A grad school update!
Well, I've survived a full three weeks of grad school, and I'm really starting to get into the flow of things here. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. It's not that I've been too busy to do it - I've just been busy enough that it slipped my mind. Funny how things work like that.
Teaching has been going very well, and it seems like I've gotten more comfortable with it each week. This also might be because I like the material covered in the first few chapters (research methods, biological psychology, attention) more than the very first chapter (basic intro and history of psychology). I've successfully written, administered, and graded a few quizzes, which the students did fairly well on. The quiz from Monday was not quite as good (average of about 6.5/10 instead of the usual 7 or 7.5), but that's because it was mostly on the biological psychology material, which most students find the hardest: neuron communication, brain functioning, and all that good stuff. I personally loved it, but I'm biased because I got a minor in neuroscience and almost pursued a career in psychiatry or neurology.
I am realizing more and more that, unlike many other TAs, I'm really trying to go out of my way to do everything I can for the students who aren't getting the material at all. I write notes on the quizzes of every student who scores very poorly to please contact me if I can help them in some way. I am proud of those students who just "get" the material and ace the quizzes, but in all honesty, they don't really need my help. I am instead trying to motivate the students who don't care to put more effort into the class. Who knows how much it's paying off. The first exam is on Friday, which is usually when people start to realize they need to try - but I'm also worried it will be when some students feel overwhelmed by the material and give up on themselves. Teaching has definitely helped me feel more patience for students, even when I get emails with class-related questions that I already answered explicitly in class multiple times. Some of the other TAs complain about their students doing things like that, but it just seems to inspire me to try harder to make the information more clear to them.
My own classes are going fairly well, although I haven't had an exam in any of them yet, so it's hard to gauge more objectively how well it really is going. I got my first stats assignment back and surprisingly did somewhat poor on it, but in reviewing my work, it seems like I understood the concepts and just didn't read some of the questions closely enough. (That, and it seems the TA who graded it is much more strict on grading than most.) I still have this intrinsic motivation to excel in my classes, but I've relaxed more and more about grades because I realized I'm here to learn valuable career-related skills. If I didn't try as hard, my clients and students would be affected more than I; that's motivation enough to work harder.
On a side note, my first stats homework was on stem-and-leaf plots and frequency plots. I learned these stupid things in elementary school and haven't used one since! Who the hell cares about them? And I lost a tenth of the possible points because I drew a histogram instead of a frequency plot. A histogram is a type of frequency plot! WTF?
< /rant >
In about two weeks, I have to run a complete intelligence assessment test on a child. As in, I need to sit down with someone between 7 - 15 and run a full IQ test. Personally, I think this is the coolest thing ever. And I'm not allowed to tell you anything else about it because it would be unethical, so all you get to do is wonder what it's like and be jealous of me. Mwahaha!
...In all seriousness, though, these tests are kind of a pain to administer. They take several hours, there are a whole bunch of strict rules I need to follow, and I'm only allowed to say scripted phrases. I'm not even allowed to nod or say "OK" in response to a child's answers. That's going to be really hard.
In non-school related news, I've managed to make several new friends through some great hobbies that I've stuck with since last year. I went to fencing club and joined because it was really awesome. There are advanced lessons from 9-11 pm every Tuesday (I'm actually leaving in about an hour), and I can go to free fencing on Friday from 6-8 pm. However, I won't be going on Friday because David and I found a D&D play group here in town! We basically posted our names and contact info at the game store in DeKalb, and a few weeks later we managed to meet several other people who were interested in joining us. We had a get-together last Friday to get to know each other, talk about the plans for the campaign, and build characters. I'm really excited to get started with that.
I decided to start attending Hillcrest Covenant Church in DeKalb, the second one I went to after moving here. The people seemed nice and friendly, and they have a church choir that sings every other Sunday. I wasn't able to go this past weekend because I wasn't feeling well, but I'm going to take my family there this upcoming weekend (because they're visiting for the weekend!), so that should be fun. I will probably talk to someone about joining the choir at some point, which would be really neat.
So basically, everything in Illinois is going splendid so far. I got paid again today, which is awesome - I've completely paid off my credit card, all of my bills are paid through mid-October, and I still have some money left over. The apartment is still great. I actually printed some digital pictures of friends and some of the places I've been, and put them in the Ikea frames I bought a few weeks ago. They look so cool!
