Does anyone here teach?
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- SlashPeckham
Just started a gig as a visiting tutor (degree level) and i was wondering if anyone here had any experience doing this...
eg...
What do you do if half the little buggers don't turn up for class?
What do you do if the kids haven't done enough/any work in the last week...
Any links and useful insights and resources would be appreciated
ta.
- honest0
• do give out as much advice as possible
• prepare them for the worst aspects of the job – warts and all
• inspire, instigate and interest them – remember that you're there for their benefit, if they don't play ball, then it's their loss.
• oh and whatever you do, don't ever, ever joke to girls that sleeping with you will increase their grades. The head of the faculty had some interesting words for me on that particular subject.- ta... lasting impression = not a slag (the entire course is two guys anyway)SlashPeckham
- neverblink0
Make sure the 'rules' are clear from the start. Where I teach they have a 20% absence rule. If you miss more than 20% of the classes you don't pass.
Tell them you'll grade their (home)work and that'll weigh in on their final mark. Or simply tell them you're dissapointed in them (sometimes that's enough to get them motivated).- but being positive when they do something good is always a better motivatorneverblink
- and sometimes its enough to keep them away...SlashPeckham
- studderine0
i taught for a while...not at the uni level though.
- Autokern0
I heard that spooky was going to be a teacher.
- skt0
haha, i was about to post exactly the same thing.
- cannonball19780
I teach a masters class at the AAU in SF.
Teach your heart out. Tell them everything they ask. Scare the shit out of them.
Don't follow the curriculum 100%. Maybe 60%
Don't tolerate whining.- oh yeah? I went to that school
say wassup to Phil!monospaced - hunter wimmmer?fiver
- sry nope on both counts. im antisocial.. only know the dept headscannonball1978
- oh yeah? I went to that school
- SlashPeckham0
thanks everybody - heres a link to the brief (i'm kind of nervous... its my first time)
http://tinyurl.com/yenuvfj
- vaxorcist0
First day.... try to find out how people decided to take your particular class.... some people really should not be there, and so if they later decide to stop coming, it may have nothing to do with you, your class, your subject,etc......
Some people seem to keep going to school but not progressing.... that's a fight to have with administration, i.e. what should they take before they get to your class.
I taught for 4 years, adjunct in colleges and art schools.... I told truth, warts and all and most everyone liked that part, I expected good work and about 2/3rds did it, 1/3 couldn't get the effort together, and about 1/10th were angry they didn't get an A for just showing up.... I tried to get people to drop out the first week if the class wasn't right for them.
- +1 to first sentence. This part is key to getting an understanding of how to approach the class as the teacher.dMullins
- +1 to last sentence. demand they learn. don't give an inch.cannonball1978
- i like your mantra and your gospel i wish i had teachers like you..e-pill
- dMullins0
The best teacher I ever had was my 11th grade English teacher, Mr. Eugene Monroe Legg. This guy was a class act, up and down. He came from a heavy Ivy League background, but had the absolute best stories. He had a charming sense of humor, was very engaging, but also had a very particular way of dealing with bad apples.
In my opinion, the best thing you can do with your students to get them engaged and get their trust/respect is to treat them with the same—trust and respect. Make sure to layer your lessons with anecdotes that are relevant to what you are teaching. Also, teach outside the box.
- dMullins0
Oh, by the way, I love PBWorks so much. Nice choice!
- bulletfactory0
As an adjunct, I taught upper-level design courses at a university. Best advice I can give - don't try to be their friend. That will only allow them to walk all over you, and trust me, they'll try everything. It was tough for me to be in my mid-twenties teaching students in their early twenties. I was a push-over the first semester, but quickly learned that it didn't help them grow as a student designer, or me grow as a design instructor.
Show them that you know what you're talking about, educate them, give them insight into the industry and they'll respect you, if not right away, then soon after.
You can also be a hard-ass and scare the shit out of them the first day - depends on your approach.
All of those experiences definitely made me a much better art director.
- fiver0
need an MFA to teach adjunct usually, yes?
- frost2150
watch the movie Dead Poet Society and take notes!
- woodyBatts0
I taught at MICA for 2 years, Parsons for 5. It was an experience. Very happy to be gone, it's not a young persons game.
My advice. Be honest, but don't worry too much. Academia has a lot of politics for no good reason.
- elDoctor0
My only advice is to belittle your students by centering them out when they suck. Making someone cry on your first day will assess your dominance, and should make for smooth sailing in the future
- cannonball19780
rule #1 - fairness has shit to do with anything
- OSFA0
As a responsible professional, it is your duty to teach these kids about morals and ethic.
It would be great if you show them these David Hampshire threads and explain to them why this is so wrong and the consequences. Right now, it's funny as hell and we are pumped, but the guy's career could be really affected from now on.
-disclaimer: Don't think I feel bad for him, he deserves it...
http://www.qbn.com/topics/622946…
http://www.qbn.com/topics/622970…- thats you mommy's job. if you dont know how to be good then its too late by unicannonball1978
- hahaha, I meant n the field... set an example of what could happen... nevermind!OSFA
- marychain0
M.F.A is required to teach at any university worth the paper it's degree is printed on.
You need an M.F.A to teach...even adjunct at an Art Institute even
I am about a year into my M.F.A, but I have taught Digital Illustration at the college level until the school became S.A.C.S accredited...then I had to go back to school.
If you're going to teach.....you really need an MFA...or like 30 years crazy experience.
- not true, i taught Adobe Illustrator at Parsons School of Design as an Adjunct...e-pill
- i dont and didnt have an MFA...e-pill
- All I read was "WAAAH, MFA MFA MFA", with no actual worthwhile contributions.dMullins
- REALLY???
So what qualifies you? I'm not being an ass...just that you need to know how to teach.marychain - Do you have any qulifications besides your work?
How is Parsons accredited?marychain - hahaha "how is Parson's accredited" good onebigtrickagain
- cannonball19780
i have neither. Of course, I'm totally winging it anyway.
- vaxorcist0
I've got an MFA, and I've taught adjunct at 3 colleges.... I left one in disgust after internal politics.... so beware...
There are lots of MFA-wielding teachers with no real world experience... One aristocratic-wannabe at a certain school made a series of pro-bono, low-content,big illustration posters for environmental causes and kept getting accolades, ..but students found out that this person had never done real work for a real client.... and had no idea how to do multi-page documents in indesign, that's fine if the class was illustration, but this class was for long-form projects, like catalogs, etc...
....there was a culture war there amongst faculty, trying to separate design from anything having to do with communication or advertising or marketing.... mostly MFA fulltimers vs adjuncts, many of whom had MFA's, but not all.....
...eventually a new dean was hired.... things changed, and adjunct faculty with real experience started getting better classes to teach...
A new