Now that my classes at USD have begun, I officially feel as though my semester has commenced. My time is suddenly quite strained between familial and academic obligations, though I feel maintaining a healthy balance of the two has done wonders for my mental health. Of course, there are always distractions – fantasy sports, movies, etc. – but so far I have everything under wraps.
My placement has been wonderful. I enjoy the company of my new students and the department I am with is astoundingly helpful. We socialize and talk about curriculum frequently and are able to relax during breaks and lunches to look at the big picture of what we are doing with technology in the classroom. For our students, it is second nature, and they find our tech activities insightful and meaningful.
There are still things I seek to improve. It appears that in the process of befriending my students through the use of popular colloquialisms and humor, I am incidentally encouraging an environment of poor behavior and disrespect, causing me to retreat and become more of an authoritative figure. I find myself regularly wondering how to find a balance between friendliness and authoritativeness so that my students can identify with me while remaining productive and insightful throughout the duration of the class.
This brings me to action research. This semester, I will be working on developing a plan to research a specific aspect of my teaching pedagogies that is in need of improvement. Perhaps the aforementioned issues would be a good place to start, but I am still left pondering other issues in the class. Is the use of technology in my classroom really helping students to learn? How do I know that all students have effective access to these technologies.
All good things to those who wait. My patience will hopefully result in a wonderful action research project. Stay tuned!
Best,
Hunter
My placement has been wonderful. I enjoy the company of my new students and the department I am with is astoundingly helpful. We socialize and talk about curriculum frequently and are able to relax during breaks and lunches to look at the big picture of what we are doing with technology in the classroom. For our students, it is second nature, and they find our tech activities insightful and meaningful.
There are still things I seek to improve. It appears that in the process of befriending my students through the use of popular colloquialisms and humor, I am incidentally encouraging an environment of poor behavior and disrespect, causing me to retreat and become more of an authoritative figure. I find myself regularly wondering how to find a balance between friendliness and authoritativeness so that my students can identify with me while remaining productive and insightful throughout the duration of the class.
This brings me to action research. This semester, I will be working on developing a plan to research a specific aspect of my teaching pedagogies that is in need of improvement. Perhaps the aforementioned issues would be a good place to start, but I am still left pondering other issues in the class. Is the use of technology in my classroom really helping students to learn? How do I know that all students have effective access to these technologies.
All good things to those who wait. My patience will hopefully result in a wonderful action research project. Stay tuned!
Best,
Hunter