"Dare to Dream" Day: Teaching My First Lesson at Camp Fulbright

My Camp Instructor (CI) is a two-year ETA named Eric. From our first meeting, he told the group of ETAs he is working with that he is frank and straightforward, and apologized in advance for basically any hurt feelings on our end when receiving his evaluations on our lesson planning and our teaching. He explained that he would be harder on us because he believes it would serve all of us better in the long run to receive honest, constructive feedback now, as opposed to crashing and burning in our assigned schools later on because we were coddled during Orientation and Camp Fulbright. 

Everyone nodded, agreeing that very honest feedback that could potentially hurt our feelings was indeed better than planning a whole lesson plan with no one to tell us that it might actually just flop. All over the place.  

It is in his class that I taught for the first time today! Before it was my turn, I observed and evaluated another ETA teach a lesson on the same theme of "Dare to Dream." He was to pretend that the CI and I were not present in the room and conduct class as if he were the only one there. After his 45-minute lesson ended, Eric called break time and I was able to begin setting up for my turn to teach. 

FIRST TIME TEACHING AT CAMP FULBRIGHT

I was a bit nervous at first but once I got up to the front of the room, a surge of excitement overtook me and a feeling of awesome familiarity came over me as I held my lesson plan in one hand and casually wrestled with the projector's remote control with the other. 

WHAT HELPED ME OVERCOME MY NERVES

Being up there suddenly reminded me that I had done this before. Many times. In college. I am extremely grateful for the three years I spent leading Freshman Interest Groups at the University of Washington. Although I had mentored nearly all my life, the UW's First Year Programs is where I first learned to create lesson plans and it is there where I began to really hone my skills in public speaking. I would not have been as confident teaching in Eric's classroom today without the years of practice and experience I have had with FYP and FIGs. 

I taught and facilitated General Studies 199 for three Autumn Quarters: FIG 67 during the 2010-2011 academic  year, FIG 20 during 2011-2012, and FIG 67 during 2012-2013.

ANOTHER EXPERIENCE THAT HELPED ME PREPARE FOR THIS MOMENT
This past year, I have also gained more confidence in front of the classroom by designing a class on the mail-order bride industry at the University, and leading two separate Focus Groups in the Comparative History of Ideas program on the topic. Instead of working with incoming freshmen and transfer students like I did as a FIG Peer Instructor, as a CHID Focus Group Peer Instructor/Faciltator, I had the opportunity to work with upperclassmen from different disciplines who, for one reason or another, wanted to learn more about the topic.

This was a discussion-based class, and conversations about the intersections of identity
definitely fueled each two-hour class session! The top photo was taken when my
students were presenting their Final Ethnographic Projects. I had invited a few peers
and my CHID mentor to sit in. The bottom photo is my first Focus Group class
at the end of our 10-week quarter.

 But I digress.

WHY I THINK CLASS WENT WELL
Besides the fact that I was actually fiddling with the wrong remote control, I was very pleased with how smoothly the class went today. I can't attribute this to my lesson planning alone, or even my execution. So much of what went right depended on how the students received the information and participated in the class activities I had set up. It went supremely well because I had students who shouted out answers as I wrote things up on the board, mustered up enough courage to not only share but also try and interpret their dreams, and gave me energy I didn't expect they would have at 3 p.m. right after lunch and right after another ETA's lesson.

This cute sign was posted on the door of Eric's classroom. Despite its cuteness, I actually didn't notice the design
or the words until after I came out of the classroom. I was that nervous and inattentive!

There are limitations on how much I can share about Camp Fulbright, but suffice it to say that my CI was likewise very pleased. He discussed his evaluation of my teaching performance, and then gave me the other ETA's written observations and evaluations, as well as the campers' anonymous class surveys on ETA performance. I was expecting to cringe a lot during my post-teaching one-on-one meeting with Eric, but this was not the case. 

I basically floated out of that room, greatly encouraged and reassured of my path in life. I didn't have enough sleep from a night of studying and lesson planning, but I left the class incredibly energized and ready to tackle more days of teaching! 

A couple of the student campers' evaluation of my 45-minutes of teaching on the topic of "The Interpretation
of Dreams"

Hopefully, my next two classes go just as well, if not better!

MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU
Here in Korea, teaching is a highly-respected and sought-after profession. What are your views on teaching and teachers? As a student, were you ever aware of the fact that your teachers operated class based on a lesson plan? That each day had an objective, a series of activities, and a set time for each activity? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.