This past semester, and my experience as a UTA and a student in ENG 388V has been a really incredible learning experience. While I expected TA-ing to be fun and involved, I did not think I would get as invested in the progress of the students and the class as I have. In addition, I never expected to enjoy ENG388V as much I did or learn as much throughout the course of the semester. The class was incredibly involved, and the passion and enthusiasm of the other students was really inspiring. Because I did not expect the class to be so enthralling, I also did not expect the sense of community ENG388V would create. This community was definitely one of the best parts of my TA-ing experience, and I am extremely sad that it is something I won’t be able to participate in next semester. Being part of a community of others who were as equally interested in teaching and helping students was really inspiring, and kept me going even when the actual students I was TA-ing for did not ever seem happy about any aspect of the class.
A good example, I believe, of how effective and inspiring this class was resulted in my ENG101 class after the student presentation regarding revision and peer review. One of the readings, by Brammer and Rees, described a study designed to gage how students felt about peer review, and the results were overwhelmingly negative. Students seemed to view the experience as unfavorable because they did not trust themselves, or their fellow classmates, to look over their work critically and effectively (Brammer and Rees). In class, we talked about different methods for peer review, which made me interested in using a peer review technique I had used in my high school AP lit class during my section of ENG101. When the technique was used, students worked (seemingly) more productively than they had before, which was a really gratifying experience.
I think it is thanks to the advice of Professor Kerr, as well as my experiences in ENG388V that have allowed me to develop as a TA over the course of the semester. I definitely started the semester off unconfident and completely unsure of myself, my insecurities made only worse when I walked into the classroom and realized that I would be in a small position of authority over students who were the same age as me or even older. In addition, it was a little unnerving to work outside of my major and TA for an English class. Even after taking ENG101 as a freshman as well as a few linguistics classes (actually for my major), I felt as if I had a very poor grasp on rules of grammar and syntax. While I may be able to tell right away if something sounds “natural” or not, this innate understand we all have of our native language would not help me explain to a student why or why not something is incorrect. I don’t think I ever had to worry about explaining this aspect of language, though, and soon realized it would be much more important for me to be able to explain how to properly format citations, or what requirements of certain assignments were. In the end, though, I think working outside of my major in a subject I am interested in was a really valuable experience. It even made me question my major a little bit, as I was planning on teaching before deciding on Hearing and Speech.
When filling out my goals and expectations sheet at the beginning of the semester, I think I may have been a little overzealous when it came to my role/involvement in the class, and how much I would be able to work with students. Apart from what I specifically filled out in the goals and expectations sheet, I was really hoping to have a class with a strong community similar to my own ENG101 class. It didn’t even cross my mind that this might not happen, and because I was relying on this community being formed between the students, I assumed I would be a little more involved in helping or interacting with them both in class and in my office hours. On the goals and expectations sheet I remember saying that I would be in the classroom early and talk with the students until class started - unfortunately, this did not happen beyond the first week or two of school, as all students did other work or played on their phones until class started. As the semester continued and a general feeling of resentment towards the class grew, students hardly made eye contact with me when entering the room. While it was disappointing to see students not participate, or just blatantly not care about the class, one of the readings we did by Mike Rose, titled I Just Wanna be Average was a good reminder that there may be other circumstances that prevent students from fully participating or giving their best.
Ignoring the negatives, though, I know my ability to think about the class, and my interest in it was deeply affected by the readings we did in ENG388V. While there were some that I did not agree with initially, or at all even as the semester moved on, it was interesting to read something that made me think more critically about why I had certain opinions regarding aspects of education, such as use of technology and the modern classroom. The three readings that affected me the most were Saunders and Kardia’s Creating Inclusive College Classrooms, Peer Review from the Students’ Perspective: Invaluable or Inavlid? by Brammer and Rees, and finally Mike Rose’s I Just Wanna Be Average (as previously referenced).
Saunders and Kardia’s piece proved to be one of the most influential not only because Sanna and I used it in creating our lesson plan, but because it really made me think about how easy it is to exclude someone without even realizing it. In an English class, I think people are likely to believe that this is not relevant because the study of basic grammar and syntax cannot be biased towards or against one group. While Saunders and Kardia didn’t address this aspect to inclusivity, they did talk about how the structure and behavior in a classroom is crucial. One aspect that I had never thought about (no doubt because if my privileged school experiences as white person) is attendance and visibility; Saunders and Kardia point out that “students who are different in a highly visible way can be penalized for their visibility”(Saunders and Kardia). Because of their differences, students may be more visible and therefore called out unfairly regarding participation or attendance even if they are acting no differently than the rest of the class. In the end, I think considering how to be mindful of all the students in a classroom was one of the most important things I had considered all semester. Both in ENG388V and ENG101, working with a really diverse group of students made me realize how important it is that quality education is accessible to anyone, especially when it comes to making everyone feel safe in the classroom.
