Teaching by/on the Seat of my Pants
Wednesday evening was the first class of the graduate seminar, and while it went well enough, it hardly felt like an overwhelming success. The first part of the class went fine, but our discussion of Godot meandered, and never really took off.
I do think I felt a little underprepared, although I'm not sure that more preparation would have helped. What really felt like the big problem for me was that I had no comfortable persona to adopt...I don't want to treat graduate students, many of whom, as teachers, are my colleagues in 100 and 200-level courses, the same way I handle myself with undergrads, an audience with which I am now very comfortable. On the other hand, there is a power differential that is highlighted in this classroom that I cannot ignore. That, and I really do have things to teach them.
So one of the myriad ways this new dilemma has been dominating my thinking over the past 36 hours ('cause you know I've been obsessing about this ever since class ended) has been to figure out the timeless question: to sit or not to sit.
Yup, I've never taught sitting down before.
Now, nowhere in the discussions I've had about what differentiates a readings class from a seminar have I heard, "Well, in a seminar you sit down," and yet I've never been in or heard of a seminar where the professor stood, a choice common in 600-level classes.
This, for me, is an important issue, though. If I stand, I really center the classroom focus on me, and one goal in a seminar is ideally to become progressively less more invisible in the discussion over the semester. But in a class about theatre and performance, I as much as anyone should understand the value of the body in creating a performance, and how I "style" my body affects me as much as it affects the students and the overall dynamic. I believe that I become a less energized thinker by sitting down in the classroom (and this room is hardly a gem anyway). So in addition to obsessing about what secondary reading I can be doing, and how I can structure the discussion to have a bit more drive, I'm also considering: Should I change my seat? Should I sit on the table? Should I pace? Can I use the board?
It's like after 8 years of teaching, I'm starting from scratch.
technorati tag: teaching-carnival
Comments
Ok, my two cents, based on my experience in grad school TAing for a professor and also taking a grad seminar in performance studies with him. The professor's specialty was drama as well, and he was very cognizant of his body as a tool in the classroom.
When he taught undergrads, he was all over the room. He used all of the space at the front, moved between rows, changed the volume of his voice, and was very dynamic as a lecturer and a discussion leader.
In contrast, in the graduate seminar, while he would sometimes get up to demonstrate something or to write something on the board, for the most part he sat - and usually not at the head of the seminar table. I think this was appropriate, because at least in my experience in graduate school, seminars were about the students directing the discussion of the texts for that week. They were about the students doing secondary reading that was on reserve, about students giving presentations and leading discussions. The professor wasn't so much a performer as a respondent. Yes, the instructor would interject to make a point or ask questions or redirect discussion, but he/she was a facilitator and NOT the entertainment.
With undergrads, I think it is our job to entertain and to be exciting and to get them excited about the material. With grad students? Well, we don't want to bore the pants off of them, but if they're not excited about the material and about being there, why in god's name be in graduate school?
Posted by: Dr. Crazy | August 25, 2006 4:31 PM
I think Dr. Crazy's right. I also get why it would feel weird--I've only taught sitting down a couple of times (unless you count sitting on a table at the front of the room, which I do sometimes).
When you say "one goal in a seminar is ideally to become progressively less invisible in the dicsussion over the smester" did you mean that is one goal of the prof? or of the students? Because the context implies that's your goal, but I would say that's the goal for the students and not for you. Your goal is to fade increasingly into the background to let them take over the discussion. Isn't it?
Posted by: Scrivener | August 25, 2006 5:55 PM
Ermmm...less visible, more invisible...accursed double negatives!!!
My problem is that I fear (especially with a low ration of PhDs to MAs) that without a more active hand in the discussion, I won't have much to act as a respondent to...
This, I hope will develop over time, and I think it is part of my job to help the MA students develop the kind of seminar skills that the PhD students should (and indeed may, we'll see) already have.
Posted by: Cats & Dogma | August 25, 2006 9:02 PM
Okay, this cracks me up, b/c it's exactly what I've gone through at my new job - even though it's all undergrads, our top-level classes are very decidedly seminars, and there's an unstated expectation of sitting down to teach.
Before I got here, I NEVER sat down to teach, mostly because I just NEVER had seminar rooms with tables to sit around! So I imprinted on teaching = standing. And it really has been a huge adjustment - I do pace a lot, I do write on the board a lot, and I like to be able to see them easily. But of course, it does center the class on me...
Anyway, it is a big adjustment - I'm glad I'm not the only one who's felt this way.
Posted by: New Kid on the Hallway | August 25, 2006 10:25 PM
I'm a big fan of the sitting-on-the-table technique. It's less formal than standing up, but you can still see what's going on in the room, what the dynamic is, how people are reacting or interacting.
Posted by: Ancrene Wiseass | August 26, 2006 4:10 AM
As New Kid says, it's a big adjustment, especially if you usually move around a lot. I had that concern about keeping energy while sitting down, too, but the excitement generated by their questions and comments tends to keep the energy going.
Posted by: Undine | August 26, 2006 10:04 AM
I'm experimenting with having my freshman meet as a smaller group, in a seminar setting. I did it once over the summer, and I had told myself I'd remain seating the whole time, but I found myself up and writing on the board at some point anyway. Sigh.
In my classes with 25 (now 27! Hooray for incearsing enrollment!?) I often sit on the table at the front of the room, when there is a table at the front. Which I don't have this semester in any of my classrooms. But even when I'm sitting on the table, I tend to bounce up and pace and write on the board periodically.
All of which, of course, is a complete tangent. What I meant to say is that it seems to me this is yet another iteration of a fundamental pedagogical issue: you're worried about whether you're asking too much of them. It's not really about sitting vs standing, but anxiety about whether your students are going to be able to perform in the seminar setting. So ... um ... what does that do to help?
What can you do to help them understand the different expectations of them in this new setting?
Posted by: Scrivener | August 27, 2006 9:35 AM