Your First Teaching Experience by DOO KU Leuven

Fun

2018-05-02 08:45:02 UTC

Generally speaking, it went as expected. I do admit having the benefit of discussing the specific course with my precessor, which consisted of advice what had worked before and what did not. All in all, after a few nervous first seconds, it passed by relatively quickly, and student feedback and interaction did offer some satisfaction.

Scary

2018-05-21 09:49:09 UTC

My first experience was very scary, but then in the end I managed. There is always a need to start from any point to get better with time and experience

Nervous

2018-11-04 11:03:54 UTC

I was quite nervous, but I told my students this en we all had a good laugh about it. This helped. Although the nervousness stayed, which resulted in repeating sentences, being somewhat chaotic, saying a lot of "euhm". It is normal to not be the perfect TA in the beginning!

OK

2018-11-06 13:19:33 UTC

I was slightly nervous at first, but it wore off within the first 10 minutes. The class was interactive, which took some of the pressure off my own role. The students were friendly and seemed fairly interested.

Nervous but also excited

2019-07-16 08:49:29 UTC

My first teaching experience was a couple years back as a peer assisted learning coach. I was still an undergrad students myself I had to prep and give a seminar for fellow undergrad students. The fact that they were my fellow students and approx the same age as me made for a bit of a surreal experience. My preparation and delivery was very much focused on the course content. Looking back I would put more emphasis on having the students ask questions and work things out in groups rather than lecturing. I was really nervous in the beginning but this wore off after a while. The fact that the students seemed really interested and interacted really helped.

Worried

2019-08-08 06:23:10 UTC

The first class I taught was not especially part of my research expertise. Though of course I understood and was familiar with what I was about to teach, I remember feeling worried that students would look right through me and realise I was in fact not an expert on the topic, in the way that their usual teacher was. Nevertheless, I managed to answer most questions well enough. Fake it till you make it!

Fine

2019-09-19 13:51:14 UTC

My First teaching assistance was last semester and it was just a 45 minutes session followed by work in the laboratory. I did not have the course on my bachelor or masters but I was assisted by a senior staff member experienced with the course.

Stressful

2019-09-25 12:19:34 UTC

The first class I taught was a couple of years ago. I remember finding the preparation extremely stressful and time-consuming. I had all sorts of doubts: will the lesson be long enough? Will the students be interested in it? Will I be able to answer to their questions? Eventually it was a very nice class and the students really liked it!

Exciting

2019-10-03 09:00:01 UTC

My first experience was rather exciting, as I had to teach a difficult subject to quite a large group of students. I soon learnt that I talk and teach way too fast and I had redo parts of the slides so that the students could follow. That way, I realised I should never assume that the students have the same basic knowledge as I do. Rather, I should sporadically ask the students if they are still following and if they know some basic concepts that course assumes that they know. Often there is a mismatch here.

A bit disappointing

2019-11-12 11:35:13 UTC

Despite the nerves, I was rather looking forward to the first class I had to teach. However, since the material was rather boring, and perhaps due to the size of the group, it was a very static, and inactive lesson.

Satisfied but mixed feelings

2019-12-02 11:17:26 UTC

Although I was theoretically well prepared, I had no clue whether the students would anticipate during the exercise session. Fortunately, the content of the session was not too difficult and most students were understanding my explanation when they asked questions. I only found it difficult when one student in particular wasn't able to understand, even though I explained in different ways. After all, the students were very friendly and I felt energetic after the session.

My favourite teacher

2020-01-21 09:04:30 UTC

1) Passionate about his/her study field and able to convey his/her enthusiasm and expertise to the students.
2) I remember most fondly those courses which were challenging and daunting at moments, but which, at the end of the semester, gave me the impression I had really learned a lot.
3) I generally prefered those teachers who were able to not just teach, but were able to tell a story for the duration of their two-hour seminars.

