My first experience co-teaching was last week when I helped James teach two EN 101 classes. One notable part of the experience was that I was far less nervous about co-teaching than I thought I would be. This summer I spent a lot of time helping with the journalism school’s orientation, and being in the library instruction classes felt very similar. Another notable aspect of the class was that the teacher whose class it was was very hands on and interactive with myself and James, which made the students more at ease. They participated and spoke a lot more than James or I anticipated, which helped make the classroom more comfortable for myself as well.
For my part, I helped teach the students Scout as well as helped them determine what reliable sources are when it comes to research and writing papers. At the end of the class, the students worked on an assignment their professor gave them, which meant I got to help the students navigate Scout themselves and identify trustworthy sources. It was cool to not only be about to teach them about these things, but then be apply to help them practically apply it themselves. Because they were doing an assignment, the things they were learning in the library instruction class were more meaningful, which caused them to be more attentive and ready to learn.