teaching.. yeah, there's that too.

Hi everyone,

I figure I should talk about teaching, because that's what I do so much of here.

• Is it fun? sometimes, but only when students are motivated. it feels really great when 40 students listen to you, ask questions, and respond when you ask questions. it feels even better when students volunteer to do things. 
  
  I don't think that at the university level I should be in the business of motivating students (well, to a certain degree of course) -- especially in such big classes, if students don't want to learn, I have to focus on those that do.
  
  we sang "Superman" and "I'm Yours" in my classes this week, and that was really fun.
  
  teaching your native language is funny because you can tell if someone is "right or wrong" but you more often than not can't explain why.
  
  like, why do the -ed sounds differ from played, looked, planted?
  
  
• Is it hard? it's a real time drain. you always have things to correct or prepare. though you have weekends off, you really have to spend Sunday preparing and correcting. 
  
  other than that, I guess it's hard to maximize your effectiveness. there's a tendency to do things that are fun for both you and the students, because if students aren't enjoying what they're doing, they won't like studying English.
  
  
• Do students improve? this question is hard to answer.
  
  I think what students really need is to be drilled in basic English -- English has too many strange things about it to learn in 40 person classes doing vague speaking activities ("what do you think of so and so" "introduce your family" etc).
  
  also, there's a huge tendency to speak Thai in the classes. it seems near impossible to do English only (then again, I haven't really tried).
  
  grading is the hardest thing ever. it's really easy to grade based on your ability, rather than what you've learned. also, it's really easy to grade a shy person lower than someone who loves to talk (even if language is the same). it's funny to be on the other side of it, because you realize how much of grading is arbitrary. 
  
  
• Plagiarism and copying aren't taken as seriously here. 
  
  in any given class, I probably have 4/40 students plagiarize papers, and for homeworks, probably 10/40 unique version of the homework. 
  
  some of it is cultural difference, some of it is laziness, some of it is just lack of English ability. 
  

the academia world is great, though. I can't really explain it, but you're connected to so much by being staff at a university. 

that, and I can sit in my office, drink some iced coffee, and watch 2 episodes of West Wing and people think I'm looking up video clips for class. 

teaching's great.

-Mo