Learning versus Product

Last week I had the opportunity to sit in on another professor's course and it was incredibly beneficial for me. I have to admit it took such a huge weight off my shoulders. I spent part of last week worried about what measurable outcomes my students produced. I guess part of it is the secondary school teacher in me, needing proof of life to earn my check. I digress, the class I visited was more advanced computer users and I was able to see sometimes things don't go as planned. The advanced computer users struggled with the lesson and my colleague showed me indirectly it's okay to slow down. So with my new understanding and outlook I can relax and have my students genuinely learn what we have done. The measure is their learning and not the pretty document at the end. It has really helped me not obsess with the "What are we producing" mentality. I am helping my students learn about computers and that is what I am seeing each night.

So we have slowed down or rather my students have shown me that we need to slow down and it worked. We are learning and class is more fun.

Also, I asked my students to complete a survey about their needs, which was really insightful for me. Many of them expressed an interest in the internet- jobs, travel, email, etc. I thanked them tonight for sharing their ideas with me and also explained that we will learn about that stuff, but we have to walk before we can run. They became so excited when I told them we will learn what they want to learn. Maybe they thought I hadn't read the survey answers and perhaps I needed to address that earlier. But now they know I value their ideas and it was nice to see them smile and become excited to know where we are going.

Another aside is that I am working at developing a rapport with my students. It was almost an effortless thing in the past, but probably only because of the length of the school year. Now I have eight weeks to go from zero to sixty and then we're done. I am trying to keep our room open and inviting. I am trying to keep them interested, but challenge them at the same time and also develop individual relationships. I don't know if it's necessarily the right thing, but it is how I operate. As a learner, I like to have a sense I know my professors and I know when I "knew" my students, instruction was fun. In developing rapport, the language and cultural barriers exist here more than before. But I think overall, there is a certain level of comfort in our classroom that makes everyone less apprehensive.

Part of me still worries that a product is necessary and at some point in my professional development I will find a better balance for demonstrating for others how I have spent my time in the classroom. But right now, I have a deep sense of appreciation for how willing my students are to try and learn this new jargon and how to use the computers. They don't become discouraged, they seem to become more determined. It's inspiring.