[NOTE: This entry was almost complete as of Feb 5, 2010. It's been cleaned up a little bit but as to not mislead you, my fellow RaUMer, I have decided to not post-date it back to early February. I hope it was worth the wait.]
This Spring 2010 semester at QC, I'm co-teaching a stats class for the first time ever. I still have my own stats class which I teach in the evening. A week before the start of the Spring semester, I was offered the opportunity to take over 2 lab sections for a massive lecture class taught by Joanne Miller. It took a little bit of luck and a right-place/right-time convergence of circumstances to get me in the office of the chair of the Sociology department. It turns out the original instructor, who I went to grad school with, had decided to quit her teaching gig when she was offered a full time job at a market research firm. This left Prof. Miller without a lab instructor for 2 of her sections. The chair offered me the chance to take over the lab sections and get a little extra compensation for agreeing to it on such short notice.
Dr. Miller is the head stats instructor for the department and though she has been away for personal reasons (medical leave) for the better part of last two years, she's back in full force. I've actually worked for her before but not in this capacity. She teaches in a large lecture hall on Tuesdays to over 150 students. On Thursdays, the class gets split up into sections of approximately 20 students to do lab work which requires them to perform data analysis using real data collected from U.S. residents.
On my first meeting with the second lab class of the day, Prof Miller stopped by unexpectedly. She had some things she wanted to discuss with me but she took advantage of her time in the classroom to see me in action. I was nervous because although I've worked with her before I was never a peer. I took the same approach during this unofficial observation as I've done during my previous two observations, I focused on the material I was covering that day and tried to figure out how I can get my students to learn.
After class, as she approached me, I expected to get some constructive criticism on how I could have taught the class better. I was looking forward to getting her feedback since she has decades of experience and has, perhaps, "seen it all". Instead, I received, what I can only classify as, the greatest professional compliment I had ever gotten in my life. Dr. Miller told me that I taught my lesson just as she would... only better. (Her ACTUAL words!!)
She told me that she liked: (1) how I got the class to participate throughout the lab lesson; (2) how I managed to ask questions and get different students to respond; (3) how I had a poker face when students gave me their answers so as to not make students feel bad if they got the question wrong and to not provide clues to others on how to correct their mistakes (if, in fact, there were any); (4) that I provided the students with a very relaxed atmosphere and even she felt at ease immediately after sitting down for a few minutes; and (5) the game show gimmick where I wanted everyone to participate by raising their hands to answer some questions. She indicated that she may not be able to get away with some what I did during my lesson because of our age difference (she's significantly older than I am) but that she would adopt some of my techniques in the classroom for her classes in the future.
My jaw must have dropped!! I could not believe what she had just told me! I was waiting for the comments to be balanced out by some factors I could correct or improve upon. The only thing she did criticize was the lack of time I had towards the end of the lesson (At one point, she assisted me and took over for a few minutes while I was troubleshooting some computer issues with a handful of students in an effort to get everyone on the same page).
The only reason I was behind on time to begin with was because I had a late start having to hustle over from a building across campus and I had to familiarize myself with the new equipment in a computer lab room I never used before. I had no legitimate excuse. I should have taken the time to visit those lab rooms before the semester started but I was burnt out from the Winter class I had taught.
Receiving that feedback from Dr. Miller made me feel like I had 'arrived' as an educator. I have such a passion for what I do in the classroom and was floored by her praise. I hope that, as I continue teaching, I can maintain the high standards I've set for myself and can bring out the best in my 'kids' from week to week, semester to semester.
It'll be nearly impossible for anyone to get me off this cloud. I am truly feeling a rush of excitement and accomplishment after this first week of the Spring 2010 semester.
Someone pinch me because life CAN'T be this good.... or can it? =)
Until next time, faithful reader......