Not as I imagined it

2020-02-10 13:22:39 UTC

Even if I should have been prepared to teach, since it was the topic of my master, I got anxious of having so many eyes on me and didn't do it the way I planned. I was really excited about my first class, I was very happy to teach my language to foreign people, but it has been a real challenge to connect with the students, maybe because I was not their teacher, I was only replacing a colleague. It was difficult for me to understand if people were following me and if we were working as a group or if I was going on with what I've planned and students were just passively adapting to the next activity. In the end, people were happy about the class, I had good feedbacks, but I really think I need more experience.

Stressful but satisfying

2020-02-13 10:44:46 UTC

My first teaching experience was before a group of around 60 master students in an aula at KU Leuven's campus Carolus. I arrived way too early as I was afraid I would not find the aula in an unknown campus and that there would be some technical issues. However all went fine; it was just hard starting the actual class as its suddenly all up to you. After cracking some jokes about it being my first time it all proceeded rather smoothly. I had written down all what I would say, but realized that once you are out there in front you really don't have time to read. Luckily my slides were well-designed (based on the ones used by my predecessor) and it was just an introductory/general class so it worked out.

Okay

2020-02-18 14:03:53 UTC

I was stressed but also looking forward to have my first interaction with Master students (me being a PhD student). Some of them seemed enthusiastic, some of them didn't. It was hard to read their faces.

A long long time ago

2020-02-24 15:25:56 UTC

My first teaching experience was in 2008 and I cannot really remember how it went down. I probably was nervous, but after this initial feeling of unease I got used to it and felt more confident. I imagine that with a new course this feeling will re-emerge and will subside quickly.

I don't know yet

2020-03-30 14:20:58 UTC

I didn't have yet my first teaching experience. I expect to have it next year. Knowing myself, I guess I will feel like "I could have prepared it better". I guess I will also be nervous about my accent and my way of talking. But I will clearly state to students that it will be my first experience and if they have any comment or anything that is not clear to them, they are welcome to say it. We will build the course together during the year.

A bit chaotic

2020-04-23 08:42:51 UTC

It was a practical session, where I had to present some introduction before starting. I tried to prepare everything, and practiced a lot, but during the introduction I got nervous and felt that I rushed through the slides. Luckily, the exercise afterwards went smoothly.

Better than I expected!

2020-05-02 18:45:12 UTC

I taught a large group of students across different disciplines. I was a bit nervous at the beginning. However, I taught something I know really well and on which I am engaged as a researcher for the past couple of years. It gave me some confidence. As I myself is from an interdisciplinary background, probably that helped. And I ended up with the feeling that I could attract the interests of the students. The Q&A session went very long. Students came up to me even after the class was over with interesting questions. It made me happy!

Still haven't taught

2020-05-05 12:34:27 UTC

I started my PhD half a year ago so I still haven't got any formal teaching. I used to teach English to kids from 5 to 8 years old as a side job during my bachelor studies, but I am aware that this will be quite a different experience. I think I will be quite nervous but I am taking this course in order to prepare and be more confident once next academic year starts.

Long time ago, but stessful

2020-05-13 12:25:44 UTC

I have just returned to academia after 4 years working for the government. I had thaught some practicals between 2009 and 2015, while doing my PhD. The first course I had to teach was a practical session on the use of open source GIS software, and we were using QGIS. At the time, it was not as developed and well-documented as it is now. Of course, we ran into trouble every step of the way, even the installation process was an agony... But I could see how impressed the students were when it worked, and that made it all worth the while!

Much better than expected

2020-05-15 09:28:38 UTC

I was very nervous before my first teaching experience (a practical session), mainly because I didn't really know what to expect. Luckily I was provided with lots of course material which helped me to prepare well for the first session and ease my nerves. As soon as the first session was over I felt relieved and looked forward to the next session....I was surprised to find that I enjoyed teaching!

