“Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

The quoted words above truly reflect the effect that my mentor’s observations have on me.

Although it has been a short journey from the day I started teaching freshmen students at Iowa State University, the observations of my mentor have  profoundly impacted my confidence and brought me far ahead in terms of my capabilities as a new teacher and a student who is willing to take all words of advice as pearls of wisdom. My mentor Dr. Michelle Tremmel’s second set of observations dated 3rd October 2018 shed light on some of the disciplinary issues my class was experiencing and also provided some insights on how I could tweak my techniques to enhance productive learning while reassuring me about the factors that were positively working for my class.

One of the major hassles that I had to tackle was the tardiness of students. Students arrived late, and that negatively affected the dynamics of the classroom. Students’ tardiness caused disruption. I had to reiterate some important information about assignments and update those who came in late. Dr.Tremmel’s suggestion to hold students accountable for their actions and not to update them with the information they missed due to their tardiness helped solve the problem eventually. After the midterms, I announced that students who would arrive late from the next class period onwards would have to sign-in a late slip and their participation points would be impacted by their tardiness. Using this policy in my classroom gradually solved the tardiness problems, and helped in the smooth functioning of my classroom.

Another issue that I was battling with was the talkative nature of some students. Some students were chatty and disregarded the presence of the speaker in class. Dr. Tremmel suggested that I point out and quote the university policies and address the issues. After posing a question, “What does being present in class mean?”  and hinting students that not just physically attending a class marks your presence, but being there, participating and not disrupting the class in any way is truly the meaning of being present. Yet after a few reminders, I noticed no change in the demeanor of some students. Consequently, I had to warn students that they would be considered tardy if I see them talking in the class when I am explaining some concepts or some other speaker in the class is presenting. Only after enforcing this discipline, I found that students adhered to the policy and the issue was nipped in the bud. 

Dr. Tremmel also observed that while I was giving instructions to students about the next class assignment, some students gazed at their computer screens instead of paying attention to the big projector screen. Dr. Tremmel thought that the class geared more towards a teacher-centered focus and being in a computer classroom, the screens in front of the students further jarred their attention. If students were given some meaningful tasks and assigned strategic seating positions, it would not have been so much of an issue. After contemplating over the matter, I felt that I was being a bit ambitious when I designed my lesson plan. I had planned student reflections for ten minutes, which went over the twenty minutes, a small-group based activity that included readings and skimming some documents on the internet, and then going over the requirements of the next assignment. But since the reflections took longer than expected, I had to revise my plan and therefore it looked more of a teacher-centered focus. But again, I need to understand that no matter what, I should not stray away from a student-centered focus. Having a small think-share pair activity to allow students to go over the requirements of the assignment would have also been more productive.

Reflecting on all the suggestions and changing and adapting to a few new styles helped me greatly to be successful as a teacher and to maintain my authority over my students while still having a student-centered focus in my classroom. Dr.Tremmel’s copious motivational comments over what was working well for me always encourages me to strive hard and do the best I can for my students. Some of the key aspects I feel I take pride in is encouraging all my students to voice their opinions or share the concepts they learned in class during discussions and helping students make connections from their past learning experiences to the current ones. Walking around the room and addressing students’ questions, assisting them and addressing their questions is also something I find beneficial in bringing the best attitude of my students. Teaching English 150  has facilitated to allow me to explore more of my potentials as a good teacher and it would not have been possible to explore without the immensely helpful advice of my mentor, Dr. Michelle Tremmel. Therefore I feel obliged and am grateful to her for all her efforts.