Instruction Adventures

On Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon, I was able to observe my first two instruction sessions as an intern. They were very different subjects, very different class dynamics, and very different instruction topics, but some of the reactions and responses were the same. I enjoyed the experiences of watching Sara teach keywords through ads to freshman, and seeing some of the contrast when Brett went into some advanced search techniques for a 400 European History seminar. This first session helped me realize one of weaknesses and the second gave me a chance to use one of my strengths.

Stronger than Aunt Bertha’s Breath: Genderads.com

My first session was the freshman session taught by Sara. Farren Stanley’s EN 102 was not a completely normal instruction session due to the nature of their assignment, which involved visual sources, including the photo above, which was one of examples during class. Here are some of the things I learned from Sara during class:

• Sometimes getting freshman to volunteer answers seems much like pulling teeth, even when the English Instructor helps.
• Activities are good! …Start with one.
• Movement helps keep the freshman involved and, I believe, mildly frightened of you seeing were they are not supposed to be on the internet.
• Eye contact with the group also helps with the above statement.
• Treat the lesson like a one-on-one conversation with a group, not a presentation or performance.
• The “No More Than Four” rule, which was something I had never known before Wednesday.
• Let the students choose their own path and examples.

Of these lessons, the one that I think was hardest and most important for me was the last. Silence is not always my strongest suit, and in this session, it was particularly hard for me to not to try to help the students with their keyword examples. Part of it was the awkward silences waiting for the students to answer, and part it was prior knowledge of important literary stereotypes. I desperately wanted to inform the group, “She’s a hag!”, but I came to realize that the right answer is not always the right answer, and that me sharing my “right answer” with them wasn’t what they needed: They needed what Sara gave them–a chance to develop their search on the their own. I feel like this might be one of my greatest instruction weakness, and I’m going to learn not to mother them along their path, but allow them to find it, as slow as they want, on their own.

The second session, Brett’s advanced session for a History seminar class on the long 19th century in Europe, was a joy to watch and help with consulting. The class subject was one of my favorites as an undergraduate, and being able to sit in on this reminded me of why I wanted to go into library instruction in the first place–to be able to listen to a whole new generation of topics on the subjects I love. Some of things I learned from Brett’s session are included below:

• Sometimes getting upperclassmen to volunteer answers seems much like pulling teeth, even when the History Instructor helps.
  
• It easier to get students to respond and ask questions when they’re not in a group, but working on their own.
• That some instances of primary and secondary are hard even for a masters student, so they’ve got to be hard for an undergraduate (That was a hard handout, Brett!)
• Some students don’t need your help with topics and keywords, and some do. Ask anyway.
• The moment when you help turn a topic and a search around and you get to help a student understand is one the best moments a reference librarian can have.

It was a joy to be able to help consult with the students. One of my favorite moments is when I was able to help one of the women in the class go from this nebulous idea of Britain and High Society and maybe Colonial India to a few more specific topics, and then to have her ask me a question on how to search one of the topics I had helped suggest (19th Century British Travel Writings on the Colonies, especially Colonial India) was so much fun to me. It made me feel like I had an active role on affecting a student.

Well, I had a draft of this saved, which has vanished into thin electrons, and at this point, I cannot reconstruct it as my first impressions of the reading have been lost.  The short version is that I found myself being told that we should be all-inclusive in our worldview, and yet the idea of a “grand narrative” was used as a disparaging term in reference to some folks’ way of framing the sweep of time and history (and perhaps, the teaching of it).  Yes, I agree that those who think that Western Civilization is synonymous with World History have missed the boat, but not having the absolute diversity of opinions on the table is not my idea of a good discussion, either.

Interdisciplinary work makes all the sense in the world, especially as I see it being played out here at UA.  English instructors are collaborating with library instructors to help beginning freshmen find their feet in library use and scholarly communication.  Being aware that the Information Cycle is born and bred to be a survivor in this 24/7/365 world and is driven by commercial and power-structure interests should be no surprise to freshmen.  Showing them a way around an information power structure that seems more interested in Jersey Shore than their (the students’) long-term health and well-being is to assist in developing life skills that will be with those students forever.  Sign me up, and I thank you for the opportunity.

Had the pleasure of observing Mr. Brett Spencer working with 24 reluctant to cooperative students this morning beginning about 0930, and by 1030 they were all cooperative and pleased to have useful information in their hands or emails. Brett started with an Alabama football quiz for those students who came early enough, and by the time he started explaining Scout, most of the class was awake.

I realized how one had to begin at the beginning, assuming nothing in terms of library and computer use in order to make sure we were all on the same page, and the active learning component (following along with Brett) was an important part of getting the class material across to the students.  Brett did the step by step rollup to using the basic search in Scout, got things rolling toward keywords (southern culture as a taking off point) using Bubbl.us, and the five or six various groups in the class all followed along in learning the Scout tool.  Sooner than expected, Brett turned them loose to discuss among themselves what topics they wanted to explore, and they were busily selecting keywords as Brett waded into them waist deep, helping out where he could.