A slow start

2020-05-15 09:37:01 UTC

For my first teaching experience, I was assigned a full-semester master's degree course (Humanities). The first lesson was particularly unsettling, as the age gap between my students and me was almost non-existent. I feared that my authority and expertise in the subject could be questioned. Being the first lesson, I had to provide a great deal of background information on the course subject, which related to the historical relevance of the topic and methodological coordinates to understand the theoretical framework. I could feel that this introductory lesson lacked the appeal of a lesson that directly focused on the core subject. It was not the best way to engage the students upon our first encounter and one of them decided not to follow through with the course. After that first teaching experience, I became more confident in my abilities as a researcher and as an educator.

A bit boring..I was not nervous or stressed before the presentation. However, I consider that I did not capture the students attention enough. It was a bit frustrating because i invested a lot of time in the slides and after some minutes some students were a bit bored.

2020-05-16 16:56:40 UTC

No teaching experience

2020-05-23 09:03:47 UTC

I will teach my first practice seminar next academic year. The students and I will do close readings of key texts and discuss them. I hope to enthuse the students, but worry they might not participate actively.

Excited

2020-06-04 11:16:47 UTC

The first course I taught was on a class I already had followed in the previous year during my Masters. I was excited to be able to share my knowledge on the subject matter and excited to be able to take part in the learning process of the students. While the teaching went great, I still had to call on the professors for some cases as the course relied heavily on coding. It happened so much that the students made a mistake that I or even the professor were not able to fix. It was a challenge for sure, but in the end it was a lot of fun

Not teaching yet

2020-08-27 17:19:33 UTC

I'm not teaching yet, I just helped a teacher giving a 20 minutes presentation in one lecture about ethics in qualitative research. It was short but I was very nervous. However, this gave me an idea of how it would be teaching. I think I managed to keep the attention of the students, but mostly because I was describing some of my experiences during fieldwork, to raise reflections about ethics in research. Some examples were funny, so I think that contributed to me feeling more relaxed after 5 minutes talking. I hope to learn new methods to keep the attention for two hours now! I know it will be challenging, but I'm excited.

Nervous

2020-08-31 08:01:36 UTC

The first time standing in front of students made me very nervous. I felt like I wasn't qualified to be there, even though I was. Over time this went away a bit and I find I really enjoy teaching and interacting with students. Watching them improve and their skills grow is very rewarding and satisfying!

Worried

2020-09-17 19:18:53 UTC

The first I entered the class to teach students I was worried. I did not know how to best teach the students. I was worried to make mistakes. I tried to be perfect by was not possible. I did not know If I real know if I had enough material to give to students.

Too enthusiastic, too fast

2020-10-01 08:43:14 UTC

In the past I already gave multiple practical sessions and workshops, but last year I had to give my first seminar in an auditorium. I prepared an interactive PowerPoint. I wanted to share too much information within the time frame of two hours. I found it difficult to elaborate on specific topics and find a moderate pace. Eventually, I already finished 30 minutes early...

Fun

2020-10-19 12:13:47 UTC

My first teaching experience was fun. It was a small group of students who were all very interested in the topic. I was well-prepared although I might have been sharing information with the students that was on the edge of being too difficult. I also had the luxury to not teaching alone, a more experienced TA was co-teaching the session. This was really reassuring.

Guest lectures

2020-10-24 09:24:13 UTC

So far, I've only given two guest lectures during my PhD. These were strongly focused on the topic of my research, so I was luckily well-prepared. I would like to know more about how you can keep students engaged throughout a series of lectures.

Surprisingly Interactive

2020-10-29 18:26:49 UTC

Last year, a co-worker and I jumped in last minute to teach a class on a subject a little outside our comfort zone. Needless to say, I was quite nervous and really had to study the material for the class pretty intensely. During the class, I noticed I got anxious a bit, which caused me to forget to breathe normally. Luckily, my co-worker afterwards ensured me she didn't notice at all! (although she might have just been polite) Apart from the breathing-issue, I really really loved teaching. We included an interactive part in the class and I didn't expect that much of it, but everyone engaged and we had a really nice class discussion with interesting arguments and lines of reasoning. I look forward to teaching again in a few weeks, this time on a topic I am way more familiar with.

