In my last post, I alluded to the fact that my syllabus did not go as well as I had hoped this semester. I have thought about this further. Next time I will use a book and syllabus that provide more structure.
Anybody who knows me will tell you that I am not a highly structured person. It seems to me that, in many ways, this has been one of my strengths as a teacher. Because I am not obsessed with structure and rules, students find me very approachable and establish a rapport with me. In my (limited) experience, this is something that many teachers just can’t do.
However, in the past, I have always had a structured plan for the class in the form of a book specifically designed for the type of class I was teaching and a very structured syllabus. Last year, my syllabus was provided and last fall, I had created my own syllabus that was very structured.
Although I didn’t think about it at the time, it seems that a structured book and syllabus provided the perfect counterweight to my easy going attitude. This semester, my syllabus was fairly easy going and it just didn’t work out as well as I had hoped.
It’s like an “odd couple” kind of scenario. A slob and a neat freak will do fairly well together, but a slob and a slob…not so much.
Posted by cattledog5 
