I read your opening sentence, and I was all in on your post. My wife is a teacher in a long family line of teachers. I’ve watched her get a graduate degree just to take more formalized testing to get a license only to have to repeat this process by taking more classes just to keep this license for several more years. This is just to teach in an elementary school. Frankly, I’m a little embarrassed to even speak with her about teaching because I feel like internally she’s just rolling her eyes at me with a smile on her face. That being said, I realize I’m still learning what it takes to have my own authentic teaching voice. I agree that building confidence speaks volumes both to yourself, but also to the students but is not something that happens overnight. It takes time to re-evaluate and see what works, and what doesn’t.
Author: Jason Callahan
Comment on What does my voice really sound like? by Jason Callahan
I agree that approachability is important, but that boundaries are also equally as important. I almost equate this relationship to that good parenting: while you want students to be open and willing to express themselves in a positive way, you also have to maintain authority as well. I also have tried to model some of the more positive aspects of instructors I had in the past as a guidance so I can start to develop my own authentic teaching voice.
Comment on But What If I Feel Like a Fraud? by Jason Callahan
I think that everyone early on in their teaching careers asks the same question. I find it difficult sometimes bridging the gap between being the instructor but also wanting to be approachable at the same time. I think you also hit the nail on the head by saying finding our authentic voice isn’t something that comes to you overnight. Its something that you develop over time.
Comment on The World is flat. I know it is. by Jason Callahan
I also have reservations about imagining an educational system that doesn’t rely on formal assessment. But I also come from an educational system that has ONLY relied on formal assessment. As my graduate experience has gone on, I’ve found myself a strong believer in the power of discussion. I feel like I retain information more by thinking it through and presenting it in a conversation than memorizing facts and filling in a bubble on an opscan. I struggle with that every time I proctor an exam given by an instructor that I TA for when a student comes up to inquire about a question. The answer I hate to give a student is that they’re “thinking about it too much.” That feels like taking two steps back to take one step forward.
Comment on 12 Years Without any Grades…Kind of by Jason Callahan
This is a really interesting post. While reading the Alfie Kohn article, I thought to myself how one would make the transition from a non-graded school environment to a graded one. I came from a very traditional, grade oriented high school so I never had the benefit of having a “gradeless” curriculum. Reading your post (and your mom’s contributions) really gave some valuable insight that what Alfie Kohn spoke of was a plausible alternative to teaching without grades.
Comment on Weekly pessimism – Anti-Teaching by Jason Callahan
I think you’ve pinpointed a critical point: is the student willing to learn? By and large, I feel like most of the students I’ve encountered really do, but you always seem to linger of the students who clearly give the impression they’d rather be anywhere in the world but class. In some circumstances I can understand why. Some students are taking classes that are requirements of some general education requirement. I’m also optimistic that this course will help with some styles or techniques that can incorporate some of those students.
Comment on Being Mindful on McAfee Knob by Jason Callahan
I agree that it can be difficult to relate to students about “the bigger picture” of ideas in a course, especially if they are either new to higher education, or perhaps just new to the discipline of the course. Some students may not even really want to connect the principles of a course beyond the classroom. They may just want to know the material well enough to pass the course and move on to the next one. That can be difficult to gauge depending on what level of course you are teaching. I am in a social sciences discipline which may make it easier or harder to get people to relate to topics depending on if it is a theory heavy course or not.
The view from the top is amazing by the way. That’s a great photo!
Comment on How would you like CPR to be taught? by Jason Callahan
I agree with you that this becomes murky water when mere memorization of material will suffice to get a point across. When it comes to something like CPR or a life saving skill, I would think you’d want to just simply memorize the procedure rather than “think outside the box” of the implications of doing CPR or trying to immerse yourself with the learning experience. I’m certain the person who needed CPR would thank you for approaching it that way. Though you do bring up a good point with assessing a scene to determine some outside factors that may affect your decision making. Certainly a text book can’t teach you every nuance but can rather give guidance than specific answers.
Comment on Thoughts on Why Lecture is Obsolete: and why gamification may turn education on its head by Jason Callahan
Thanks for the shoutout! The image of orations in ancient Greece came to my mind as well. Though that also emphasizes the point of origin of this method of speaking. The fact that the word “lecture” conjures up this type of imagery also instills a sense of how far we have evolved from those times. I couldn’t agree more that lecturing is a necessary part of current pedagogy, but I don’t think it is effective enough to rely entirely on them as a medium of educating today.
Comment on Places & Spaces | Seeing Beyond the Book by Jason Callahan
I work a second job at the Newman library, and I’m always amazed at some of the exhibits they put together here. They really try to make the learning environment one that takes you outside the traditional norms. Conversely I recently had a patron who remarked that there were so many books being removed from the library, and that where there had previously been floors of stacks, now dwindled. I tried to explain how the library was becoming more digitized and the focus was evolving to a more interactive learning environment as a way to encourage new ways to reach out to patrons. This particular patron didn’t see it that way and instead informed me that we were “killing the library.” I don’t quite see it that way, but more of the direction that learning technology is evolving
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