Lecture Verdict
My lecture went great! My fellow Hitchcock TAs were there, Casey peeked in for the middle half hour (which made me feel awesome and a lot more confident), and Robert stopped by to check it out as well. They all told me it went really well, and Casey called to say that it was great and that I didn't say "umm" between points! (I replaced "umm" in my brain with either a pause to collect my thoughts or an "and" to connect them.) I was a bit nervous, especially when my technology wasn't cooperating right away, but once I got my document up, everything went really smoothly. I cut out the info on mathematical, astronomical, and medicinal advances by Arabic scholars for time, but that's OK because as TAs we each reviewed Islamic scientific strides in discussion sections today.
Later this evening, Dan told me again that it went really well. He didn't have to do that, so I am taking that as sincere. Apparently he talked about my lecture in his discussion group, and said students had good comments. They liked that I put the key terms up on the projector in an organized way. They also liked that I presented the history as a narrative. That makes me feel awesome, cause when you're giving SO much information, it definitely runs the risk of feeling like a list of facts. I was worried about that, but apparently they felt I had presented it in a cohesive narrative fashion! That makes me so happy. Apparently Dan also asked them if there was anything that they felt I could have done better, so that when he gives his lecture he knows what of what I did works, and what didn't work so well. He told them repeatedly that he wouldn't tell me if they had any criticisms so they could tell him openly what they didn't like. And NO ONE raised their hand! Dan even prompted them by asking "Did you feel like it was too much info? like information overload?" and they all just shook their heads and seemed cool with it. I'm so glad he told me all of his students' reactions. It made me feel really confident and happy with the work I'd put into the lecture.
I also loved that today, in discussion, the students were able to answer every question when I drilled them with vocab terms from my lecture that afternoon. I threw candy to students who participated, cause it's Halloween week! It was a really successful discussion section. I really enjoy working with my students.
Later this evening, Dan told me again that it went really well. He didn't have to do that, so I am taking that as sincere. Apparently he talked about my lecture in his discussion group, and said students had good comments. They liked that I put the key terms up on the projector in an organized way. They also liked that I presented the history as a narrative. That makes me feel awesome, cause when you're giving SO much information, it definitely runs the risk of feeling like a list of facts. I was worried about that, but apparently they felt I had presented it in a cohesive narrative fashion! That makes me so happy. Apparently Dan also asked them if there was anything that they felt I could have done better, so that when he gives his lecture he knows what of what I did works, and what didn't work so well. He told them repeatedly that he wouldn't tell me if they had any criticisms so they could tell him openly what they didn't like. And NO ONE raised their hand! Dan even prompted them by asking "Did you feel like it was too much info? like information overload?" and they all just shook their heads and seemed cool with it. I'm so glad he told me all of his students' reactions. It made me feel really confident and happy with the work I'd put into the lecture.
I also loved that today, in discussion, the students were able to answer every question when I drilled them with vocab terms from my lecture that afternoon. I threw candy to students who participated, cause it's Halloween week! It was a really successful discussion section. I really enjoy working with my students.