Private lessons

2020-11-26 11:42:49 UTC

I have taught some private lessons as a student coach for Studant. I really liked that, especially because you can focus on the progress of that one student and really adapt the courses to his or her level. However, I've never taught in front of a big group, so I'm quite nervous about that, since it will be harder to know what level the students are at.

Nervous

2020-11-30 07:57:10 UTC

I haven't taught any courses yet considering that I only recently started my PhD. I do worry that I will be nervous about my public speaking skills. I am very aware of my surroundings when speaking publicly and I worry about how people can see that I'm nervous. I truly hope I will be able to work on my confidence and become less agitated when teaching a course.

Imposter syndrome is real

minnedeboodt — 2021-01-07 08:50:27 UTC

Since I had no teaching experience what so ever, I felt like an 'imposter' when preparing my first class. Who am I to teach university students something? However, when my first class had started I forgot about my worries and had fun. It can be quite thrilling to pass on knowledge and get positive feedback afterwards. Nevertheless, and after two years, I still feel as an imposter sometimes.

Fun but challenging

2021-01-27 12:15:11 UTC

Last academic year I gave guest lecture of an hour on a topic closely related to my research. Since I had no prior experience, preparing everything took a lot of time and the lecture came with quite some stress as teaching a large group can feel intimidating. On hindsight, it was a fun but challenging experience. Still, I hope to improve my skills and confidence for future lectures and presentations.

Self-reflection helps

2021-02-04 10:42:49 UTC

Before the first exercise session, I was confident since it was going to be something really similar to my prior experience. I used to give tutoring for engineering students for 3 years but what I did not consider was that this time I was going to teach in English (instead of Spanish) and that the course was new for me. The session started well, with a lot of confidence but as soon as I found something that I didn't have completely clear I became so self-aware and lost all confidence, started paying attention to students reactions and the session's (as well as my communication skills) quality decreased quickly. Luckily, I identified my weaknesses and solved them by modifying the next sessions to make them more interactive and a bit more casual.

Sweet message from student

2021-02-12 15:21:42 UTC

The first time I teached a class, I was really nervous. I was scared I would forget the subjects I needed to discuss, I wouldn't be able to answer the questions of the students ... I even got kind of out of breath because of the stress. At the end of my first class, a student left a little note for me. At first, I thought it was just some trash she left behind, but when I read it, I realized it was a message to me! It said: "Congratulations on your first class! You did really well". Honestly, it made my day.

Exciting

2021-02-13 15:53:53 UTC

The first time I had to teach something to students, I was very excited, but also a bit nervous. I was worried to say something wrong, but after 5 minutes my fear was gone and I enjoyed it :)

Knowing your students is important

2021-03-01 10:52:29 UTC

I had several lectures scheduled for the last semester but I was only able to deliver two before the Covid-19 measures took effect. What I learned from the experience is that it is quite necessary to tailor your content according to the specific student groups. Sometimes it means to take off your 'scholar' hat for a moment, to consider whether your materials are suitable for students who might not be as familiar with certain concepts and theories that you take for granted in your own research work. I'm excited to go back to teaching again in March.

Exciting experience

2021-03-24 12:58:12 UTC

I start teaching when I was 15 in the role of volunteer (taught basics of computer/internet usage). Since 2019 I am teaching transversal skills module (presentation techniques) and I need to admit it is very exciting - you prepare the material, students ask questions, interaction happens and at the end you see the results. It is very interesting also to observe differences in students attitude to the study topic and the ways they deliver assignments.

Lockdown was a blessing in disguise

2021-05-11 07:26:29 UTC

My first teaching experience took place in September 2020. My girlfriend teaches Dutch Language and Literature at the University of Bucharest and invited me to prepare a guest lecture on the Belgian monarchy. The topic was accessible and easy-going, and due to the lockdown all classes took place online. My girlfriend has had years of teaching experience, so she gave me great guidance on preparing the two hour class. The actual class was also a lot of fun, but the fact that it took place online (and my girlfriend was sitting right next to me, just outside of the frame of the screen) made it a lot less stressful. Moreover, the students responded quite enthusiastic (all credit to you, Belgian royal rascals!) and from there on I felt confident to provide guest lectures from time to time on more 'serious' subject matter. All within the safe comfort of Zoom.

