Nancy's Reading Notes #7

With about seven weeks remaining in the current semester, I took a few moments to reflect upon my first semester teaching thus far. Overall, I am happy with how the semester is progressing; however, I already have a list of things I will change for next semester thanks to Lang and Davis. In this week’s reading notes, I looked back on a few instances that I believe need to be changed/dealt with, and therefore, I believe our class should discuss the student/teacher relationship, cultural differences in class, and the concepts of critical thinking and real world applications.

It seems as though I have reached a point in the semester where I feel my students are comfortable talking with me. I have made it a point to connect with students informally and involve them in scholarly activities as Davis mentioned in Chapter 5 (p. 67). I chat with my students before class, and have invited them to take part in activities put in place by the department. Some students voluntarily stay a few moments after class to recommend a local place to visit since I am fairly new to the area. While I feel I have a good relationship with my students, I must continue to uphold the division between student and teacher. We should discuss this in class because Lang mentions making sure to keep the door open, and to “listen but not counsel” (p. 183). It is extremely important for instructors (especially new instructors) to remember that while we can listen, we must direct students to places for assistance instead of giving information we may be untrained to provide.

Another situation which has occurred in class that I feel deserves discussion in class is a few students have at times made comments which were culturally offensive. From a positive point of view, these students did not realize that what they had said was offensive. I do not believe they meant it maliciously because I addressed the situation respectfully, and they had mentioned that they “didn’t know.” Davis mentions speaking up when comments such as these are made by students; however, what should instructors do when the comments are a result of unknown stereotyping (p. 65)? I would like to incorporate some sort of cultural activity moving forward, but how much time should instructors take out of the lesson to teach the negative results of stereotyping without making students (those in and out of the cultural group in question) feel uncomfortable?

Along with cultural activities, I plan to incorporate more critical thinking and real world applications to my lesson plans. Davis mentions helping students to “become more intellectually sophisticated,” and “including real-world experiences into the course” in order to help promote intellectual development (p. 261). Our class should discuss these options in order to help give students additional tools to challenge their levels of intelligence with materials they may apply to their future careers. By teaching students how to think critically on their own, and through real world applications, students will be able to make the connection between classroom lessons and the real world.