Teaching sociology

The little blurb at the top of this blog says we'll post about learning how to teach sociology, so Sarah figured it was about time to write such a post. Here it is.

I did it. I survived my first semester as a real college professor and no one got hurt. No one except the one student I almost kicked out of the program and the 30 other students who probably didn't learn anything, but really, whose counting?

I knew going into this semester that it was going to be hard and that I would make mistakes. Directing an after-school literacy program in a public elementary school for a year is not adequate preparation for teaching 2 classes, three days a week, to juniors and seniors in college. But, despite this realistic--and what I originally thought was overly pessimistic--attitude I was continually startled by just how hard it was and just how many mistakes I could make in one 50 minute chunk of time. I mean, really, if you bill yourself as a methods expert you should not be confusing the independent and dependent variable.

To avoid posting a long, rambling, rant I think it's best to summarize this semester in a series of bullet points...possible PowerPoint slides, if you will...

IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE STUDENTS (especially juniors and seniors)

• The schools these students are coming from have failed them.
• They do not know how to write in complete sentences.
• They do not know how to properly capitalize.
• They do not know what the structure of a paragraph should be.
• THEY HAVE NEVER HAD TO THINK.
  

These students have never been asked to reflect upon something, to read something and use what they've read to support their argument, or to have an independent thought. All they have been asked to do is memorize and spit back what they have memorized. Keep in mind, MSU is the best university in Mississippi (read: hardest to get in to). The students I meet are the brightest of the bunch. While this may seem like a liberal, academic point it has serious consequences for these students. Many of them cannot communicate effectively--a skill I think most can see is important for virtually any job or career. Even the most uncaring capitalist should be able to recognize that we must seriously invest and improve our public education system in order to create a competent workforce. As a pinko, elitist, intellectual I would argue that we should make these investments and improvements just because we should, but that's a conversation best had face-to-face over a cup of coffee or a good bottle of gin (you pick, I'll buy).

MOST SOCIOLOGY MAJORS ARE TRANSFER STUDENTS FROM MISSISSIPPI JUNIOR COLLEGES. This means:

• They do not know where the library is on campus.
• They have not been taught by my colleagues in the lower level courses.
• They have not really experienced college and therefore have no concept of how much work they are expected to do.

THE SILVER LINING REGARDING MSU STUDENTS

• There are a handful of incredibly bright students who amazed me everyday.
• Many students were incredibly appreciative of the extra help I gave them.
• Few students held the entitled, privileged attitude I frequently came across through out my own education.

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT TEACHING

• Teaching is hard!
• Preparing for a 50 minute lecture can easily take 24 hours.
• The rare moment when a student finally "gets it" is worth the 12 hour days.

I have no idea how "real" teachers (those who are the classroom from 7am to 3pm or even just those teaching more than 2 courses a semester) do it. Go out and hug a teacher today. They deserve it.

Well, so much for avoiding a long, rambling post. Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on my students when they can't write a concise, focused essay?

Because every post deserves a photo here's one of Bowen Hall--home of the sociology department.

Yes, that is my bike out front. The one with the big, red basket.