Well, today was my last day of teaching of the first semester of my professional career.
Tomorrow, they will take the final, grades will be entered, they will pass or fail, and a new batch will come in the door.
I would like to say that the spark I had starting teaching were still there.
It is, actually.
Still, it is tempered with a bit of experience as well. Lessons learned during this semester include:
Talk as loud as you intend to the entire semester within the first week, and no louder. You are setting a baseline for the semester.
The whole "don't let them see you smile before December" idea has some truth to it, though not the truth on the surface. It is more important that rules stay clear and firm; with that said, killing them with kindness is much more effective than blasting out their ear drums.
Not every thing that you do within class needs to be graded; in fact, it is better if the preponderance of it is not.
Never let them see you blink. Also, don't be afraid to be wrong either. Mistakes happen, and to pretend otherwise is to be disconnected with reality. The key, for both you and your students, is how you handle the mistakes that will inevitably come.
Don't forget why you chose to teach this subject to teach. You can't teach what you don't love, and your students can develop no further than you have in your love of the discipline.
Finally, you don't need to cover every element of every work you cover, or every purpose, corner and cranny of a piece of writing. Always, always, always, be able to answer the "why are we learning this" in real world terms.
More later as time allows...
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