Kenzie Giffin

ENGL388V
22 September 2023

Notes
Environment
● Small/medium size classroom, rectangular seating at large desks
● Class size itself is pretty small
● Professor greeted any students who may have trickled in a little late which helps to
create a welcoming/friendly environment
● Professor was really nicely humorous and interjected it throughout the class, which is
great for a slightly early class and seemed to help keep students engaged
● Once they began conducting the activity about halfway through class, students were
pretty engaged and participative especially for being a class of about 10!

Intro
● Professor begins by asking students how they are doing
● Outlines upcoming assignments and reminders
○ Opens space for questions, comments, concerns (which students did take
advantage of)
● Professor relayed how he gave topics on a recent assignment of theirs, essentially giving
them the heads up to take a look at it
○ Says he’ll never tell them exactly how to do something but to think on his
feedback
○ Topics for said assignment can be changed, which shows flexibility and is nice for
students such as myself who might just pick a topic because the due date is
coming up
● Asks if (TA) has any advice for students on this assignment
○ She suggests the selected topic can fit other assignments for the semester and
that they are able to find research on it -> good advice!
Class/LP
● Began with questions that were submitted (anonymously? I think) and having professor
answer those as well
○ This is really nice as well because lots of students do not speak up in class even
when they have a question
○ Spent time with answering each question to clear up these muddy points
○ Once again, checked in with TA for answering these questions
○ For one particular question, TA said she’ll upload an her example of this
assignment to help demonstrate formatting
○ Even after answering all the submitted questions, the professor asked if there
were any remaining questions which students again took advantage of
○ This was really nice to see because lots of professors just assume everyone is
clear on things after they “detail it” and move on
 ● After this, showed them how to use the tool “Format Painter” to keep everything
formatted the same within the assignments they were discussing today
● Conducted an activity with looking at a sample cover letter with lots of glaring mistakes
○ Started off with a “softball question”, reactions to the cover letter
○ Transitioned to a tougher question, asking for advice on this cover letter which
gave a similar feel to doing peer review and worked on their abilities to do that
● Building off of that, lead into discussion about upcoming peer review assignments and
how important it is (100% agreed)
○ Emphasized how they will be conducting some form of peer review later in the
job field with looking at colleagues work
○ “If you wanna improve your work, you gotta be open to changing it”
■ Acknowledges how hard that can be, given how our writing can feel like a
piece and reflection of ourselves
○ Provide a balance of positive and negative (constructive criticism) comments,
really good point when approaching peer review
○ Once again, checked in with TA for advice/comments on peer review
Conclusion/wrap-up
● Quickly outlined/reiterated upcoming assignments, which were already
thoroughly discussed in-class
 Reflection

This past Wednesday, I observed TA’s section of ENGL391H with Professor

(redacted). My observation began somewhat hilariously on the morning of where I
realized I somehow have only been to the top floor of Tawes, where their class was
located, 3-4 times in being an English major. The anxiety of not knowing where to go set
in, so I looked up a floor plan of Tawes to help me find where to go since I had not
considered this issue in enough time to pester TA for help. However, I made it to the
classroom number that was listed in plenty of time and waited for a sign of TA before
going into the classroom in order to cause less concern or confusion amongst students.
TA introduced me to Professor – who remarked that he saw me lurking in the hallway to
which I explained my aforementioned sentiment and we laughed it off.
Professor – began their class with a check-in on how everyone was doing, a
general practice amongst instructors but it felt particularly pertinent for a morning class
where some people might still be waking up a little. This gave them some room to
breathe as opposed to bombarding with instruction bright and early. From there, he
gave reminders and outlined any upcoming assignments or homework that would take
place through the week/weekend. After doing so, there was a moment to check-in again
for any questions about said assignments which a few students did take advantage of.
His openness for questions continued throughout the entire class session which I found
to be really refreshing, as muddy points can appear at any time and sometimes they
come up after the fact.
Even the next phase of class involved student questions, where Professor – had
a list of anonymous questions which were submitted about several upcoming
assignments such as an Elevator Pitch and practice Cover Letter. Throughout this, and
earlier in class when students had questions, he would sporadically check-in with TA to
see if she had any additional advice or clarifications for their students. This was
something that I really enjoyed seeing because as hard as it can be for students to
speak up with questions, it can be hard for UTAs to find the right time to interject with
additional information or advice without breaking the flow of class. Not only was
Professor – considerate towards creating space for students to share their concerns but
he was considerate towards allowing TA the space to fulfill her duties as a UTA. The
entire environment which was created off of that was so refreshing to see and I would
say it definitely seemed to benefit the students. TA even offered her own examples of
these assignments to help further and appeared to begin uploading them to Canvas on
the spot! Whilst I cannot know the ins and outs of their rapport, Professor – and TA
appeared to have a pretty well-balanced relationship on the day I had the privilege of
observing them.
The majority of class was spent on clarifying those questions/concerns from
students but towards the end of class they did conduct an activity looking at an example
Cover Letter and commenting on the strengths/weaknesses which were present. This
activity gave students the opportunity to actively participate and engage in a different
manner than the previous portion of class. Their class size was relatively small, in a
tight, oddly-spaced classroom as well. The desks were the large ones, more like tables,
set in a rectangular shape that allowed everyone to see each other but unfortunately not
as much space for moving around. However, this seemed to pose no issue for them and
students easily engaged with this activity with several speaking up about their thoughts
on this example Cover Letter. Additionally, this activity served as an excellent transition
into discussion about an upcoming peer review assignment and some tips for
conducting that. The flow of class went very smoothly, and it was clear each section
built into the other but not in a way which felt stuffy or forced. The natural progression of
class was really impressing especially because of how comfortable the environment
seemed to be as well. Another one of my favorite things that Professor – did was greet
any student who might have shuffled in a little late, not in an intimidating way just giving
them a genuine hello and acknowledging their presence.
Overall, this observation went really positively especially because their class (on
the day of my observation) was quite different from my class sessions in 388V with (my
instructor). Our course can be quite fast-paced since it is only once a week with lots of
material, discussion, and activities so seeing a different approach was definitely
eye-opening in the best ways possible. Their style and rapport still did remind me of
Lyra and I though because she definitely does her best to leave space for me to bounce
ideas in and out of class. Though it might be nice to have more opportunities in class for
check-ins and advice such as Professor – did, so I might bring that to the table in an
upcoming meeting! Everyone’s teaching style and UTA-style is different, but that’s what
can be so great about this assignment because it gives us a chance to take a peek into
other classroom environments and gain insight on new ideas which could be applied in
our own space.