I'm going to go work on a few more random errands before fencing. I hope you are having a great week as well! Stay healthy, have fun, and take care.
Teaching has been going very well, and it seems like I've gotten more comfortable with it each week. This also might be because I like the material covered in the first few chapters (research methods, biological psychology, attention) more than the very first chapter (basic intro and history of psychology). I've successfully written, administered, and graded a few quizzes, which the students did fairly well on. The quiz from Monday was not quite as good (average of about 6.5/10 instead of the usual 7 or 7.5), but that's because it was mostly on the biological psychology material, which most students find the hardest: neuron communication, brain functioning, and all that good stuff. I personally loved it, but I'm biased because I got a minor in neuroscience and almost pursued a career in psychiatry or neurology.
I am realizing more and more that, unlike many other TAs, I'm really trying to go out of my way to do everything I can for the students who aren't getting the material at all. I write notes on the quizzes of every student who scores very poorly to please contact me if I can help them in some way. I am proud of those students who just "get" the material and ace the quizzes, but in all honesty, they don't really need my help. I am instead trying to motivate the students who don't care to put more effort into the class. Who knows how much it's paying off. The first exam is on Friday, which is usually when people start to realize they need to try - but I'm also worried it will be when some students feel overwhelmed by the material and give up on themselves. Teaching has definitely helped me feel more patience for students, even when I get emails with class-related questions that I already answered explicitly in class multiple times. Some of the other TAs complain about their students doing things like that, but it just seems to inspire me to try harder to make the information more clear to them.
My own classes are going fairly well, although I haven't had an exam in any of them yet, so it's hard to gauge more objectively how well it really is going. I got my first stats assignment back and surprisingly did somewhat poor on it, but in reviewing my work, it seems like I understood the concepts and just didn't read some of the questions closely enough. (That, and it seems the TA who graded it is much more strict on grading than most.) I still have this intrinsic motivation to excel in my classes, but I've relaxed more and more about grades because I realized I'm here to learn valuable career-related skills. If I didn't try as hard, my clients and students would be affected more than I; that's motivation enough to work harder.
On a side note, my first stats homework was on stem-and-leaf plots and frequency plots. I learned these stupid things in elementary school and haven't used one since! Who the hell cares about them? And I lost a tenth of the possible points because I drew a histogram instead of a frequency plot. A histogram is a type of frequency plot! WTF?
< /rant >
In about two weeks, I have to run a complete intelligence assessment test on a child. As in, I need to sit down with someone between 7 - 15 and run a full IQ test. Personally, I think this is the coolest thing ever. And I'm not allowed to tell you anything else about it because it would be unethical, so all you get to do is wonder what it's like and be jealous of me. Mwahaha!
...In all seriousness, though, these tests are kind of a pain to administer. They take several hours, there are a whole bunch of strict rules I need to follow, and I'm only allowed to say scripted phrases. I'm not even allowed to nod or say "OK" in response to a child's answers. That's going to be really hard.
In non-school related news, I've managed to make several new friends through some great hobbies that I've stuck with since last year. I went to fencing club and joined because it was really awesome. There are advanced lessons from 9-11 pm every Tuesday (I'm actually leaving in about an hour), and I can go to free fencing on Friday from 6-8 pm. However, I won't be going on Friday because David and I found a D&D play group here in town! We basically posted our names and contact info at the game store in DeKalb, and a few weeks later we managed to meet several other people who were interested in joining us. We had a get-together last Friday to get to know each other, talk about the plans for the campaign, and build characters. I'm really excited to get started with that.
I decided to start attending Hillcrest Covenant Church in DeKalb, the second one I went to after moving here. The people seemed nice and friendly, and they have a church choir that sings every other Sunday. I wasn't able to go this past weekend because I wasn't feeling well, but I'm going to take my family there this upcoming weekend (because they're visiting for the weekend!), so that should be fun. I will probably talk to someone about joining the choir at some point, which would be really neat.
So basically, everything in Illinois is going splendid so far. I got paid again today, which is awesome - I've completely paid off my credit card, all of my bills are paid through mid-October, and I still have some money left over. The apartment is still great. I actually printed some digital pictures of friends and some of the places I've been, and put them in the Ikea frames I bought a few weeks ago. They look so cool!
I'm going to go work on a few more random errands before fencing. I hope you are having a great week as well! Stay healthy, have fun, and take care.