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Like Casey, call me "The Professor"

metsguyinmichigan Dec 19 2007 01:25 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Dec 19 2007 01:37 PM

....well, more accurately, "the adjunct instructor," which doesn't sound as impressive. After covering education for 20 years, I'm going to get a view from the other side. A local university asked me to teach a journalism course one night a week for the upcoming spring semester. I'm both terrified and thrilled. I speak to college and K-12 classes a lot on career day-type of things, but this is my first time leading a class.

DocTee Dec 19 2007 01:32 PM

There will be one or two who think they know more than you do-- enjoy taking them to task.

seawolf17 Dec 19 2007 01:38 PM

Nice! Congrats and welcome to university life.

themetfairy Dec 19 2007 01:58 PM

WTG - best of luck with that!

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 19 2007 02:11 PM

I could use a refresher course.

G-Fafif Dec 19 2007 04:24 PM

Congratulations New Pefresser! May I suggest a viewing of the Clark Gable/Doris Day classic "Teacher's Pet" for the pitfalls of being a hardbitten editor who explores academia. Actually, it has nothing to do with your situation, but damn I love that movie.

MFS62 Dec 19 2007 06:30 PM

[quote="G-Fafif":o3dybry1]Congratulations New Pefresser! May I suggest a viewing of the Clark Gable/Doris Day classic "Teacher's Pet" for the pitfalls of being a hardbitten editor who explores academia. Actually, it has nothing to do with your situation, but damn I love that movie.[/quote:o3dybry1] Man, I miss seeing reruns of that movie. I loved it, too. Oh, congrats and good luck, Michigan guy. Later

RealityChuck Dec 20 2007 07:05 AM

Best of luck. A couple of tips I've learned: 1. You can never be tougher than in the first class. If you don't lay down rules then, you won't be able to do it later. 2. If someone suddenly shows a major leap in writing ability, be suspicious. Google a line of text.

themetfairy Dec 20 2007 07:32 AM

Having just finished a graduate degree, here are some hints that I'll give you from the student perspective - [list:x9204ook]Be prepared. Know what you're going to do for each lesson, and have all of your assignments planned out. Ideally, all of this should be done before the start of the semester; If you do have to make changes, make sure that all of your students are aware of it. Have an established form of communication (e-mail, a message board, a wiki - something like that) and make sure your students know that they need to check it regularly for updates; Be fair with your grading. You don't have to be an easy grader, but make sure that everyone knows what the parameters are; Grade within a reasonable time. Few things stress a student out more than waiting for grades; Be timely. If you say that something will be ready at a certain time, then it needs to be ready at that time. You'll never know what your students have done to block off time to work on an assignment, and if a resource isn't ready when it's supposed to be, then their whole schedules can collapse like houses of cards; Be responsive. If someone contacts you, get back to them. Simple courtesy goes a long way with students.[/list:u:x9204ook]

DocTee Dec 20 2007 08:13 AM

. If someone suddenly shows a major leap in writing ability, be suspicious. Google a line of text. Our campus uses turnitin.com, which has virtually eliminated plagiarism in my classes.

Farmer Ted Dec 20 2007 08:40 AM

I taught an Intro to radio/ radio programming course at the college level. It was a bit intimidating at first but you soon realize they're a blank slate and everything you teach is new to them. You'll be amazed at how fast they absorb your wisdom!

metsguyinmichigan Dec 20 2007 08:44 AM

Wow, outstanding tips, guys. Deeply, deeply appreciated. Thak you for your assistance!

RealityChuck Dec 20 2007 09:18 AM

[quote="DocTee"] . If someone suddenly shows a major leap in writing ability, be suspicious. Google a line of text. Our campus uses turnitin.com, which has virtually eliminated plagiarism in my classes.

Definitely a good feature (we use it here), but if not available, you have to do the research yourself.

