Observation Reflection
Being observed in my 395 class was a novel experience for me; even though Justin was usually in the room on the days I led lectures, it felt a little nerve-wrecking to have Vivian be in my class. I think that was harbored in the fact that I had already established my goals and my teaching style with Justin and he was familiar with what I would be doing in the classroom beforehand, whereas all of Vivian’s experience in the classroom would be new ones. She was not able to come in on a day where I was the primary facilitator of the discussion, so she mostly had notes regarding how we ran the classroom and what assignment we were working on. Justin spoke for most of the class, and I gave intermittent feedback, clarification, and notes. The students had about 15 minutes in the class to brainstorm and bounce ideas off each other regarding the assignment- that was the first time they were introduced to it. The assignment we were talking about was the Research Review- the second assignment of the semester. In the Research Review, students had to select a public health topic they found interesting and compile a review that showed what the current academic and research environment was saying about the topic, things that had been done in the past, any gaps in the research, and why that particular problem is carries a sense of exigence on college campuses. After class, Vivian and I talked about what the assignment looked like in the larger context of the course (after conducting research on their topic, the students would later submit funding proposals for subsequent public health campaigns), how they would submit it (electronically for drafts, hard copy for the final draft), what the revision process looks like (students get one day in class for peer revisions, and everyone receives comments on their drafts from either me or Justin), and my role as a TA in Justin’s class (I lead lectures occasionally, provide draft feedback, hold office hours, and help with lesson planning).
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