Teaching Experience

Public speaking has always been difficult for me. I spent my grade school and college years being one of those stereotypical quiet students who sits unnoticed in the back of the class, never speaking up unless forced to. I avoided all classes having anything to do with drama, debate or speech. I had no idea how much that attitude would change during the three years I spent at the iSchool.
	Student Learning Center - Mansfield Library

iSchool - the first quarter, while enrolled in LIS 500 Professor Stuart Sutton made it clear that EVERYONE would be expected to participate in class discussions. The knowledge that my questions and comments would be freely available in an open forum for all to see made me sick to my stomach, yet I knew that if I wanted to get full credit for my work I would have to step out of my comfort zone and share my thoughts. Later that same quarter I was horrified to discover that in LIS 510 I would have to do a group presentation. No longer could I hide behind my computer keyboard, I would now have to actually record my voice and sync it with a Power Point presentation for the entire class to view. I was so nervous that it took me 10 attempts to get past the first slide! At least noone would be able to see how flushed my face became when I was speaking.
The following quarter - I took a class outside the iSchool (GEOG 488). Toward the end of the quarter Dr. Wilson informed us that we would all have a chance to practice our presentation skills. We were each to give a 10 to 15 minute presentation based on any of our mapping projects that we completed during the quarter. This was even scarier than sending a presentation streaming over the internet! Now I would have to actually stand in front of people to give my presentation. (.ppt)
	Opening Slide for Power Point Presentation

The only comfort I found in the assignment was in knowing that I was familiar with Power Point, so creating the sides would be easy. Finals week arrived and the presentations began. As I waited my turn I thought surely I would have a heart attack before I finished my first sentence. As it turned out I did not have a heart attack and either noone noticed that I was sweating, or they were too polite to say anything.

Teaching at work - Because of an increased interest in using macros to improve workflow taking place in the Bibliographic Management Services Department of the Mansfield Library, a colleague and I were asked to conduct a workshop on Macro Express. The hour long workshop covered the basics of using Macro Express in conjunction with the Voyager system. We provided explanations of how to import and export macros, how to modify an existing macro and how to create new macros. Participants were asked to bring an ideas for a macro that they wanted to use so that everyone could get hands on practice and assistance with creating their own macros. This was a lot of fun for me because I was able to share my knowledge in a useful way and got to see other people getting excited about taking something they learned and finding ways to apply it to their specific situations.

While the above examples all stretched my abilities and forced me to confront my fears associated with public speaking my most significant teaching experience occurred during the summer between my first and second year at the iSchool...

University Transitions Course (UNC 195) - Every year the Mansfield Library at the University of Montana participates in a program called University Transition. Normally this class session is taught by the First Year Librarian; however, because of a vacancy two fellow MLIS students and I agreed to team teach the class. This involved meeting with members of the writing center and faculty in the Continuing Education Department to review the class assignments. We were responsible for organizing and creating a syllabus (.doc), a research log (.doc) worksheet for the students and a variety of informative handouts. There were approximately 250 students registered for the class, divided into six groups. Each of us served as the lead presenter for two sessions and as class assistant for two sessions during the first day. The following two days we were available to answer questions and assist students in their research during open working sessions at the library. After completion of the class we assisted with grading the student portfolios. Like all classes taught at the Mansfield Library this one ended by asking the students to evaluate us. Finding out what the students thought of the class was an excellent way to end this teaching experience. From their input I was able to learn even more from the experience and devise ways in which to improve my teaching and presentation skills for the future.

I have to admit that when I was first approached with this assignment I panicked. There was no way that I could possibly stand up in front of a room full of strangers and actually teach a class. My coworkers were equally intimidated by the request but we knew we couldn't say no. We worked together and reserved the classroom so we could practice teaching each other a couple of times before the real thing.
	Student Learning Center - Mansfield Library
I was so nervous the first morning of the class that I almost forgot my name and had to start over introducing myself and welcoming everyone to the class. Once past that I got so involved in the course material and answering questions I almost forgot that I didn't like public speaking. That was until I glanced up at the clock and realized I had less than 15 minutes left and would have to rush through the rest of the material. The following hour I assisted a coworker and was able to calm down when I realized she wasn't perfect either and that not being perfect wasn't going to cause a worldwide disaster. By the end of the second session as instructor I was actually enjoying myself and wishing there would be another class the next day.
To some people teaching two one-hour sessions of a single credit undergraduate class may not sound like much of an opportunity. However this event was significant for me personally. Here I was, overcoming my fear of public presentations, teaching a group of incoming freshmen some of the basic skills they would need to do research in the library and succeed in their future classes at the university. Here I was, encouraging others to ask questions as I demonstrated on the big screen how to do an advanced search in the library catalog. And here I was, five days later grading papers and seeing proof that these students really did learn something. The whole experience was incredible! Imagine my delight when presented with an opportunity to team teach the library portion of University Transition class again the following summer. I agreed without a second thought and I am looking forward to other opportunities for teaching in my future. As I look back on my time with the iSchool I am amazed at how much I have grown in such a short amount of time, not only with my technical skills and knowledge but in my level of confidence in my abilities to accomplish anything I set out to do. I am still not completely comfortable speaking in front of a group of people but I can now do it without fear of failure. I find it amazing that this shy quiet girl who couldn't even raise her hand to ask a question in class is now standing up in front of the room actually teaching classes and having fun doing it!

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