I completed my first teaching experience on Thursday, September 29, 2016. After much consideration on the course options, I settled on Dr. Ferrier’s Psychology of Child Development (PSY 2210) course. This class meets twice a week, so the class period was 1 hour and 15 minutes, and is located in Fletcher Hall, room 100. I strategically chose child development for my first teaching experience because I thought it was important to feel fairly comfortable with the material, especially knowing how nervous I would be. I took three developmental courses during my undergraduate career, and have two children of my own, so this course seemed like a great fit. I was able to incorporate some of the strategies we’ve learned in Teaching of Psychology so
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into my lecture because I thought the students would enjoy it. To begin, I created a survey of five questions to test if students read the chapter (most hadn’t). These questions were based on the core concepts I would be covering in my lecture, and would later be tested (in addition to other materials presented in lecture) in two rounds of competitive Kahoot! quizzes, which were done at the very end of class. I like the idea of incorporating technology, especially students’ cell phones, because they are so attached to them. At the very least, if they were participating in the survey and quizzes, they wouldn’t be texting or on social …show more content…
A couple of students were already in the classroom studying, and I was able to chat with them while I was getting prepared. Although this helped to calm my nerves a little, it did not protect me from the intense wave of anxiety that filled me in the minutes leading up to the start of class. Despite the fact that I had taught a few class periods previously (PSY 2020L), I felt like I had never taught before! I think a combination of the fact that I was videotaping myself, in addition to wanting to do well, really exacerbated my anxiety. I believe that starting out with a Kahoot! survey helped me because the class was focused on the game, rather than directly on me. That feeling proved to be temporary though as I experienced an additional wave of panic when I began the lecture portion. Fortunately, this didn’t last too long as I loosened up and delved into the material. The students started out the lecture staring blankly at me, however after I got into a flow (and we watched a few cute videos), they became
into my lecture because I thought the students would enjoy it. To begin, I created a survey of five questions to test if students read the chapter (most hadn’t). These questions were based on the core concepts I would be covering in my lecture, and would later be tested (in addition to other materials presented in lecture) in two rounds of competitive Kahoot! quizzes, which were done at the very end of class. I like the idea of incorporating technology, especially students’ cell phones, because they are so attached to them. At the very least, if they were participating in the survey and quizzes, they wouldn’t be texting or on social …show more content…
A couple of students were already in the classroom studying, and I was able to chat with them while I was getting prepared. Although this helped to calm my nerves a little, it did not protect me from the intense wave of anxiety that filled me in the minutes leading up to the start of class. Despite the fact that I had taught a few class periods previously (PSY 2020L), I felt like I had never taught before! I think a combination of the fact that I was videotaping myself, in addition to wanting to do well, really exacerbated my anxiety. I believe that starting out with a Kahoot! survey helped me because the class was focused on the game, rather than directly on me. That feeling proved to be temporary though as I experienced an additional wave of panic when I began the lecture portion. Fortunately, this didn’t last too long as I loosened up and delved into the material. The students started out the lecture staring blankly at me, however after I got into a flow (and we watched a few cute videos), they became