What I really liked from Marsha’s article that I see is an effective way to engage students in the material presented was by allowing them to participate in letting their voices be heard through their intellectual autobiographies as well as generate their own exam questions. I believe that by taking the approach in making it all about the students was effective in that it encouraged students to participate, boost their self-confidence in this particular area and challenged them as students in critical and analytical thinking.
For instance, I remember my junior year in high school, my teacher made a similar approach in that she asked us something about ourselves, which I liked because it showed that she was putting in the effort in trying to get to know me. In addition, I felt like to her we weren’t just students but young adults. For instance, in class we would hold discussions on the text rather than just jotting down notes and being expected to know and understand the material. And when we did not understand something, she had no problem in breaking the passage down for us and going over it while asking for our opinions on what we thought. I enjoyed being in her class because I felt like I was a part of something and that it was my class, my teacher and I all learning the material together which, encouraged me to be more active in class and feel like I actually got something out of it.
Comments
teaching as intellectual curiosity [1]
What an exciting shift! I hear in what you write here a sense of the possibility at the heart of teaching.
I never thought of teaching [2]
I never thought of teaching as a possible career path for myself. However, something seemed to shift for me last thursday. I think it had to do with part of our discussion about teaching as an intellectual discourse. True teaching as I see it, is for those who have a passion to grow and learn and inquiry as they help their students navigate life. Teaching does not have to be a hopeless cycle, because if you effect change on just one individual it becomes worth it. The chair excersise made me realize this fact. While the system may seem hopeless, teachers still have such a large effect on us regardless if they started a revolution. I think this question, if what you are doing can really change anything has really held me back from many pursuits in my life; however with teaching, I don't feel that the pursuit of it to help students is fake or superficial or worthless (which I have about other opportunities and programs). I think Marsha Pincus and the class discussion has made me see an alternative side to teaching and education that additionally gives me hope for the future. In my life I hope to never lose my intellectual curiousity, and if I choose to teach, it does not mean I have lost this.