Week 4: Rating my courses
02 April 2016 | Verenigde Staten, West Albany
Hey there!
It's been quite a while. Due to springbreak and mid-terms, I haven't been able to upload a blog post in a while.
So without further ado, my next blog.
In this blog I'll give a more detailed description of my classes and what they entail. This is a contrast to previous blogs, in which ''student life'' was more profound.
My first class is Sociology, abbreviated as ASOC 115.
I chose this course because as an upcoming teacher, I find it very interesting to learn and ask questions about society and why certain behavior occurs. ''Sociological Imagination'' is the term we like to use here. This way, I am expecting to make more sense about certain characteristics of pupils in the classroom regarding society's impact on individuals.
The class takes place in a lecture hall and is ''teacher centric''. Which means that for 1,5 hours the teacher lectures about a specific chapter, and you take notes.
There are in total 3 test in which you get 70-72 MC questions about 4-5 chapters, per test. In the end you have a final paper in which you have to research your own ''Sociological question''.
Experience: I am very fond of this class, and love the fact that the tests are divided into 4-5 chapters each, making it easier to study, as 1 chapter takes about 2-3 hours to read. However, the professor's English pronunciation is not quite up to par of what I expected from an university professor. This makes it sometimes harder to focus on oral instructions. Nevertheless, I feel more knowledgable at the end of each test, which keeps me motivated.
There a quite a few things I have learned thus far that I'll definitely keep in mind while teaching. An example, Different upbringing and cultural context may have a big impact on how one perceives educational succes. If you have never seen someone in your family going to an university, you are less likely to understand the importance of education, and vice versa. This then, hypothetically, can correlate with bad grades and unwanted behavior in the classroom. So it's not only what happens in class, but also outside that can affect pupils.
Language and Social action is up next. This is abbreviated as ACOM 100.
As a language student, it is of course -at least for me-, important to understand what kind of impact language can have in our daily communication. I hoped to learn more about wat language really entails and how I can improve mine.
This class also takes place in a lecture hall. However, this lecture hall is twice as big, and thus has twice as much students. In the first few weeks, everyone was eager to attend the classes, but the more we are progressing the emptier the lecture halls are becoming. I am assuming this is due to students changing majors or simply not liking the lectures.
As the same with ASOC, this class is also very teacher-centric, with occasionally a discussion of 5 minutes, in which you have to respond to a video. Then, this will be discussed together with the professor.
We have 3 test every 4 weeks, in which 50 MC questions are asked about up to 4 chapters.
Experience:
I like this class a lot! I feel like I am learning a lot about communication, but not really about language such as grammatical structures, idioms, register etc. However, having to communicate in English throughout the class, and learning about how to persuade mass media, and the impact of both written and image advertisement, is quite fun (which never is a bad thing when studying)!
Next up, Reading Literature a.k.a AENG121
I LOVE this class! Not being into reading, I figured -prior to moving to the U.S.- it would be good for me to push myself to read more. We all know the benefits of reading when learning a second language, so I am not going to elaborate on that. But, I never expected that I would get into reading this much! The professor is sometimes, maybe, not really professor-like in his teaching, however, this makes him even more relatable. He uses everyday contexts to make sense of old-English stories, which make it easy to digest while reading and put it into context.
The stories we have to read are for example: ''The God of Small Things'', by Arundathi Roy, ''Tempest'' by Shakespeare and lots of short stories makes this lesson one of my favorites.
Even the testing part of this course vary a lot and are not monotonous. There are pop quizes, analytical papers and discussions you have to do.
The class is not in a lecture hall, but rather in a classroom, which focuses a lot more on interpersonal contact. Rather than having the feeling that you are just one of many students, you get more time to ask questions and participate in class.
I have learned many things, such as, writing an analytical paper, writing a discussion post about short stories, and many new literary devices such as prolepses, foreshadowing, intertextuality.
Second to last, Focus on a Literary Theme, Form or Mode - ENG226.
I had no clue what to expect for this course, other than -seeing the title- it had to do with reading. I needed one more course in order to have all the credits I need, so I took a leap of faith and enrolled in this class.
Luckily, this class is ok. Not my favorite, but not bad at all. The teacher is very knowledgable and is not afraid to share personal stories.
This class takes place in a small classroom of approximately 20 students. These are all exchange students, or foreign students. The topics vary quite a bit and so do the assignments. We talked and read about the gilded age, slavery, industrial revolution.
We have to hand in reading responses, do presentations and write stories. So it is not only focused on only reading, but also producing.
She puts a lot of focus on using correct citations and what plagiarism includes. I noticed that this is a very important aspect in the U.S. Talking about plagiarism is somewhat a re-occurring theme in every class.
All in all, I would say that If you want to enjoy a more broad array of topics of English, this class is the perfect choice.
Lastly, Freshman Year Experience - UNI100.
Yes, I am not a Freshman anymore, I am aware of that. However, during introduction, exchange students were recommended to follow this course, to practice and experience the different spectrums of English, both culturally as academically.
This class take place in a classroom with a lot of Asian students, whom are not quite accustomed to the English language.
We learn about making career choices, differences between our own culture and the American culture, presentation skills and cooperation skills. On paper it sounds great. Unfortunately, I do not like this class at all! It is way too easy and the professor doesn't listen when you have something to add to the class material. During the presentations we had to fill in 3-4 feedback sheets for EVERY student. This was way more time consuming then necessary.
Femke and I are both told to participate a little les, so others could also get their two cents in. However, they do not participate at all, making everything go at a very low-pace. Everything we are doing in this class, we have already done in our university at home, making it not challenging at all.
So for upcoming students from the Netherlands, I wouldn't recommend taking this class!
Well, these are all the courses I am taking here in SUNY Albany. Might you have any questions, feel free to ask them!