A good example, I believe, of how effective and inspiring this class was resulted in my ENG101 class after the student presentation regarding revision and peer review. One of the readings, by Brammer and Rees, described a study designed to gage how students felt about peer review, and the results were overwhelmingly negative. Students seemed to view the experience as unfavorable because they did not trust themselves, or their fellow classmates, to look over their work critically and effectively (Brammer and Rees). In class, we talked about different methods for peer review, which made me interested in using a peer review technique I had used in my high school AP lit class during my section of ENG101. When the technique was used, students worked (seemingly) more productively than they had before, which was a really gratifying experience.
I think it is thanks to the advice of Professor Kerr, as well as my experiences in ENG388V that have allowed me to develop as a TA over the course of the semester. I definitely started the semester off unconfident and completely unsure of myself, my insecurities made only worse when I walked into the classroom and realized that I would be in a small position of authority over students who were the same age as me or even older. In addition, it was a little unnerving to work outside of my major and TA for an English class. Even after taking ENG101 as a freshman as well as a few linguistics classes (actually for my major), I felt as if I had a very poor grasp on rules of grammar and syntax. While I may be able to tell right away if something sounds “natural” or not, this innate understand we all have of our native language would not help me explain to a student why or why not something is incorrect. I don’t think I ever had to worry about explaining this aspect of language, though, and soon realized it would be much more important for me to be able to explain how to properly format citations, or what requirements of certain assignments were. In the end, though, I think working outside of my major in a subject I am interested in was a really valuable experience. It even made me question my major a little bit, as I was planning on teaching before deciding on Hearing and Speech.
When filling out my goals and expectations sheet at the beginning of the semester, I think I may have been a little overzealous when it came to my role/involvement in the class, and how much I would be able to work with students. Apart from what I specifically filled out in the goals and expectations sheet, I was really hoping to have a class with a strong community similar to my own ENG101 class. It didn’t even cross my mind that this might not happen, and because I was relying on this community being formed between the students, I assumed I would be a little more involved in helping or interacting with them both in class and in my office hours. On the goals and expectations sheet I remember saying that I would be in the classroom early and talk with the students until class started - unfortunately, this did not happen beyond the first week or two of school, as all students did other work or played on their phones until class started. As the semester continued and a general feeling of resentment towards the class grew, students hardly made eye contact with me when entering the room. While it was disappointing to see students not participate, or just blatantly not care about the class, one of the readings we did by Mike Rose, titled I Just Wanna be Average was a good reminder that there may be other circumstances that prevent students from fully participating or giving their best.
Ignoring the negatives, though, I know my ability to think about the class, and my interest in it was deeply affected by the readings we did in ENG388V. While there were some that I did not agree with initially, or at all even as the semester moved on, it was interesting to read something that made me think more critically about why I had certain opinions regarding aspects of education, such as use of technology and the modern classroom. The three readings that affected me the most were Saunders and Kardia’s Creating Inclusive College Classrooms, Peer Review from the Students’ Perspective: Invaluable or Inavlid? by Brammer and Rees, and finally Mike Rose’s I Just Wanna Be Average (as previously referenced).
Saunders and Kardia’s piece proved to be one of the most influential not only because Sanna and I used it in creating our lesson plan, but because it really made me think about how easy it is to exclude someone without even realizing it. In an English class, I think people are likely to believe that this is not relevant because the study of basic grammar and syntax cannot be biased towards or against one group. While Saunders and Kardia didn’t address this aspect to inclusivity, they did talk about how the structure and behavior in a classroom is crucial. One aspect that I had never thought about (no doubt because if my privileged school experiences as white person) is attendance and visibility; Saunders and Kardia point out that “students who are different in a highly visible way can be penalized for their visibility”(Saunders and Kardia). Because of their differences, students may be more visible and therefore called out unfairly regarding participation or attendance even if they are acting no differently than the rest of the class. In the end, I think considering how to be mindful of all the students in a classroom was one of the most important things I had considered all semester. Both in ENG388V and ENG101, working with a really diverse group of students made me realize how important it is that quality education is accessible to anyone, especially when it comes to making everyone feel safe in the classroom.