Three music faculty members explained how teaching a class of students was similar to performing for an audience during a workshop sponsored by the Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center.
The workshop, "Mentally Preparing Yourself to Teach: What Faculty Can Learn from Performers," was held February 17 in the DeVos Center. Another session was held in early February.
Kurt Ellenberger, associate professor of music and FTLC assistant director of grants, said when he first started teaching, he wondered why he felt drained after delivering two lectures in a row.
"I started to shift my thinking and started to think of lecturing as more of a performance," he said. By doing that, Ellenberger said, he started to save energy for his lecture and prepare as if it were a concert.
Assistant music professors Pablo Mahave-Veglia and Kathryn Stieler helped Ellenberger lead the discussion. Like a performance, Stieler, a vocalist, said preparing for a class is key to feeling comfortable.
"Nothing replaces preparation," she said. "It helps you bring energy and enthusiasm into the class; and that's going to be reflected in your teaching."
Mahave-Veglia, a cellist, said he has a routine he follows before a class and before a performance. The routines help him concentrate on the delivery, he said.
There is one more FTLC workshop in February: "Student-Led Discussions: Do They Really Work?" is scheduled for February 28, from 2:30-4:30 p.m., in Kirkhof Center, room 104. Workshops for the remainder of the semester can be viewed online at www.gvsu.edu/ftlc.