Teaching first year students

2021-05-27 13:40:34 UTC

The first time I taught was to a group of first year students, for whom it would have been one of their first university classes. I was teaching them the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which involved many new terms and symbols most people would have not been exposed to at all. I tried to make it an easy, friendly experience, because I remembered that my first year of uni was very nerve-wracking, but it was hard to balance that with such a wealth of new and unfamiliar content. I settled into a rhythm, and students continued to show up throughout the semester, which I can only take as a sign that my students enjoyed the experience as well.

First-time nerves

2021-06-03 08:55:29 UTC

I was super nervous the first time I taught during my PhD! I thought there had been some mistake, that somehow I had slipped through the cracks and that the fate of these students was being determined by someone wholly unqualified for the task! I still feel that a bit now, but self-confidence is something I'm trying to work on.

Nervous and harder than expected

2021-06-08 16:19:27 UTC

I was pretty nervous for my first teach experience, as I didn't really know what to expect, and I had only just gradated myself, so I didn't feel really qualified.

In the end, it all went rather well. There were some unexpected questions though that made me realize I hadn't fully grasped all of the details of the material, so I decided to make sure I understood everything next time.

One word: Nervcited

2021-08-30 14:33:31 UTC

I have not taught in front of a whole class yet, although I have taught a small group of four people and tutored one-to-one.

I am imagining that my first teaching experience will be really quite difficult because I, naturally, communicate quite rapidly and to my own knowledge. It will be difficult to "reduce" my own understanding of the subject to that of the students.

While that may be the case I am also very excited, because I know that I can teach passionately about the things that I understand. Especially mathematics as I feel there is so much that is not well taught in the field on lower levels. Getting people excited for Maths would be a dream come true.

Mixed feelings

2021-09-13 10:21:02 UTC

Although I have never taught before, I believe that teaching would be both a thrilling and very stressful experience for me. Thrilling because I imagine that teaching can be a very interesting and satisfying experience, stressful because I would be very afraid of not being up to such a task, of not having enough skills and knowledge to teach something to others.

Rewarding

2021-09-21 12:58:07 UTC

My first teaching experience was a guest lecture as a first year PhD student, teaching one session of a master's course. Due to COVID-19, the course was taught online, which made me feel quite at ease on the one hand, but it was a bit strange to be speaking to a computer screen on the other hand. I enjoyed explaining the core concepts that are behind my PhD research to other students, as it was well within my comfort zone. Unfortunately, I did not get much feedback from the students during the lecture, but it was quite rewarding to see that many of them had been listening attentively when answering questions about my guest lecture on their exam!

Excited

2021-10-12 15:42:14 UTC

I have not taught any courses yet, but I will do this upcoming semester and I am really looking forward to it. I have a few experiences with teaching of different target groups, and they were very mixed. Hence, I hope to improve my skills.

Energizing

2021-11-01 16:03:10 UTC

My first and only teaching experience was one in front of an adult group of practitioners, so I felt that they were really interested in my topic as it was very concrete and relevant to them. I really enjoyed the interaction but now I am afraid that I will not have the same experience with students who follow my class because they "have to".

It was tiring

2021-12-28 13:36:18 UTC

Going into my first class-I had no idea what to expect. I thought I had enough material to last the two hours but apparently not. Halfway into the session, I literally went impromptu. Now I know that I should practice my class and time myself till I get a hold of things.

