Monday, September 26, 2011

Teaching

I meant to do a post right after my first class, but ... well, I didn't. Wish I had a real excuse, but that would require me to make one up. How about: I couldn't write the post because a French mime smoking a cigarette on a unicycle knocked me into the street, where a Paris autobus put me in a coma for the past few weeks?

The classes have varied surprisingly so far. The first lumbered out of the gate like a walrus but did lay a good foundation for the structure of future classes. (Did you catch that pun!? I'm hilarious.) The second class, like a few others, was great: a solid mix of statics, theory, discussion, videos, slides, chalk boards, tablet writing, and even some one-on-one tutoring. I leave each 3 hour session exhausted.

I think the students are still getting used to exactly what this class is all about. They were shocked to have a "hard" quiz on Friday, but after seeing their grades today, I hope they've realized I'm grading their understanding of concepts and application, not just that they can regurgitate solutions from the homework problems, type numbers right, and get an answer that matches what's in the back of the book.

We go on a "field trip" this weekend for a few days, so my next class is not for another 10 days! Yeah, can't wait for them to forget everything... ugh.

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