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| Problems Encountered in the First
Two Weeks of Teaching |
| 17 September 1999 |
Conflicts
with seminars
- Rescheduling
is not impossible. (But not encouraged.)
- Talk
to Dick Hall. He can close the conflicting section and will open
two replacement sections. (Your tutoring commitment will be reduced
by one hour.)
Students
who are lost
- Don't
let the students pit you against the professor.
- Ask
what they don't understand.
- If
there is a mechanical problem (mumbling, standing in front
of what he/she writes, etc...) pass it on to the professor.
- If
the problem is with a particular topic, happily explain the
topic to your student.
- Resist
the temptation to kill/slay/assassinate your students.
Students
who can't read maps
Sometimes
students go to the wrong room at first. Either due to a preternaturally
bad sense of direction or last minute room changes. So what should
you do if they've missed a quiz or assignment?
- Be
nice for the first week or two. Either a make-up or perhaps ignore
the first assignment when you figure their grade out.
- Later,
you are allowed to kill/slay your students. (Assassination, however,
is still frowned upon.)
- Students
may also miss assignments because they add the course later in
the semester. In which case the first point still applies.
When
the professor and book part ways
- This
can cause anxiety, especially among new students.
- On
the other hand, more than one perspective brings depth to the
course.
- Emphasize
that there is more than one way to solve a problem. Show them
the two methods are equivalent or have them convince themselves
that this is true. Then tell them to choose whichever is most
comfortable.
Students
without books
- Do
they have friends? They can photostat a few sections or at least
the assigned problems. Enough to hold them over until more books
arrive.
- Let
the prof know in case there is anything they can do to speed things
up. (Anyone know if this is true?)
- Emma
will see about putting books on reserve at the Science and Engineering
Library.
- Note:
Sometimes the book is on reserve under a different course
number.
Students
with no questions -- The Silence of the Lambs
- Come
to class with an agenda. Either topics that you will discuss or
problems you feel are worthwhile.
- Have
the students do problems at the board. Warning: If you
don't have weekly quizzes this may drastically affect attendance.
It helps if at the begining of the course you ask the students
if they would mind working out the problems on the board.
- Ask
the students to work in groups on a problem. Or work out a problem
and convince their neighbor that they are right.
Attendance
-- So what exactly happens if I don't come to section?
For
the most part, this boils down to the question of "What is the purpose
of discussion sections?" Are they for the students with problems or
are they a mandatory part of the course?
- In
some institutions attendance is mandatory. In others, it is purely
optional. For instance, attendance in Poland is mandatory while
in Bulgaria, Germany and the UK students are free to do whatever
they like with their time.
- Emma
believes BU policy is for instructors to take attendance. Supposedly
the school will send a note to the parents of delinquint students.
- In
general, encourage the students to attend section. The often don't
know as much as they think they do.
- Weekly
quizzes can help greatly with attendance. Or else ask the professor
to set aside 5% of the grade for section participation.
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