"Pull out a piece of scrap paper, or even tear a piece of paper in half and give the other half to someone next to you; let's save some trees people. We are going to have a reading pop quiz." The students groan and the sound of shuffling and ripping papers fill the air. Where is it? I know I saved the quiz on this USB thingy-ma-jig. Where is it?! (The class waits expectantly for me to load up the quiz on the screen) This is what I get for trying to go green...
That was me during my first semester teaching. I was over the initial jitters of teaching, but I felt them come rushing back to me as the students quieted and waited expectantly. I was engaging in a mental battle because last week I had chastised some students who claimed they lost their saved essays on the day they were due. Keep it together, act professionally, I silently chanted. I smiled, looked up and admitted that I had brought the wrong USB and did not have the quiz with me. However, I crushed their hopes when I informed them that I remembered the questions. So I pulled up a blank word document and typed the questions as I read them to the class. All-in-all, it went fairly well. What the students didn't realize, I don't think, was that I didn't know where the correct USB was, and the quiz was quite a bit easier than it was originally, because I couldn't remember the specifics (I don't think they minded though).
Also, I realized how important it is to be prepared, but not just by bringing the right supplies to class. As an instructor, I have to be prepared for things to go wrong because they inevitably will go wrong. Breathing, laughing, and honesty have gotten me through most situations, and I imagine they will continue to do so.
I don't think that people realize how much improv actually goes into teaching.
ReplyDeleteMy mother once gave me some advice that proved to be totally priceless: Teaching is 98% acting. As long as you're upbeat (almost to the point of manic) and appear confident, students will listen to anything you have to say.
Now, perhaps this is an oversimplification. Obviously more than just acting goes into teaching--there has to, of course, be instruction involved. But this advice stuck with me because it's true: as long as you remain calm and confident, your students will listen to whatever you say.
I tell this story because I think that this is a good example of what my mother was really trying to tell me: just stay cool under pressure. Yes, you screwed up, but you covered well. Recovery is everything in improv/acting; it appears that it's also everything in teaching.