Giving My First Lecture...

One Song Glory · November 2010

I will be stepping into professorial shoes for the first time next Monday morning. I've done seminar presentations for the same length of time in my Honours and MA classes but this will be my first official lecture. The prof I TA for is going to a conference so I shall be babysitting the kiddies and teaching Tennyson's "Ulysses" (while frantically trying to finish the much more intimidating 1000-page version for my own class). Has anyone seen the Canadian film "One Week"? Where the protagonist reads this very poem in a booming, passionate voice to an uninspired high school English class? I foresee that being my experience on Monday, but with third-year undergrads. :? Any thoughts?

81 · November 2010

picture the class in their underwear

Dissidentman · November 2010

I get lectured plenty, however I have no advice for ya.

Maybe "Don't drink so much then"

One Song Glory · November 2010

81 wrote:

picture the class in their underwear

Haha, probably NOT the best way to go. :?

StillHere · November 2010

Got nothing, no matter how many I've done, I always get knots and butterflies along with doubts beforehand.

But you know what, it always all turns out OK...and I'm sure your will too.

Just be passionate, or pretend to be at the very least, and you'll be a hit.

Pretend it's PJ your speaking on. lol! Works, it does.

eyedclaar · November 2010

Well, if I’ve learned anything from the rapid disintegration of the American attention span, you are going to need fireworks and car chases to keep them riveted. Ok, so NASCAR already figured that one out. Hmmm, in that case, just have a race playing on a big screen behind you. To your eyes, it will seem like people are paying attention.

dcfaithful · November 2010

This is not helpful at all, but I'm just curious as to what class this is that you're lecturing in?

maj4e · November 2010

I teach college @ night.

I do a form of edu-tainment, I pick on them a little just to keep it light. Also I was born with a complete disregard of what people think so that helps in public speaking.

StillHere · November 2010

I got it!

Instead of picturing them in THEIR underwear,

how bout you just go in YOUR underwear.

That'll keep their attention. LOL! Right?

chadwick · November 2010

have fun
good luck

make it fun and engaging
a lot of people are afraid to get up and speak in front of others

you are not that guy

BinauralJam · November 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duZ4VSDm ... re=related

Hope this helps.

unlost dogs · November 2010

Hey OSG, I can appreciate your discomfort. When I had to give my first big lecture to grad students, my first one as faculty, I was fine until I walked into the very formal auditorium and they were all staring at me.

I put my stuff down, walked outside, called my husband and said, "They're all staring at me!" He said, "Well, that's good. At least they aren't playing games on their cell phones."

He suggested saying, "Not that long ago, I was sitting in the seats. This is new for me, hope it will be helpful for all of us." Something along those lines.

I find it helps to walk around a lot. Avoid podium paralysis and for God's sake don't read every word off the slides.

I'm quite comfortable lecturing now. I mean, who wouldn't want to hear me go on and on and on and on?

Can I get a witness?

Yes/No?

eyedclaar · November 2010

unlost dogs wrote:

Hey OSG, I can appreciate your discomfort. When I had to give my first big lecture to grad students, my first one as faculty, I was fine until I walked into the very formal auditorium and they were all staring at me.

I put my stuff down, walked outside, called my husband and said, "They're all staring at me!" He said, "Well, that's good. At least they aren't playing games on their cell phones."

He suggested saying, "Not that long ago, I was sitting in the seats. This is new for me, hope it will be helpful for all of us." Something along those lines.

I find it helps to walk around a lot. Avoid podium paralysis and for God's sake don't read every word off the slides.

I'm quite comfortable lecturing now. I mean, who wouldn't want to hear me go on and on and on and on?

Can I get a witness?

Yes/No?

BinauralJam · November 2010

unlost dogs wrote:

Hey OSG, I can appreciate your discomfort. When I had to give my first big lecture to grad students, my first one as faculty, I was fine until I walked into the very formal auditorium and they were all staring at me.

I put my stuff down, walked outside, called my husband and said, "They're all staring at me!" He said, "Well, that's good. At least they aren't playing games on their cell phones."

He suggested saying, "Not that long ago, I was sitting in the seats. This is new for me, hope it will be helpful for all of us." Something along those lines.

I find it helps to walk around a lot. Avoid podium paralysis and for God's sake don't read every word off the slides.

I'm quite comfortable lecturing now. I mean, who wouldn't want to hear me go on and on and on and on?

Can I get a witness?

Yes/No?

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz hhhuuuhhh whaa oohhh zzzzzzzzzzzzz

One Song Glory · November 2010

dcfaithful wrote:

This is not helpful at all, but I'm just curious as to what class this is that you're lecturing in?

It's just the standard Romantic/Victorian third-year course in the undergrad program here at Carleton. Because it's a required course in the English canon, most people aren't generally all that interested...myself included. Maybe it's the field I'm specializing in, but everyone I know is looking for an excuse to study video games, pop culture and the Internet under the umbrella of "English." So the trick will be to appear like I think Victorian poetry is the greatest thing since sliced bread, while my own literary interests are pretty much 20-21st Century American/Canadian...with a specialization in Digital Humanities.

But hey, who says I can't teach Tennyson too?

One Song Glory · November 2010

eyedclaar wrote:

Well, if I’ve learned anything from the rapid disintegration of the American attention span, you are going to need fireworks and car chases to keep them riveted. Ok, so NASCAR already figured that one out. Hmmm, in that case, just have a race playing on a big screen behind you. To your eyes, it will seem like people are paying attention.

Ha, well my big research interest is all about flashy avant-garde techno shit...so maybe my attention span is equally shot. McLuhan tried to warn us all but we wrote him off as a lunatic. I like to think I'm not a lost cause even if I do study digital media; my favourite book is 700+ pages long AND I'm willingly reading the much scarier Ulysses for a second time.

Even though I guarantee that a crash course in Digital Humanities would blow their little minds and hold their attention, methinks I need to stick to the basics here...so that I can continue to get paid to go to school.

At least it's only a 2-page poem. They SHOULD be able to handle it. I'm not asking them to read Joyce!

One Song Glory · November 2010

Mission accomplished!

RKCNDY · November 2010

How did it go?

One Song Glory · November 2010

Really well actually. I can apparently fake a wealth of knowledge of Tennyson...by complementing it with tangential knowledge of everything else.

And class participation was fantastic.

dcfaithful · November 2010

Congrats on a successful first lecture!

RKCNDY · November 2010

Yes, congrats! :thumbup:

Giving My First Lecture...

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