Teaching economics this semester, I have started to change up some of my routines. I am trying new things in class to keep things interesting... for me! I found some great online resources for video and audio clips of famous economists, entrepreneurs, thinkers, etc... and have begun to incorporate these clips into the class. I am enjoying it right now, but we'll see where it goes!
Swimming has really taken me places! Well, coaching swimming has allowed me to travel to some great places in the last two weeks. The weekend before last, I spent Saturday at Poly Prep in Brooklyn (Google Maps). It was a pretty great bus ride - as we crossed the Verazano-Narrows Bridge, on my right was the Atlantic, to my left were NJ and Manhattan, behind me was Staten Island, and straight ahead was Brooklyn. Poly Prep is an enormous school, but they had the smallest pool I have ever seen - it was originally a three-lane pool, but they converted it by adding an extra lane lines! The team is doing well; we have won our last few meets.
This last Saturday, I went with the team to West Windsor, NJ. It was an all-day tournament and I had prior engagements, so I took a train back to Newark. The closest train station was Princeton Junction and it turns out it has some cool history: Albert Einstein used to enjoy sitting at the station and watching trains go by, and these experiences helped him with his General Theory of Relativity.
After returning to Newark, Pat, Jake, and I went to Manhattan to see Fr. Bob Koopmann. We saw a play, Earnest in Love, at the Irish Repertory Theatre and had great paella and sangria at El Quijote on 23rd and 7th - right below the Chelsea Hotel. It was really nice to see Fr. Bob, and it is great that he is able to take a vacation!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
A New Year, A New Post
First of all, it has been a long time since the last post. For that, I apologize.
Much has happened since September. Water polo season ended and swimming season began and continues. I finished my first semester of teaching economics. And with the first semester fresh in my mind, I am teaching the second semester (with all new students) differently.
I am trying to reflect on what I liked about my first semester experience, as well as what I wished went differently: I think we should have covered more material and I would have liked having more command over the class. In general, the class became a little less productive and less focused over the course of the semester.
It took me a little while to become aware of the importance of being consistent and persistent, as well as the power of inertia. Jumping right into a position of leadership, I was not always sure of myself. As the block period is 80 minutes, there were many opportunities for this characteristic to present itself. The most frequent apparition was a lack of persistence regarding talking out of turn. Occasionally I would get tired of quieting down the entire class and gaining everyone's attention before speaking. This inconsistency provided room for some students to push limits and impede in-class work, notes, group work, etc... Once it became apparent that this would be an issue that would not go away, I became more persistent and actively tried to counteract this development. However, the inertia of this habit was so powerful that it continued to be a problem.
With all of this in mind, I wanted to begin the second semester with a good first impression. Andy Dirksen, who was a benedictine volunteer at Saint Benedict's a few years ago, visited over break and provided some inspiration. It was good to see Andy because he is fun to go out with, is a good conversationalist, and has a great knowledge of Benedict's. When speaking about how to begin a new class, he mentioned that he started by giving the students a book, told them to read and outline the first chapter, had a quiz on the second day, and did not go over the syllabus and introductions until the third day. I liked this idea and started my first day of class by having the students read the first section of chapter one and outline it. I was amazed by the results: everyone, all 27 students, read and took notes in silence. After a half-hour of silence, during which I felt satisfied yet uncomfortable due to its foreignness, I asked the class to describe certain portions of the chapter they read, and finished with the fact that there would be a quiz tomorrow on the first section.
It is early in the semester and I must work hard to keep the class interesting, but so far everything is going swimmingly. I am really happy with my new class, and hope the things I learned during the highs and lows of first semester will aid me in my efforts this semester.
Much has happened since September. Water polo season ended and swimming season began and continues. I finished my first semester of teaching economics. And with the first semester fresh in my mind, I am teaching the second semester (with all new students) differently.
I am trying to reflect on what I liked about my first semester experience, as well as what I wished went differently: I think we should have covered more material and I would have liked having more command over the class. In general, the class became a little less productive and less focused over the course of the semester.
It took me a little while to become aware of the importance of being consistent and persistent, as well as the power of inertia. Jumping right into a position of leadership, I was not always sure of myself. As the block period is 80 minutes, there were many opportunities for this characteristic to present itself. The most frequent apparition was a lack of persistence regarding talking out of turn. Occasionally I would get tired of quieting down the entire class and gaining everyone's attention before speaking. This inconsistency provided room for some students to push limits and impede in-class work, notes, group work, etc... Once it became apparent that this would be an issue that would not go away, I became more persistent and actively tried to counteract this development. However, the inertia of this habit was so powerful that it continued to be a problem.
With all of this in mind, I wanted to begin the second semester with a good first impression. Andy Dirksen, who was a benedictine volunteer at Saint Benedict's a few years ago, visited over break and provided some inspiration. It was good to see Andy because he is fun to go out with, is a good conversationalist, and has a great knowledge of Benedict's. When speaking about how to begin a new class, he mentioned that he started by giving the students a book, told them to read and outline the first chapter, had a quiz on the second day, and did not go over the syllabus and introductions until the third day. I liked this idea and started my first day of class by having the students read the first section of chapter one and outline it. I was amazed by the results: everyone, all 27 students, read and took notes in silence. After a half-hour of silence, during which I felt satisfied yet uncomfortable due to its foreignness, I asked the class to describe certain portions of the chapter they read, and finished with the fact that there would be a quiz tomorrow on the first section.
It is early in the semester and I must work hard to keep the class interesting, but so far everything is going swimmingly. I am really happy with my new class, and hope the things I learned during the highs and lows of first semester will aid me in my efforts this semester.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)