Online - Offline

2022-01-03 08:20:15 UTC

Due to covid, my first teaching experience was online with a pre-recorded video followed by a Q&A session (following my prof's format). I noticed during the Q&A session that the students had some trouble grasping the material but at the same time also did not ask questions. I think both the students and I missed the interactive part of seminars a lot.
A few months back I finally had the chance to teach a real-life module on campus and I immediately noticed that the students participated a lot more and asked questions when they wanted to know more or things were not clear.
I learned from this that it was not necessarily my teaching that caused the situation at first but the format which I had used. Teaching and interaction goes hand in hand.

nervous but excited

2022-02-09 20:06:28 UTC

I haven't taught at a university level yet, but as part of my teaching degree I've taught 14-18 year olds (business) economics, and as part of my job as a policy researcher these past years I've had to present quite often. I always feel nervous, feel underprepared (even though I always prepare quite well), and feel like someone will ask a question that I won't be able to answer. The latter hardly ever happened in the 7 years I've been presenting, and never regarding my actual research. But it's a triumph of fear over experience.
But once I'm in front of the group and start explaining I feel quite at home, and I love the sight of an 'aha-erlebnis', the moment when someone gets it, when someone looks at something in a new light.

First lecture at Uni!

2022-03-07 15:14:09 UTC

I have some experience in teaching to pupils from secondary school, but so far I only gave one lecture at University. I replaced my supervisor, who is the lecturer of the course, when she could not teach due to other obligations. I was so stressed! She sent me the PowerPoint presentation she made, and some notes regarding the topic. I read everything thoroughly and then prepared my own lecture (by making a detailed outline of the lecture and editing the PowerPoint). I gave a lecture in corpus linguistics to students in their second year of the Bachelor. I really liked the experience, my stress was going away as I was teaching and the students were polite (but a bit shy). It was an on campus class, I do not have experience teaching online yet.

Tutoring

2022-03-23 12:40:14 UTC

My first real experience teaching was while tutoring secondary school pupils. I enjoyed it so much, that I knew I wanted to teach more. It was nicer than expected, due to the personal contact with the students.

Proud after my first class

2022-05-17 08:27:20 UTC

I don't quite remember my very first experience as a teacher when I was still going through my training (when there was still a supervisor in the back), but I do remember the first time I really was the only one in charge of the class when I actually started as a teacher at University College.

I chose an outfit that made me look very serious (a suit), made sure students sat on the first few rows in class (and didn't disappear in the back) and was (obviously) a bit nervous. But... I liked it very much and I was proud at the end of my class. I was really happy those students were active, respectfull, kind, ... during my class.

Luckily I've now found a way to be more relaxed while teaching, which makes me a more authenthic teacher than I was before.

Better than I expected

2022-06-09 12:45:17 UTC

I was of course nervous, but it went better than I've expected. The stress wasn't overwhelming, but rather worked as a mobilisation. Afterwards I've become way more confident with public speaking

the first online experience

2022-07-04 13:27:05 UTC

My first online class I gave was a lot of fun. We had a lot of interactive exercises and everyone liked it! It was like a rollercoaster!

From insecurity to satisfaction

2022-07-08 09:38:30 UTC

Standing in a classroom, while dozens of students are entering and staring at you, is nerve-making - to put it midly. However, once I started to talk, my initial nerves made room for excitement. This first teaching experience involved some practical work for the students, and seeing the improvement of the students over the course of time, truly enlightened me. How proud I was, when at the end they could complete the tasks by their own, using the tools that I offered them in the preceding lessons. Teaching can be incredibly fullfilling!

Okay, but more feedback from students is appreciated

2022-07-15 10:27:11 UTC

I have one year of teaching experience now (exercise sessions). In the beginning, the students were satisfied with my approach. However, near the end of the classes, I had the impression that some prefer a different format, with more involvement from the teacher (e.g., repeating theory from the lectures, ...). Students prefer to be rather silent in general, but more feedback from them is appreciated!

Teaching

2022-08-10 10:40:15 UTC

Teaching is for me one of the marvels of Academia: production of knowledge is one thing, communication is another, equally important and possibly more rewarding.
As such, I had explicitly asked to participate in some sorts of teaching activity.
I would classify my (first) experience last semester as a bittersweet one: on one hand there were the invested (and so sweet!) students that were a joy to teach and made the brutally early morning course worth waking up for. On the other hand the participation was depressingly low: 7/20 in the first lecture that equilibrated to 5/20 in the subsequent ones. I find already the content of the course leaving something to be desired, but I was most concerned about my teaching abilities. Did I provide with engaging and challenging content, on par with their abilities and background? The catharsis was the feedback from the students attending that were very encouraging.
I am looking forward to repeating the course, integrating the comments of my students, as I stated above, it is one of the most rewarding parts of the job!

