I thought the class would be great. Why was it so bad?
First of all, what’s a bad class? Definitions abound! I would say for me a bad class means:
- I could have talked more in depth about the material adding deeper value to it but didn’t.
- I didn’t connect the material to the students on the terms and ideas they were thinking about or brought into the classroom.
- I didn’t conclude with a question or something for them to take with them as they left the class.
I should have prepared differently. I should have spent more time thinking about the material, which was very familiar to me. The death of good teaching is familiarity, either perceived or actual, with the material for the class. What I typically do is I meditate with the material meaning I try to think about it as if I were looking at it the way the students might. Then I try to write down, on paper, some of the major ideas I want to communicate about the topic/readings. I leave a lot of time at the end for the students to question or add in what they thought was meaningful.
Today I typed up my notes the night before and didn’t print them. I didn’t read them over just before class. I also read the material a couple of days ago. Not a great look.
I should stick to the plan and keep doing what works. Students are a mess these days – COVID and looming global disaster don’t make one eager and positive to think about tough ideas for the future that might not come. Still, I believe that offering a high-quality class every time can help them see the value even given this generally reasonable attitude about humanities courses.