See you later.....
It's been quite a while. Due to springbreak and mid-terms, I haven't been able to upload a blog post in a while.
So without further ado, my next blog.
In this blog I'll give a more detailed description of my classes and what they entail. This is a contrast to previous blogs, in which ''student life'' was more profound.
My first class is Sociology, abbreviated as ASOC 115.
I chose this course because as an upcoming teacher, I find it very interesting to learn and ask questions about society and why certain behavior occurs. ''Sociological Imagination'' is the term we like to use here. This way, I am expecting to make more sense about certain characteristics of pupils in the classroom regarding society's impact on individuals.
The class takes place in a lecture hall and is ''teacher centric''. Which means that for 1,5 hours the teacher lectures about a specific chapter, and you take notes.
There are in total 3 test in which you get 70-72 MC questions about 4-5 chapters, per test. In the end you have a final paper in which you have to research your own ''Sociological question''.
Experience: I am very fond of this class, and love the fact that the tests are divided into 4-5 chapters each, making it easier to study, as 1 chapter takes about 2-3 hours to read. However, the professor's English pronunciation is not quite up to par of what I expected from an university professor. This makes it sometimes harder to focus on oral instructions. Nevertheless, I feel more knowledgable at the end of each test, which keeps me motivated.
There a quite a few things I have learned thus far that I'll definitely keep in mind while teaching. An example, Different upbringing and cultural context may have a big impact on how one perceives educational succes. If you have never seen someone in your family going to an university, you are less likely to understand the importance of education, and vice versa. This then, hypothetically, can correlate with bad grades and unwanted behavior in the classroom. So it's not only what happens in class, but also outside that can affect pupils.
Language and Social action is up next. This is abbreviated as ACOM 100.
As a language student, it is of course -at least for me-, important to understand what kind of impact language can have in our daily communication. I hoped to learn more about wat language really entails and how I can improve mine.
This class also takes place in a lecture hall. However, this lecture hall is twice as big, and thus has twice as much students. In the first few weeks, everyone was eager to attend the classes, but the more we are progressing the emptier the lecture halls are becoming. I am assuming this is due to students changing majors or simply not liking the lectures.
As the same with ASOC, this class is also very teacher-centric, with occasionally a discussion of 5 minutes, in which you have to respond to a video. Then, this will be discussed together with the professor.
We have 3 test every 4 weeks, in which 50 MC questions are asked about up to 4 chapters.
Experience:
I like this class a lot! I feel like I am learning a lot about communication, but not really about language such as grammatical structures, idioms, register etc. However, having to communicate in English throughout the class, and learning about how to persuade mass media, and the impact of both written and image advertisement, is quite fun (which never is a bad thing when studying)!
Next up, Reading Literature a.k.a AENG121
I LOVE this class! Not being into reading, I figured -prior to moving to the U.S.- it would be good for me to push myself to read more. We all know the benefits of reading when learning a second language, so I am not going to elaborate on that. But, I never expected that I would get into reading this much! The professor is sometimes, maybe, not really professor-like in his teaching, however, this makes him even more relatable. He uses everyday contexts to make sense of old-English stories, which make it easy to digest while reading and put it into context.
The stories we have to read are for example: ''The God of Small Things'', by Arundathi Roy, ''Tempest'' by Shakespeare and lots of short stories makes this lesson one of my favorites.
Even the testing part of this course vary a lot and are not monotonous. There are pop quizes, analytical papers and discussions you have to do.
The class is not in a lecture hall, but rather in a classroom, which focuses a lot more on interpersonal contact. Rather than having the feeling that you are just one of many students, you get more time to ask questions and participate in class.
I have learned many things, such as, writing an analytical paper, writing a discussion post about short stories, and many new literary devices such as prolepses, foreshadowing, intertextuality.
Second to last, Focus on a Literary Theme, Form or Mode - ENG226.
I had no clue what to expect for this course, other than -seeing the title- it had to do with reading. I needed one more course in order to have all the credits I need, so I took a leap of faith and enrolled in this class.
Luckily, this class is ok. Not my favorite, but not bad at all. The teacher is very knowledgable and is not afraid to share personal stories.
This class takes place in a small classroom of approximately 20 students. These are all exchange students, or foreign students. The topics vary quite a bit and so do the assignments. We talked and read about the gilded age, slavery, industrial revolution.
We have to hand in reading responses, do presentations and write stories. So it is not only focused on only reading, but also producing.
She puts a lot of focus on using correct citations and what plagiarism includes. I noticed that this is a very important aspect in the U.S. Talking about plagiarism is somewhat a re-occurring theme in every class.
All in all, I would say that If you want to enjoy a more broad array of topics of English, this class is the perfect choice.
Lastly, Freshman Year Experience - UNI100.
Yes, I am not a Freshman anymore, I am aware of that. However, during introduction, exchange students were recommended to follow this course, to practice and experience the different spectrums of English, both culturally as academically.
This class take place in a classroom with a lot of Asian students, whom are not quite accustomed to the English language.
We learn about making career choices, differences between our own culture and the American culture, presentation skills and cooperation skills. On paper it sounds great. Unfortunately, I do not like this class at all! It is way too easy and the professor doesn't listen when you have something to add to the class material. During the presentations we had to fill in 3-4 feedback sheets for EVERY student. This was way more time consuming then necessary.
Femke and I are both told to participate a little les, so others could also get their two cents in. However, they do not participate at all, making everything go at a very low-pace. Everything we are doing in this class, we have already done in our university at home, making it not challenging at all.
So for upcoming students from the Netherlands, I wouldn't recommend taking this class!
Well, these are all the courses I am taking here in SUNY Albany. Might you have any questions, feel free to ask them!
See you later.....
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