Much interaction

2023-01-09 15:44:00 UTC

I was afraid students would not interact, because my course was quite technical/ theoretical. Almost all students participated in the discussions and seemed interested. It was nice to have so much input from the audience.

Exciting, but very hard to engage with students.

2023-04-04 08:52:06 UTC

I started teaching already during high-school, by giving seminar lessons to my peers about how to read and analyse poetry. I loved to share the things I knew about this very topic, preparing materials and researching to deliver and share as much information as possible. However, it was very frustrating to see my "students" not engaging with the content of the lesson. And this is still something I struggle now - trying to engage them with different strategies, without always succeding in it.

Quite interesting and engaging

2023-05-23 19:37:35 UTC

As I already had some teaching experience due to my educational master's degree. My first seminars at university were with a very small group of students, resulting in the fact that we had a very interactive learning experience. Students were well prepared and highly engaged in discussions.

Totally overestimated background knowledge

2023-07-06 10:18:57 UTC

The first time I taught I laid out the plan for the semester and assigned a fundamental seminal paper, only to find out that the students though it was way too hard for their level. This taught me an important lesson: always assess students' background level and preconceived notions about the material. That way you can shift gears quickly if needed to. I ended up overhauling my class completely and was rewarded with seeing impressive improvement in their understanding of the material (and good evaluations :D ).

Different Experience from other countries

2023-07-17 09:43:00 UTC

The exercise session normally at other universities are solved on the board. In KU Leuven the student do it by themselves and the the we assist them. I don't really call that teaching. But to one its own. I used that approach in one class and it was a success and in others there were complains to it was quite awkward.

Very nervous, underestimated time and overestimated student engagement

2023-08-08 08:31:14 UTC

I teach the exercises sessions of a course I had as a student. What I remember from then was that our group was 'lively', but the group I got in front of me was very quiet and didn't really engage as I expected. (This luckily changed later in the semester though) I was super nervous too, but in subsequent sessions this nervousness melted away. One thing I also underestimated was the speed at which time goes by

2023-09-18 13:57:24 UTC

Well prepared but nervous
The first class I needed to teach was for Master students, which reassured me because they already have a more mature mindset and genuine intentions to really pay attention and be interactive. It was a small group, which was nice because it lowered the threshold for students to be interactive and I could even try out some exercises and role plays with them to strengthen their skills in motivational counselling. In the first part of class however, I needed to talk about legal frameworks and policies regarding return to work, which often belt a bit boring. I am hoping that I will gain insights on making these topics more engaging and fun for students. Also, I learned that preparing a class consumes a lot of time, especially when it's the first time you need to make some slides and exercises.

Confident but nervous

2023-10-02 13:50:34 UTC

I will be having my first teaching experience this year as a starting PhD student. I will give practice sessions for second bachelor students (qualitative research methods) and a qualitative seminar for third bachelor students. I'm confident because I know I have the qualities to be a teacher, but I'm also nervous as to what the students will think of me. I know I am young and do not differ that much in terms of age with my students, but I try to see the positive side of it: I know better what they are like, what they want/need, what helps them a lot... et cetera, because I was a student in the same classes just a few years back.

Very fun

2024-03-27 21:11:48 UTC

I had a lot of fun during my first class. The students were enthusiast and very cooperative, which I did not expect.

Nervous and underqualified

2024-04-09 16:58:54 UTC

I do not have any teaching experiences yet but I feel quite nervous and underqualified for when I will start teaching. I do really want to learn to be a great teacher, to be more confident and trust that I will be able to get the important messages across but at this point I feel like I should not be allowed to be put me in front of a classroom. Obviously this is overstating it somewhat but I do feel like this now and then. Nevertheless also excited to get better and overcome these feelings!

