what would that be?
Well, you may have noticed the course syllabus that I submitted with my application, for a course on xxxx. [Someone pulls it out of the file, people study it]. Well, as you can see, I focus on ppp and qqq in that course. I’m excited about the course because I think it will have a lot of appeal for students, while also introducing them to some core current debates in our field. Etc.
“Gothic Contamination”
GOALS
1. the social aspect of diseases and their regulations
2. diseases are linked to certain populations
3. what’s wrong with, “the great equalizer” argument?
TEXTS:
Priscilla Wald, Contagious: Cultures, Carriers, and the Outbreak Narrative (2008)
CBB, Ormond (yellow fever)
HIV/AIDS
*What kinds of essays do you want your students to write?
SOLVES A PROBLEM: not settling for pat conclusions but grapples with hard questions. These are what I usually point out in my comments, a question or point that emerges somewhere in the middle of the paper that doesn’t quite fit in the initial argument or that even contradicts the original argument.
EXAMPLE:
How do you feel about teaching [comp, literature]
Teaching both will be good. Teaching literature, I get a sense of should be emphasized in a comp class: some major elements they all share in their writing:
thesis, topic sentence, structure, mechanics
How do you know you’ve been successful in teaching [comp, literature]?
Exams measure students’ ability to define terms, understand basic concepts, recognize relevant examples, and summarize case studies presented throughout the class. Blog posts encourage students to identify examples of course concepts in the world around them and to connect these examples to course themes. By writing multiple posts, students are able to seek feedback and develop this skill over time. The culminating project in the class, an op-ed essay, asks students to use the knowledge and skills gained through the class to construct their own argument and analysis.
COMPOSITION
increasing improvement across stages of revisions
can identify and apply genre conventions
tone, level of formality
portfolio: they and I can see the progress
LITERATURE
close readings are more nuanced
can make connections across the readings
papers contain original ideas and more persuasive analyses
more engaged in the classroom
*How would you teach a major work in your field? (They may name one)
Well, you may have noticed the course syllabus that I submitted with my application, for a course on xxxx. [Someone pulls it out of the file, people study it]. Well, as you can see, I focus on ppp and qqq in that course. I’m excited about the course because I think it will have a lot of appeal for students, while also introducing them to some core current debates in our field. Etc.
Herman Melville, Moby Dick
BODY
Melville’s “corporeal fascinations” (Samuel Otter)
NATURE
environmental text
NATION
WHITENESS
Can you think of a specific example of when a student you were teaching really seemed to learn something that you regarded as worthwhile? Briefly describe what happened. What thing or things did you do that contributed to that student learning? Why, do you think, did these actions of yours work?
answer
*What experiences have you had teaching diverse students? (Well prepared, under prepared, first-generation, low-income, full-time, part-time, students with full-time jobs and/or family care responsibilities, students representing different ethnic groups and races, religions, ages and genders?) What teaching methods have proved effective with such students?
I have taught students who are juggling multiple part-time jobs while being full time students. I have also taught non-traditional students are working full-time in industries. Also first-generation, low-income, and BIPOC students.
KNOW WHO THEY ARE
I look at their majors, I model that I am welcoming and approachable (syllabus, always asking if they have concerns when major things are approaching such as assignment due dates, or a book must be purchased soon)
COURSE DESIGN
- low-stakes, short writing assignment assigned early to see the range of writing skills
- individual feedback on assignments
- required one-on-one meeting for papers
- tools to meet multiple needs: reading guides, thesis-writing worksheets, grading rubric
*Describe your familiarity and experience with different teaching methods such as collaborative learning, learning styles adaptation, and classroom assessment.
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING
Advanced writing course in business writing
1. Final project: business proposal to revive a company/brand in decline
2. It asks them to incorporate what they have learned about the writing process, audience, tone and style, genres of business documents
3. They work as a group to design, write, and present
LEARNING STYLES ADAPTATION
CLASSROOM ASSESSEMENTS
1. background knowledge: short essay at the start of the writing course: they describe their writing style, challenges they face in their writing, pre-conceptions about business writing
2. Yellowdig: has become a way for me to assess their grasp of the materials, questions they have, and what they find interesting. I bring these points up in class discussion or I incorporate them into future lessons
3. Future plan: the “one-minute paper”
*Tell me about your teaching techniques (e.g., group projects, case method, etc.)
LITERATURE
BLENDED (Canvas): hw reading on historical background, author’s background, concepts
LECTURE (PP): highlights from hw, establish links between context and text, explain concepts
GROUP (Google Doc): answer prompt(s)
CLASS (Google Doc, handout, their copy, blackboard): collaborative close reading
READING/WRITING: close reading method, worksheets (thesis, annotated bibliography)
COMPOSITION
- understand how they write (habits, style, s/w)
- first assignment: reflection on how they write
- groundwork: writing process, genres, audience
- in-class workshops: individual & group, peer review
- readings on writing: Ramsdell, Butler, Malcolm X
- final project with presentation:
What is your favorite lecture and why?
answer
What is your favorite theory or theorist to teach?
answer
*How do you motivate your students?
CONTROL: presentations allow them to “teach” a topic they’re interested in
CLARITY: instructions, expectations, frequent reminders of due dates, I often refer back to useful lists I create in the beginning (list of literary devices, list of outdated terms, critical reading strategy, pandemic resources)
COMMUNITY: it’s their course, I place differing thoughts and interpretations in convo with each other (cite student comment about layers)
FEEDBACK & PRAISE
OTHERS: healthy competition through Kahoot games
*How would you encourage your students to major in our field?
RELEVANCE: personal and societal
African American course: they want a better world. Understanding how the world works is the first step to changing it. Literature courses teach critical analysis of both text and world, teaches the ethics of reading and and treating others
UTILITY: writing, critical skills
