Reflections on A Year of University Teaching

In October 2007 I faced my first classroom as a teacher.  It was a disaster.  Maybe it was because I taught that class in French, from which I am far from fluent (even further back then).  Maybe it was because the classroom was far too small for the 30-odd student or the too-close projector beaming strong light directly into my retinas (I saw spots for hours yesterday).  Hell, I even forgot to introduce myself!  I left the classroom disheartened at such a poor performance, but determined to improve.  Happily, I have (based on student evaluations!).

This past year has been both frustrating and exhilarating.  I have no training as a teacher; I only know my subject pretty well (public relations/digital communications/marketing etc.).  Happily, my first classes stuck to this core knowledge -- until this past fall when I had to develop two brand new courses in eBusiness and Customer Relationship Management (the second a bit further from my core competency, although I have certainly touched upon it in my career, esp as I worked for vendors and associations in the space).  My greatest difficulties came with trying to deal with challenging student situations from a position of total rook-i-ness, with little administrative support.

Oops - hit publish (Typepad changed its interface!).  More to come...my daughter is waking from her nap.

Comments

[Ayyappan Pillai]

Hi Elizabeth,
I am new to your blog. I liked you style of writing and i see that you're blogging after a long time. Continue blogging, you've got a new reader from India.

[randy bragg]

Hello fellow blogger, I stopped by your site and thought maybe you would like to swap links with me, after adding http://voiceofbragg.com with the title "Blog Till Death" to your site, message me and I will add yours...have a great day