Observation Notes:
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week 5: reflection from Teaching LogWeek 5: Class Observation
Getting the chance to observe another professional writing program was really amazing because it not only gave me a little insight into the work of another 388V UTA, but it also was helpful with putting the course I TA for into perspective. I have become so used to my course that I TA for, so sometimes I find myself being stuck when it comes to looking a the material in a different way. One of the things that was really helpful with my observation was being able to simply introduce some new ideas into my semi-constructed teaching canon. I was lucky that I got to see Halli do a lesson plan, which was helpful for me to see how other UTA's structure and conduct their lessons. Plus, she did a great job! On the day I came, she taught a lesson on how to incorporate stronger and more active verbs into their writing. Even though this is not necessarily something I would have focused on in my own class, I did find it helpful for crafting future lesson plans. During this lesson plan, she had her students do a quick writing activity. What I really liked about this was that she really asked her students to do more creative writing rather than doing a reflective free write or something directly related to an upcoming assignment. I tend to focus my lessons on assignments that are coming up, but what I really liked about Halli's was that she structured her more around writing. By asking her students to do a creative writing activity, it forced them to really apply the kinds of writing techniques that she stressed in her presentations. Another part of this class observations that was interesting to me was just seeing how different the various professional writing classes are. They obviously differ in content, but it is even more interesting to take note on the differences in the atmosphere, style, and student-teacher relationships that form in the classroom. For one thing, this class is in a digital classroom (computers around the room, with a table in the middle), which I think made the class feel a little closer because they sat around the table in the middle. My class is set up in the traditional way, with the professor standing in the front and the students facing the front. What I think is interesting about the way that this classes room was set up was that I think it attempted to set up a space for discussion where there was not much of it. After Halli's lesson, the professor led the rest of class. It was not very common for the students to engage in discussion, and the only time they really maximized their class set up was when they split off into groups for an assignment. After doing this observation, I have tried to not only be more aware of my own class and how it is conducted, but also tried to pay more attention in all of my classes to get inspiration and learn more about what I think are some of the most effective teaching techniques. |