Back in the Passenger's Seat

This fall I decided to take a class at my temple on "Basic Judaism". Now, I know a lot about Jewish cooking, Jewish American culture, and the Jewish Experience from a historical perspective. I could tell you all about the condition of Jewish Women in 15th century Hamburg, but damned if I could tell you much about the history of the Hebrews, classical Judaism, or the Torah. I like the rabbi who was signed up to be the instructor and figured it would be a good way for me to meet some folks and learn something in the process (by which I mean, "leave the house for something more than just a work out, change out of my PJs and interact with someone other than L).

In just two weeks I've learned a lot of content regarding the Reform Jewish approach to the Torah (which really can be summed up in Hillel's famous words "That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow, this is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary"), and the history of the development of the written Torah and the Hebrew people prior to the common era.


But, even more important, I've learned what it is to be a student again in a class about a subject I don't know that much about. In two meetings, I've identified some of my biggest failings as an instructor and how to fix them! Something I never would have figured out if I just kept teaching and never again sat in a student's seat (being a grad student doesn't count, undergrad classes are fundamentally different from the competition/performances that grad seminars are). Here's a few examples:


1. Begin each class with a brief discussion about what the class is going to do in that particular meeting. Even write a short outline up on the board. Empower students by showing them where the class is headed and where they should be pushing their thinking 20-30 min into discussion. Otherwise you get a situation in which the instructor "knows all" and simply "reveals" the "important" parts to the student. The well-meaning instructor puts students on the spot, trying to get them to see the connections, but this just turns into a guessing game w/ the students trying to read the instructor's mind.


By giving students a brief outline as to where you think the class should generally go, you let them start to organize their thoughts early and hopefully contribute more thoughtfully to discussion. 


2. Throwing a bunch of sources at students, having them read aloud, and then interpret on the spot (in an attempt to do something "as a class") is ineffective. It just replicates #1, but with primary sources. If you want students to interpret something, give them guideposts of specific things to look for. It will channel the discuss and provide concrete things to discuss.


2a. If you do do in-class source reading, you need to provide some context as to how the sources relate to the discussion or to one another. When on-the-spot as in a class setting, this helps tremendously in getting deeper into material, faster.


3. Pause to allow discussion. Really pause. It takes much more time to think of what to say when you'e new with the material than instructors want to allow. Pause to allow questions.


4. When students do speak, don't cut them off, even if you do so simply b/c you are excited about what they are saying. I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I don't like being silenced.


5. Those silly "introduce yourself to the class" games are essential. We didn't do it in my class and 2 weeks in I still don't know anyone as other than "the guy who talks a lot". Plus, name tags would be awesome.


6. Take your lesson plan and cut it in half. You're better off with less material that you can engage with deeply, than trying to cover "everything" but only getting 1/2 through anyway.


7. They are a pain in the ass, but designing well-formulated discussion questions (maybe 4 for a hour long meeting) are essential. I think this is easier for your own classes than for classes you TA b/c you are in charge of the material, but putting together good discussion questions and sticking to them in class can make a HUGE difference in how discussion progresses.


I have made all of these mistakes in my classes. Sometimes repeatedly. Now being in the student's position, I understand why people don't talk, what dynamics silence rather than encourage voices, and things that I can change as an instructor in order to help my own students succeed in discussion.