Eye-Opener: Memo

GI: Ch. 1 Why You've Made the Right Choice

Summary
The first chapter is very encouraging, and it reminded me that I'm not alone (to remember that other GI will be facing the same problems as me when it comes to teaching).

Generally, teaching writing is fun in spite of its concommitant chaos. Here are the reasons why teaching is "fun:"
- giving one a natural andrenaline more powerful than bad drugs.
- being one's own boss, managing one's time, organization
- fostering creativity in sharpening one's own writing skills, stimulating
- getting an opportunity to people watch and learn about/meet others, variety
- learning new things, power
- helping others, changing others
- bonding with peers/forming a (writing) community

Anticipating problems
- lack of confidence (transform nervous energy into fun energy- How about you (reader/veteran) how did you transform your nervous energy in the classroom?)
- time management issues
- volume of work (tome of compositional knowledge- lifelong task, take it a day at a time)
- imposter syndrome (establishing authority, grammar issues)

Relating some of the points to my experiences
- I remember in some of my English classes, my professors responded to students' inquiries with:
"I'll get back to you on that."
"Anybody? (about grammar, asking students to answer to have time to come up with answer, making it a "research project")

Encouraging insights
- act like a professional (more like a reminder)
- "Writers are learners and we never reach a point where we can say, ' Now I know all about it and can teach it.'" and "Ironically, people skills may be more important for most writing teachers than writing knowledge." (Improving attitudes better than learning the vocabulary of grammar) [16]
- enjoy the job, savor the moments, "For me, the clearest indication that I don't like the work is that I become hyperconscious of time" "There's nothing wrong with seeing this job as a phase." (Making a career out of this?, 20-21)-- the insight about being conscious of time, I noticed that when I'm writing I lose track of time, even if in the end, I don't write much...it was the process, the beginning of something I wouldn't mind working on...

I know I'll be nervous, however I am still looking forward to "thinking on my feet," meeting people and helping them the best way I can. It's sort of weird seeing the other side and soon teaching from it (in spite of the advice of vicariously putting self back to student status) and at the same time continuing to learn and being a grad student.