Again, the importance of beginning at the beginning was impressed upon me as I was called upon to escort a student to find books the group had selected about Southern foodways (call number guides at the elevators), and this student had never been beyond the first or second floor of Gorgas.  Another group (football, religion, politics) had found some items held in the Hoole collections and were very excited to hear that it would be a treat just to go to Hoole to use their holdings.  One student had bad experiences in high school trying to use databases, and a few limiters and a bit of encouragement pulled it all out of the ditch and put it back on the road again.  Got a chance to assist in keyword selection with one group that was interested in Southern clothing fashion (Southeastern United States; clothing/garment design; sales and marketing).  Yet another group was going to get their first experience with inter-library loan, so the diversity of requests and needs was also impressive.

Overall, a great learning experience for me, and a productive experience for the students, if I can judge by what they left the classroom with.  This flipped classroom thing seems to be quite effective, and getting productive work done in class pleases students in that they have a leg up on their projects, and their homework is on the way to getting done.  Many thanks to Brett for allowing me to observe, and I was glad to have some student contact again after years out of the classroom.  Oh yeah, the snow that started during class was only a small part of the excitement.

I found the reading extremely informative and encouraging. I found myself, while reading, trying to reason through practical ways to get students to change the way they think about libraries. For example, I thought about starting out with a simple question like, “why do your professors reject Wikipedia as a source for your papers?” After receiving answers, I thought perhaps I would ask, “what is a peer-reviewed journal, and why is that an acceptable source?”

While these are broad and perhaps bad questions, I felt like maybe they would be beneficial in introducing students to ‘why libraries exist’. This article also made me think critically about my 10 minute teaching session next week. I want to do my session on the boolean operators in Scout advanced searching. I want to explain what the AND and OR features do, and why they are useful. I started thinking about it in terms of a visual graph, with words leading to different databases. Perhaps this is all getting a little too MLIS, but I feel like it would help if students understood why search terms are not always successful, and how the OR function can help them turn up more relevant searches. I also found myself wondering if I could plan searches for this session. For example, I could give my students a phrase to search, say ‘capital punishment’. I could then ask them to search ‘capital punishment’ OR ‘death penalty’. Through demonstration, I could possibly help them understand why this type of search is beneficial.

Had the pleasure of observing Ms. Sara Whitver teaching a group of young folks re search strings, key words, Boolean operators, and Scout.  A great deal was packed into about 50 minutes, and the one difference I noted in the session when compared to an earlier observation with Mr. Brett Spencer was that the EN 102 instructor was there.  Mr. Spencer had someone who showed up to take the EN roll, but the instructor was unavoidably out.

In Ms. Whitver’s class, the instructor was there, “driving” the process.  That is, she was there with immediate feedback and comments to direct her students, giving examples how Ms. Whitver’s material applied to things already discussed in the EN class, and brainstorming live with Ms. Whitver as to how to make the entire process more relevant and effective for the students.  Great example of team teaching, and I trust that Ms. Whitver’s examples will be further discussed in the EN class to good effect.

“Begin at the beginning” was again impressed upon me, and the class slowly awakened to taking part and contributing their answers and ideas, because it really was a brainstorming session among everyone in the room–it felt like time well spent.

All I have to say, just wanted to get it down before it got covered up in what is left of my brain.  All good things, gissteve.

I have just finished presenting my first practice lesson to the group on Scout. Since I have never created a lesson to teach anyone anything, I spent an incredible amount of time preparing for this ten minute session. When it was all said and done, I think I spent about ten hours creating a ten minute lesson. Yeesh.

Though I probably spent way too much time creating this lesson, I am actually glad I did. I feel really good about how I whittled my lesson down to the basic elements. I feel I did a good job limiting my lesson to certain features of Scout that are easy to use and understand. My major concern going into today was that my lesson, if not carefully thought out, would quickly balloon into an aimless discussion of Scout features that are overly complicated or take too long to explain. I wanted to keep my lesson clear, concise, and simple. I did not want to fall into a stammering explanation of what a ‘boolean operator’ is (I called the boolean operator ‘AND’ a ‘function’ to avoid just that) or even how we use all three boolean operators. These discussions can become complicated really fast. I also did not want to skip any steps, as I kept reminding myself that I could not assume my audience knew anything, even something so simple as what a keyword is. In those aspects, I believe I succeeded.

Where I feel I did not succeed, and I knew this would be the case, was in visual presentation and classroom interaction. I used powerpoint because, quite honestly, I wasn’t sure what else to do. My powerpoint helped me personally because when I get up in front of a group of people I quickly forget what I need to say, so it is nice to have something to reference so I do not freeze up. Obviously this is not good for my class, however, because they do not want to look at a dull, wordy powerpoint while I read it word-for-word to them.  As for classroom interaction, I suppose I did a good job of incorporating questions into my lesson. In other words, I asked a few questions that were meant to force the class through the logical process of deriving keywords from ideas and putting them into Scout in the most effective way possible. However, I was hoping to come up with some sort of game or activity that would really engage the classroom, but I was not able to develop anything concrete before our meeting.