MFS62 Dec 20 2007 04:46 PM

Just don't start each class the way we were taught in the Army Instructor Training Class (A/K/A "Charm School") - with a dirty joke to get the students' attention. Later

Edgy DC Dec 20 2007 05:35 PM

Don't sleep with your students.

SteveJRogers Dec 20 2007 06:46 PM

[quote="John Cougar Lunchbucket":vqv0qzsh]I could use a refresher course.[/quote:vqv0qzsh] If you don't mind the commute to southern Westchester, Iona offers a solid Masters In Journalism program.

metsguyinmichigan May 19 2008 04:09 PM

Got my first semester under my belt when I turned in the final grades last week. Teaching was a lot of fun and a lot of work. It was a small class, so I was able to use my connections to get the kids into some neat situations, like meeting the governor and secretary of state before a speech, into a museum discussion with a White House photographer and into the press box for the local hockey team. Things you can do with five kids that you can't do with 20. What I found frustrating was one of the students just didn't put in the effort. She kept coming up with weak excuses to miss class, and was either late with assignments or didn't turn them in. And too many times kids put things off until the absolute last minute -- which is exactly what I did in college. Man, if I could do it over again with what I know now.... At times I wanted to say, "Kids, you're PAYING for this. Take advantage!" On the bright side, it was encouraging to see the kids get better and better as the semester went on. And it was fun when some of them had that moment of clarity when they realized that the adjunct instructor knew what he was talking about. I made them go off campus for stories, and they seemed to enjoy some of the experiences -- which I pointed out is the fun part of being a reporter. Overall, four kids got As, one got a C+ (though I was probably too generous) and I'd give myself a B. Now that I know what to expect, I can do better.

Rockin' Doc May 19 2008 05:33 PM

Four A's and a C+ for the excuse making, class skipping slacker? Damn, where wwere you when I was procrastinating my way through school? Seriously, congratulations on getting that first semester behind you. Best of luck in the future to both you and your students.

AG/DC May 19 2008 06:39 PM

I'm going to guess you didn't twirl your finger through your adorable curls as you made your excuse.

Rockin' Doc May 19 2008 07:07 PM

Well, my hair was fairly long, blonde, and wavy, but I have no doubt that twirling my finger through my hair would have hurt my grade far more than it would have helped.

metsguyinmichigan May 19 2008 07:31 PM

[quote="Rockin' Doc":hzcarre3]Four A's and a C+ for the excuse making, class skipping slacker? Damn, where wwere you when I was procrastinating my way through school? Seriously, congratulations on getting that first semester behind you. Best of luck in the future to both you and your students.[/quote:hzcarre3] Thank you! There's a chance I was an easy grader. But I was doing the outcomes-based thing, where I wanted them to get it right, and if that eventually happened, all was good. They'd turn in a story, I'd edit it with them, and they'd make the fixes. If they understood why this or that needed fixing, well, that was the goal. The part that was driving me nuts about that one student was that she was actually pretty good. To see her not turning stuff in was killing me! I thought she was going to fail, but she tuned in a story on the last day that put her over the hump, and she did a good job on the final. I tried to make it fun. They would see my stories in the paper every day, and if there was something in one of stories that I'd mark them down for doing, I had to buy them pizza (and one veggie sub for the vegan). Luckily, I had to buy pizza only once, and that was because the copy desk put "officials" in a story. If nothing else, it made me pay more attention to my own writing, which never hurts. And now they also know that Derek Jeter is bad, because you should never miss the chance to educate.

themetfairy May 19 2008 07:39 PM

Congratulations Michigan. The first semester is always the roughest - now you'll have a game plan for the following ones!

TheOldMole May 30 2008 06:50 AM

I give a lot of high grades too, and maybe I'm just a soft touch as a grader, but most kids are pretty motivated today -- and if you're doing your job and getting through to them, why wouldn't they get high grades? I've been teaching on the college level for a very long time, and I figure I owe the kids everything and the system nothing. I don't feel any obligation to grade on a curve so that half my students get C or lower.