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.
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