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...Home > Services > Newsletter > Lizard Index > 2002-2003 Issues > TEP asked new GTFs—How was the first week?

TEP asked new GTFs—How was the first week?

• It was a lot of fun- the students asked interesting questions, and I was able to explain and rephrase concepts in a way that they understood. I diagrammed, waved my arms, and then the lights went on. It was a good feeling to know that I am actually helping people.
  
• As I stepped up to welcome 50 first-year students to their first university-level academic course, I remembered what Dr. Glaser in my Leadership and Communication course said "Use Your Juice." This theory of transforming anxiety into constructive public-speaking energy actually proved useful, and I was able to let myself enjoy the unique experience of creating a positive classroom atmosphere.
  
• My first week as a GTF was pretty uneventful. My class is an upper division lecture of 135 students - no sections or discussion groups. I've only interacted with half dozen students, and none came by for my office hours. I expect things to pick up next week, with a paper due at then end of the week.
  
• I feel like I'm getting on well with the professor for the class. I translated his pre-existing class web site into Blackboard, and I hope we'll maker use of the communications and grading functions of Blackboard throughout the term. I owe a big debt of gratitude to Tara Stark, who worked one-on-one with me to show me how to edit HTML and bring it into Blackboard. With Tara's help, the project was surprisingly easy.
  
• I'm looking forward to a few hours of peace over the weekend. Things get serious this coming week.
  
• It went quite well, but I would discourage instructors from using the phrase "you don't have to come to lab sections", as this does not always facilitate responsible behavior on the student side.
  
• It's a lot of responsibility. And I don't necessarily mean preparing for lectures. I mean preparing for good insightful lectures.
  
• This is my main thought about the position of teacher. Specifically for this week, I'd say:
  Things are going (just) a bit smoother than I feared.
  
• My first week of teaching was a little rocky, but I was really glad to have attended the teaching effectiveness seminar. I ended up using activities that we learned about in the seminar, and I felt pretty prepared.
  
• The most helpful thing I learned in the (teacher training) course was just to be in the classroom before the class started. I was able to meet students one by one, and this made the class more comfortable for everyone involved.
  
• To tell you the truth, the first week went better than I thought. This however is not saying much, I thought of the worst possible scenario, which would be long periods of silence and the students gaping at me with a what-are-you-doing-here look or them not participating because they thought the exercise was dumb. The exercise I thought of actually took up most of the time and students, I think, enjoyed it
  a bit.
  
• Beginnings teacher trainings was so wonderful and gave me so many useful ideas and tools that really helped. I made the same name tags for my class and they responded well to it (some turned them around and wrote alternate names like Batman on them). I did not stick to my outline of what I needed to go over that day because I was so nervous! So my statement would include that it was scary and nerve wracking, but not so bad after I got started and the next class was even less stressful. It still makes me nervous though.
  
• My first week teaching was scary but wonderful. All it took was two classes to validate why I gave up a 15 year career to come back for my PhD.
  
• After going to the wrong classroom and running across campus I finally made it to my first discussion group! By the end of the week and four discussion groups later, I think that I have a grasp on teaching. I just dread the student that likes to stump the teacher!!!
  
• Instead of having the problem of under planning, I actually had the problem of over planning! Yes we planned way too much stuff! The second day, I only got through 1/4 of what we had intended to do, which could be another frustrating aspect as well. I've also realized how important the first week is in regards to creating the class environment.
  
• By the end of my first week, it felt like three weeks had gone by already. I did not realize how stressed I had been all week until Friday evening came around. Thankfully, it all went smoothly!

 

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