The first day of classes here was very different because the campus didn't explode with activity the way UT does. As an urban campus, it's never as dead as UT's is during the summer.
My class went well but I only have 5 students. I really wish I had a few more. My colleague Keith said "Enjoy it while it lasts". The cap for all classes is 30 and many have waiting lists (for the syntax class, 20 students were on the waiting list). Prepping my class has been VERY DIFFICULT! I can tell I'm a bit out of my element. Over the years, I've built up a good repertoire of techniques and activities for language classes. But now that I teach content classes, I'm a bit at a loss at how to make class time interesting. I don't want to lecture - after all, the students (should have) read the book to prepare for class. So how do I engage them with the material? I'm gonna have to pick the brains of Millie and Trena a bit.
Next term, I'll be teaching Methods I, which is very different from how I've taught my methods class at UT. So I'm sitting in on it this term. The class meets in one of the sustainable, LEED certified buildings on campus. They collect rain water on the roof to use for the toilets, which is great. But the signs (see picture below) above the toilets are probably unnecessary. I'd hope that would only be an issue for dogs.
2 comments:
I find myself using similar techniques in content classes that I used in language classes - interaction and engagement are interaction and engagement, no matter what the topic, language or content.
My standard teaching approach (which I'm happy to share) may not help much with only 5 students, though, since it may be hard to break 5 students into small(er) groups! Lots of discussion questions, rapport building and active learning techniques may help.
I think the sign over the toilet should read "toilet water do not drink" The rain water is probably ok.
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