Teaching

My mother is an English teacher and has been for all of my life. She loves her work and is good at it. Seeing up close, how hard work teaching is, however diffused any aspiration I might have had to become a teacher. I was aware that it is a rewarding profession, but I felt that for me to become an acceptable teach I would need to put much more effort in it. My perspective changed when I took the "Instructional and Training Strategies for Information Professionals" (LIS560) class with Professor Lorraine Bruce.

That course demystified the process of teaching for me. It not just broke down the process to elements I could manage, but also provided multitude of practical advice on how to approach those elements. As part of the coursework I created a handout, designed a workshop and prepared a presentation; all for the same target audience, newly orthodox Jews. The handout (PDF) sought to address their possible information literacy inadequacies. The workshop (PDF) and the presentation (see right) was meant to advise them on how to create a kosher (ritually clean according to Jewish rules and customs) kitchen. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to deliver these, but I am still looking forward to the opportunity. Meanwhile, I enjoyed the practice of preparing my first teaching materials.

I had three other teaching related accomplishments during my tenure at the iSchool.

As soon as I received an invitation to join iPeer I did. iPeer is a student organization dedicated to help incoming graduate students by pairing them with a more senior student. Thus I became the mentor of Cameron Pedri. In the summer of 2007 we exchanged numerous rounds of emails. I answered all of her questions according to the best of my abilities. This exchange provided me with the opportunity to think through my first year at the iSchool and distill for her some lessons I learned. This one-on-one teaching experience gave me the feedback I needed to eliminate my doubts whether I could become an effective teacher. Cameron's feedback proved that--at least in an online, asynchronous environment--I am.

Teaching takes many forms. Anything that helps others to learn new skills, understand something or acquire new qualities is teaching. If we use this wider definition of teaching I taught when I created the userguide (PDF) for Hillel UW library's new catalog system. I intended to produce a professional document that could be used by anybody. This was an important requirement, because whoever is sitting at the front desk of the building needs to be able to perform the tasks described in the document.

In a few weeks (late January 2008) I will do a presentation on internet safety for parents of high school students. The lecture will have a special emphasis on teenagers' use of social networking sites, such as MySpace and FaceBook. I will explain what these sites are, what are their advantages, disadvantages and dangers. In order to be able to address the parents' concerns I interviewed the school's counselor, who knows most of their burning questions. The focus of my presentation and handout will be what they can do to protect their children, but at the same time enable them to enjoy the benefits of new kinds of interaction and social spaces.

My relationship to teaching changed significantly in the last two years. The major shift in my attitude is from fear to anticipation. The related course removed my trepidation and showed me that I can teach. I would not have been able to create the teaching documents I mentioned and prepare/deliver the presentation without the perspectives I learned in the aforementioned course. I no longer shy away from teaching opportunities, but jump on them. For example, I recently applied to a position that is half reference librarianship and half teaching (digital) literacy. This would have been unimaginable on my side just a year or two ago.

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