In my lab section, I let them do a programming assignment on Binary Trees. They were asked to solve the assignment based on my instructions. To do this, I explained everything on the board, then I asked them questions, I showed examples on the board, and finally I let them work on the assignment individually. At the end of the class, they filled up a survey for grading my teaching style.
For my peer evaluations, only two of my peers came. Unfortunately, Manali was unable to evaluate me since I only had two students in my class the day she was present. Lillian was the other student that evaluated me.
For my professional development plan, I'm still working on it; I just need to put everything together as I already got evaluated by my students.
For teaching, I still need to learn my limits and my weaknesses. That is, I know I want to teach everything, but I know that I can't teach everything in one semester. Also, I need to be more patient with my students.
I will follow all the advices and techniques I learned in this class to become a better teacher. Especially, I will improve my teaching philosophy, and based on this, I will follow a common pattern that fits my teaching styles.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Blog #12 (Blog #9)
I would have never realized that teaching is far more complicated than just standing in front of the class and teach the material. With respect to teaching skills, I was surprised in the sense that we, as professors or teaching assistants, must maintain the class in order at all times. That is, we should know how to deal with difficult students and difficult situations such as plagiarism and the behavior and/or misconduct of students.
The things I learned and stand out most in my mind are the organization of a professional portfolio and the blogs. I mean, having a portfolio is the key to understand our teaching philosophies and how good we are doing our jobs as teachers. I would have never imagined that a professional portfolio is one of the keys to succeed as a professor.
The information that I received at the seminar were helpful in the case of our teaching philosophies and professional portfolios. I would have preferred that the seminars were twice a week or twice a month with the participation of professors in the different fields across UTEP.
The way the class explains teaching makes it fun and enjoyable. Even difficult topics, such as knowing ourselves as professors and knowing our teaching philosophies, were greatly addressed with learning modules, homeworks, and blogs.
However, I’m still struggling with my teaching style. So far I’m following one style (drawing on the board and talking), but I’m wondering if I’m doing it right or if this is my style. Hopefully, my evaluations for my development plan will show me how good or bad I am. I think this will help me a lot.
The things I learned and stand out most in my mind are the organization of a professional portfolio and the blogs. I mean, having a portfolio is the key to understand our teaching philosophies and how good we are doing our jobs as teachers. I would have never imagined that a professional portfolio is one of the keys to succeed as a professor.
The information that I received at the seminar were helpful in the case of our teaching philosophies and professional portfolios. I would have preferred that the seminars were twice a week or twice a month with the participation of professors in the different fields across UTEP.
The way the class explains teaching makes it fun and enjoyable. Even difficult topics, such as knowing ourselves as professors and knowing our teaching philosophies, were greatly addressed with learning modules, homeworks, and blogs.
However, I’m still struggling with my teaching style. So far I’m following one style (drawing on the board and talking), but I’m wondering if I’m doing it right or if this is my style. Hopefully, my evaluations for my development plan will show me how good or bad I am. I think this will help me a lot.
Blog #11 (Blog #8)
My goal:
Improve my teaching skills to understand if my students are grasping the material I’m teaching correctly.
How I will measure progress towards my Goal:
I will teach my students a specific topic at the end of the lab section to evaluate my teaching skills, and I will check if they are grasping the material I’m teaching to them. I will have an in-class assignment by using the Tree data structure from Computer Science. I will let my students work on the assignment. I will survey the students on the effectiveness of my explanation of the topic and the relevance of the assignment with respect to what I’m teaching. I will know I have accomplished my goal if everyone in my class agrees that the way I explain the topic is relevant to the assignment. I will get this information from the survey and by talking with each student individually (this is a small class (5 students), so it seems reasonable).
How I know that my Goal is realistic and do-able:
I will read material on teaching skills during the month of October and November. I will analyze professor’s teaching philosophies and get an idea on how to be a better instructor. I will keep attending GRAD 6100 class and meetings to get a better understanding of teaching skills. I will keep working on my portfolio, especially in my teaching philosophy and by writing my own set of weaknesses and strengths. I will ask professors to review my teaching philosophy, and to guide me with my teaching skills such as communication, performance, behavior, etc. I will ask my colleagues to evaluate my performance for the rest of the semester (November) during my lab sections.
Improve my teaching skills to understand if my students are grasping the material I’m teaching correctly.
How I will measure progress towards my Goal:
I will teach my students a specific topic at the end of the lab section to evaluate my teaching skills, and I will check if they are grasping the material I’m teaching to them. I will have an in-class assignment by using the Tree data structure from Computer Science. I will let my students work on the assignment. I will survey the students on the effectiveness of my explanation of the topic and the relevance of the assignment with respect to what I’m teaching. I will know I have accomplished my goal if everyone in my class agrees that the way I explain the topic is relevant to the assignment. I will get this information from the survey and by talking with each student individually (this is a small class (5 students), so it seems reasonable).
How I know that my Goal is realistic and do-able:
I will read material on teaching skills during the month of October and November. I will analyze professor’s teaching philosophies and get an idea on how to be a better instructor. I will keep attending GRAD 6100 class and meetings to get a better understanding of teaching skills. I will keep working on my portfolio, especially in my teaching philosophy and by writing my own set of weaknesses and strengths. I will ask professors to review my teaching philosophy, and to guide me with my teaching skills such as communication, performance, behavior, etc. I will ask my colleagues to evaluate my performance for the rest of the semester (November) during my lab sections.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Blog #10
Since 2002, I have been using, mostly, computers and lab equipment such as Chemistry and Physics instruments. I have used computers at the Engineering center, Electrical Engineering, the library, the Union building, the Business administration building, and the Computer Science building.
With respect to personal help, I have received help from faculty members especially from Computer Science (either as a student or as a TA/RA). I also received help from professors from other departments such as Electrical Engineering, Math, English, Communications, and Graduate school.
I have also used the library, ACES, and Computer Science, for researching and my own benefit. I get books, journals, or for studying.
Most of these resources have helped me, except for those in the Union building and Physics department. They help me when I took the Physics class but not with my current research work or personal goals.
Databases such as the ACM electronic library, IEEE electronic library, and the Computer Science UTEP web page have been very helpful for my research and teaching. I use the ACM and IEEE databases to research about my homeworks, research, thesis, and for my own benefit. I also use the professor's web page at the Computer Science department to help me understand the material they teach for my lab sections as a TA.
With respect to personal help, I have received help from faculty members especially from Computer Science (either as a student or as a TA/RA). I also received help from professors from other departments such as Electrical Engineering, Math, English, Communications, and Graduate school.
I have also used the library, ACES, and Computer Science, for researching and my own benefit. I get books, journals, or for studying.
Most of these resources have helped me, except for those in the Union building and Physics department. They help me when I took the Physics class but not with my current research work or personal goals.
Databases such as the ACM electronic library, IEEE electronic library, and the Computer Science UTEP web page have been very helpful for my research and teaching. I use the ACM and IEEE databases to research about my homeworks, research, thesis, and for my own benefit. I also use the professor's web page at the Computer Science department to help me understand the material they teach for my lab sections as a TA.
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