Nervous

2024-04-22 19:31:45 UTC

I remember studying for weeks because I was really afraid of not knowing the student's questions. At the end, I did not have the time at all to develop my lesson since I have many ideas in my head. I learnt it was better to have less clear ideas, than many ideas

Fighting stage fright

2024-04-27 09:52:57 UTC

Half a year after I graduated from my master's program in Architecture, I was invited to give a lecture to current master dissertation students. I have a stage fright, so almost all of my previous public speaking experiences have been nerve wracking... I would end up reading from the page, forget to breathe or stutter. However, this lecture went much smoother than I expected. I did not write out every single word of the presentation, as I did before, and I ended up speaking freely about the topic. The students were very interested in my project, and I ended up getting a big confidence boost for the future public speaking / teaching events.

Amazing!

2024-05-17 08:57:37 UTC

I really enjoyed teaching students and didn't expect to have such a passion for it!

first teaching experience

2024-06-02 12:08:56 UTC

For my first time teaching, I gave a sort of guest lecture in my supervisor's course. I felt quite nervous, and I think it was visible. The lesson went well, the students participated more than I expected, but I think some lecturing parts were more unclear than others (I had prepared a lot, but I think I didn't rehearse aloud enough and didn't see in advance that some links were missing and that the 'common thread' was confused). At the end they clapped, but I was mitigated and didn't know how to take it: did it mean 'well done, good job!', or 'nice effort, thanks for trying!'?

First Teaching experience

2024-06-03 12:41:17 UTC

It was interesting and stressful at same time. I was afraid to not be able to answer the students questions. I also prepared well before to be able to transfer the content in a constructive way. But, in the same them it was an interesting experience.

First teaching experience in higher education

2024-06-27 12:32:40 UTC

My first teaching experience in higher education felt like a coaching session and went pretty well. I was well-prepared. It was a session with only 12 students in preparation of their bachelor proof thesis.

In my other applied university college, my first teaching experience was with a group of 50 students and I had to give them quite a lot of content. It was the first class after their first term exams and I asked for their attention on the dot because I wanted to start with clear classmanagement. I told them I felt a bit nervous and would like their cooperation. All those eyes on me, no one answering my questions, it was a bit nervewracking. I got through it, delivered the content with enough clarity, got us through the excercises... During feedback with my students I found out how I could get them to answer my questions (they liked to be pointed out) and I felt way better the following classes.

Now I just love standing in front of them and searching for ways for them to grasp the information and to activate them to do something with it themselves.

Nervous

2024-09-21 19:21:44 UTC

When I knew that I would teach a class, I started preparing early. I knew what content should be included in the class, I was worried about how to manage the timing of each part of the lesson and how to interact with students. I found many materials and some interesting stories related to the class. I hope these can help me to make my class engaging for students. I practiced many times before the first class and luckily, the first class go smoothly.

Confident

2024-10-03 09:58:35 UTC

Luckily, my first teaching experience was in 2021, when covid still required online classes. We were working with blended learning and so my first courses were in fact short clips. These were the perfect way to prepare - they allowed me to prepare, and have a do-over if necessary. The ample practice ensures that I now feel confident, know how much preparation is enough and also that nothing will ever be perfect (and it doesn't need to be!). It made the switch to real life classes much easier - although it still hurts when you make a joke and no one laughs.

Gained more respect than anticipated

2024-10-04 14:46:57 UTC

When giving my first exercise sessions, I was a first year PhD student (one month in) and I had to teach 2nd master students. On top of that, I followed the course myself only a year ago. Since I was a local (studied at KU Leuven), I even knew some of the students personally. Because of the small age difference, I was afraid that nobody would take me seriously. However, the course is known to have extremely difficult exercises... so the students were actually really thankful to have someone to fully explain these exercises to them. As a results, the students seemed really interested and I had some really interesting questions. After the session, I also felt that the students treated me with more respect than at the start, apparently happy that they actually learned something. From my side, I was mainly happy that I could teach them something.