Overall, I am very happy with the way my lesson went, given that it was my first time up there. I feel it gave me the confidence to move forward in my user instruction experience.

Reflections upon reading #2, “Heart of a Teacher”, Chapter One, from The Courage to Teach, by Parker J. Palmer

Not a boring reading, I am glad to report.  Beginning with a bad day of teaching (students “silent as monks”) and referring to 30 years of learning the craft of teaching, Palmer finds that the “techniques I have mastered do not disappear, but neither do they suffice.”  Terrific turn of phrase and analysis, and further “good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.” (p. 10)

Infusing one’s teaching with one’s personal identity and “being there” with and for students in the service of learning, teaching is not reducible to technique, but comes from the heart (“good teaching comes from good people.” p.13).  Further, student have had objectivity drummed into them, leading to their being out of touch with themselves, stilted in their speech and writing, deluded “into thinking that bad prose can turn opinions into facts” p. 18.  This is one of the most adept descriptions of stiff scholarship I have ever read.

Saddest, and perhaps truest of all, Palmer gives us “we train doctors to repair the body but hot to honor the spirit; clergy to be CEOs but not spiritual guides; teachers to master techniques but not to engage their students’ souls.” p.19  In the name of objectivity, we have lost heart and denied the value of subjective thought.  Palmer goes on to advocate for not only mentors, but explores the qualities of mentees that will/did allow them to absorb what the mentors had to offer.

This is a very person and subjective journey that Palmer guides us on, exploring the joy and pain of teaching.  Working for money and not meaning (p.30) is a common plight these days where holding the job or honoring your soul (p.30) is the real question.  Listening to your inner voice, your inner teacher is the path to identity and integrity as a teacher—and one must author their own authority as a teacher. (p.33)  The truth within your students will respond to you, and respond in kind (p.33).

This is so personal and so deep that while I appreciate Palmer’s sharing the inner workings of the inner teacher, I wonder how many readers will or can attain this depth of understanding.  Great benchmark, but quite a distant or demanding target.  Inspiring to read, perhaps impossible to reach, but there is nothing wrong with aiming high.  I think perhaps Palmer was writing for teachers in similar situations: 30 years of experience, bouts of depression, wondering if it is worth it all, sounds like burnout to me.  At the same time, Palmer rejects pursuing other vocations—the inner teacher loves the inner students.  I think THAT is what has distinguished the exceptional teachers I have known.  Not only “being there” but with love and caring for the students, and also for the disciplines they taught so well.

This is the first in our series of readings for GIS Spring 2013, and for me it was like finding a meteorite in my front yard—just sitting out there in the open, apropos of nothing.  Great job of laying out the unifying factors that MAKE good instructors good instructors, but only if you subscribe to the idea that the sum of the parts equals the whole.  For the most part, I can subscribe to this logic—except where humans are involved, and I know that every outstanding instructor I have ever had possessed something that could not be reduced to words.  That is, good instructors engender FEELINGS in their students, these feelings spark curiosity, and curiosity makes you want to know what is on the other side of the mountain.  That said, please see below re Ken Bain’s Chapter Five.

Bain admits from the get go that any teaching method (my favorite was always called guided discovery) can fail, but then goes on to dissect specific methods employed by specific instructors to inspire students.  His first point was that one should create a “natural critical learning environment” with everyone in the class working together.  This latter charge is challenging enough (professionals are supposed to work together, and class work should mirror this model), but the critical learning environment involves embedding natural activity and questions into a learning environment where everyone is reasoning from evidence.  Evidence-based (you fill in the blank) is a huge buzzword these days—I first heard of evidence-based medicine—and if physician scientists need convincing as to the utility of basing behavior or treatment upon the best evidence, how should college students react to this tactic?  Pretty well, I predict, as there is no ponderous structure (yet) limiting young students’ imaginations—what a great opportunity.

The second point was to get students’ attention and keep it (???!), and let the approach you take be student centered (point three), not discipline-oriented.  That is, you need to first care about the students, and then work toward the discipline.  The fourth point was to seek commitment from students to the class and learning class material, and (5) to help students learn out of class and then use class time to actually do work and check on their progress.  Finally, one must engage students in disciplinary thinking (learning to think like professionals in the field), and create diverse learning experiences, as the brain loves variety (harking back to the–apparently outdated–idea of different styles of learning).  All of this contributes to an environment where “What is the next question” becomes the END of any learning experience, and yet is the BEGINNING of the next learning iteration.  Sounds great.

Above all, student must learn to talk in class, and instructors who communicate well and warmly are those who will succeed in this.  From my experience, making students feel empowered to make a contribution to any class, and accepting those contributions is the key to WANTING to go to class for any student (I believe).  In short, the challenges are many, and opportunities equal the number of challenges.  No one has all the answers.  No one is beyond learning (students and teachers).  Great teachers focus on learning, both theirs and their students (p. 134).  Lots to do.  Let’s get with it.