Hot for Teaching
You are smart, so skilled and successful that people are just begging for your wisdom. In fact, they’re willing to pay you to impart it upon other people. So what do you do, brainiac, when you’re asked to teach writing, but you’ve never taught before?
“The trick has been figuring out why certain things work on the page, and then trying to crystallize that into rules – or at least into suggestions. In a writing class for something specific like travel writing (or pitch writing, in fact) I’m much more focused on imparting specific advice that gets student articles into print,” says James Sturz, who teaches, um, pitch writing and travel writing for Mediabistro.
I spoke with Lynn Harris, MB humor writing instructor, who had no prior experience before she began teaching the ha-ha for MB. She advises one thing in particular:
“PLAY THE NAME GAME. Your students will hate you at first, then love you. I promise. Works every time. What you do: make them go around and say their first name and one simple thing about why they’re taking the class. Person 1 just does themselves. Then Person 2 has to say “that’s Person 1, and she’s taking the class because TK.” Person 3 has to do him/herself, then the other 2. (Yes, Person 11 is hosed.) Tell the students to not even THINK about taking notes so they’ll “get it right”; the point is to listen. Sounds goofy, but here are the results, all of which are crucial in a class where everyone’s gonna need to work together (for a bigger lecture, I still do the first part, but I don’t make them repeat it all back. This gives me — and them — a sense of who all’s in the room and brings them together in a way, kind of like the opening “om” in a yoga class.”):
1. They start learning each other’s names and a bit about each other (teacher learns same)
2. They work together to cue each other when someone forgets (why writing notes defeats the purpose)
3. It breaks the ice. you don’t have to just walk in there and start talking … they do!
4. They develop nickname-y shorthand for each other as they repeat back the info = bonding (sometimes inside jokes from this game have lasted the entire 8 weeks)
I actually do this for the first 2 or 3 class sessions, asking different simple questions (where are you from? where do you work?) each time. I promise you, it is INDISPENSABLE.”
Manoush Zomorodi, BBC writer and Mediabistro instructor, weighs in with some additional tips on being a good instructor:
-Think back to every professor or instructor you ever had-what made them good/interesting?
-Get the class to do an in-class assignment- it stops you from being long winded and keeps them awake
-Use name tags. That way you don’t look blank and clueless.
-Take a break, even if the class says it doesn’t need it. You need to be refreshed and so do they.
-Bring lots of water! I had no idea I would get so parched.
-Prepare more than you think you should. Some groups go through exercises much quicker than others…I’ve been glad to have a back-up discussion topic/assignment.
-Tell personal stories of your experiences…that way students believe you actually know what you’re talking about!
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