Pedagogy

Teaching is always —or should always be—an experiment, and one can only become a better teacher by reflecting on one’s own (and others’) teaching experiments. This class is designed to encourage participants to reflect critically on their own and others’ attempts to integrate teaching literature and writing. We will pursue this objective by

* reflecting on our goals as teachers;
* practicing teaching;
* observing each other teaching;
* discussing our experiences as teachers and giving each other feedback;
* discussing essays on teaching by professional teachers;
* preparing and reviewing teaching materials; and
* analyzing and responding to sample student work

Since most courses taught by GSIs in the department are Reading and Composition (“R&C”) courses, we will focus on preparing to teach in the 1A/1B sequence. You will learn many of the basic elements of teaching a successful 1A/1B course from experienced teachers in the Comp Lit department. We will begin by discussing what constitutes an argument and then cover a series of topics such as grading, leading discussion, and teaching revision. Each student will also present a sample lesson. But we will also reflect on our philosophies and goals in teaching literature and writing, and aim to integrate as much as possible the theoretical concerns of our own approaches to literature with practical approaches to teaching beginning students. Regular attendance and the completion of all assignments are required in order to satisfy the departmental pedagogy requirement.