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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Lucia Francisca on January 22, 2006, at 13:42:26
I'm teaching a university class in literature this semester. I get so nervous about teaching. i'm afraid i can't do it, can't get up in front of those students 3 hours a week. i'm afraid they'll think i'm stupid and have no good ideas. i feel worthless. but when i actually teach the class, i feel ok. why do i build this dread and nervousness up in my mind. can anyone relate to this or help me? is this anxiety speaking and how do i get rid of it? i feel so awful. please help
Posted by gee on January 22, 2006, at 15:08:07
In reply to Anxiety? about teaching--please help!!!!, posted by Lucia Francisca on January 22, 2006, at 13:42:26
I know what you mean. I start my practicum this week and just thinking about it makes me nervous. My prof has given us some good ideas. You are the teacher, and if they think you're stupdid, that's really too bad for them. But mostly likely they won't. What did you think of your profs? Be prepared. The more prepared you are the better you'll feel going in. Write what you want to say on note cards to remind yourself.
Remember it's only 3 hours a week. It's really not all that much. You probably have excellent ideas, and if they don't think so, they can suck it up. You could always ask them what they think of the class and if they want to see change, they'll tell you
Posted by Lucia Francisca on January 22, 2006, at 16:42:56
In reply to Re: Anxiety? about teaching--please help!!!!, posted by gee on January 22, 2006, at 15:08:07
Hi Gee. Gosh, thanks for your reply. i know you haven't been feeling great either and your trying to help me when you're feeling down yourself really touches me.
so, is there anything i can help you with? i'm sorry you're feeling like school is hard. are you studying to be a teacher? there are ways to improve study skills if you want to try to get better grades. since i've been in school for most of my life (14 years of post-secondary ed if you can believe it! 5 years of college and 9 of grad school) maybe i could try to help with study tips. and i guess i am a teacher too although i feel like a pretty sh*tty one right now! :)
yes i wish i could have that attitude of just too bad for them. i could ask them for mid semester evals and work from their suggestions. but i am soooo sensitive to criticism. it seems i can only get praise and even then i doubt people's praise. criticism i just get so hurt by although i guess if it helps me get better i should really relish it. my selfesteem is pretty down right now. i think i may be in a depressed or anxious state. everything seems pretty neurotic and negative. any other suggestions?
but thank you for being there.
> I know what you mean. I start my practicum this week and just thinking about it makes me nervous. My prof has given us some good ideas. You are the teacher, and if they think you're stupdid, that's really too bad for them. But mostly likely they won't. What did you think of your profs? Be prepared. The more prepared you are the better you'll feel going in. Write what you want to say on note cards to remind yourself.
>
> Remember it's only 3 hours a week. It's really not all that much. You probably have excellent ideas, and if they don't think so, they can suck it up. You could always ask them what they think of the class and if they want to see change, they'll tell you
Posted by alexandra_k on January 23, 2006, at 19:15:30
In reply to Anxiety? about teaching--please help!!!!, posted by Lucia Francisca on January 22, 2006, at 13:42:26
I have worked as a tutor for a few courses and I find tutoring really very stressful. For the same reasons as you.
I think that it does get easier in time.
But it is still really very hard for me.
I had teaching evaluations for a couple of courses and they turned out to be helpful for the most part. If you get to decide what questions to ask then you can think about what you were trying to do and see whether you achieved that or not. We always say that it isn't so useful for people to write comments like 'the course sucked'; but if they thought the course sucked then it would be helpful if they could come up with concrete suggestions that are practical for the lecturers / tutors to do that could make it more interesting and things like that. For the most part... The students seem to rise to that really well and we have gotten helpful comments and suggestions. Students really like to be given handouts is one thing I learned (as an example).
I am very sensitive to criticism too. But then I think most people are. Teaching is a hard thing to do. Putting yourself 'out there' in front of lots of students. My office mate used to tell me 'remember - they want to like you'. And most of them... Do want to like you. I used to worry about whether I knew enough to be running tutorials too but got more confident with that over time as I realised that most students want the lectures clarified which isn't so very hard. Also that students do seem to respect you for saying 'that is a really good question and I'm not sure what the answer to that is'. I'd either tell them where they might be able to find the answer and say I'd be impressed if they could let the rest of us know next week, or I'd say that I'd ask the lecturer (or find out more generally) and get back to them next week.
I'm not really sure what else to say except... Hang in there. Sounds like you are getting positive feedback - and you said that you are feeling okay while you are taking the class. Sometimes I think that we can be our harshest critics and our biggest fear is that other people judge us as harshly as we judge ourself.
I think it really does... Get better over time.
But that being said... I've decided I really don't want to teach if at all possible. I find it too stressful. So if you find something that helps... Could you let me know?
Posted by Emily Elizabeth on January 23, 2006, at 22:21:44
In reply to Anxiety? about teaching--please help!!!!, posted by Lucia Francisca on January 22, 2006, at 13:42:26
Strangely, although I am a *very* anxious person, teaching is usually a place where I feel confident--go figure! I think that one reason that I do well teaching is that I think of it like acting. I am not EE, but I am INSTRUCTOR EE, a very different person! Separating those things out can really help me.
Make sure to include lots of non-lecture stuff in your class. Video, discussion, projects, etc. I find that it not only sucks the students in to the topic (which automatically makes for a better class) but it allows you to have a stress-free period of time during the class. I've found that if I'm a little off my game at the beginning of a class, doing an activity in the middle can bring down my stress level and allow me to regroup for the end of the class.
Remind yourself that even if you are a sucky instructor, you are probably better than most profs w/ tenure. :) At least where I am (a big state univ) the profs could care less abt their teaching. The students have responded really well to me b/c they know that I really care about them and their learning. And even though I don't know as much as folks who have had their PhD's for 30yrs, I work to present what I do know in an interesting way.
Finally, I've never tried it, but beta blockers are supposed to be useful meds for performance anxiety. You could talk to your pdoc if you think that might work for you.
Best of luck,
EE
Posted by gee on January 24, 2006, at 18:24:01
In reply to Re: Anxiety? about teaching--please help!!!! » gee, posted by Lucia Francisca on January 22, 2006, at 16:42:56
Any study tips would be welcome. I'm a french major, so a lot the stuff I do, I have to know before I can move on at all to the next lesson. One of my profs isn't so good. He takes questions out of the text book and just goes up and down the rows getting us to answer the questions in order. It's gross.
I'm sure you're not as bad of a teacher as you think you are. You're probably a lot better than you think you are
Posted by Lucia Francisca on January 25, 2006, at 0:20:56
In reply to Re: Anxiety? about teaching--please help!!!! » Lucia Francisca, posted by gee on January 24, 2006, at 18:24:01
one high school teacher told me to rewrite my notes after i took them, that doing that should help me remember them better and have clearer and better notes. perhaps studying your notes soon after you take them and then ask the professor any questions you don't understand?
office hours can be really helpful for having the prof or ta answer question one on one.
hmmm, french major. i'm an english major so i can relate to the language and literature aspect.
i often have my students answer discussion questions. i hope they're not as tedious as what your french prof does! :)
thanks for the words of encouragement. i appreciate them.
> Any study tips would be welcome. I'm a french major, so a lot the stuff I do, I have to know before I can move on at all to the next lesson. One of my profs isn't so good. He takes questions out of the text book and just goes up and down the rows getting us to answer the questions in order. It's gross.
>
> I'm sure you're not as bad of a teacher as you think you are. You're probably a lot better than you think you are
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