by Julie Dodd

The structure of school in most parts of the world provides the energizing opportunity of stopping, rethinking and restarting. In higher education, most colleges and universities are on either the semester or quarter system with students and teachers getting a new start at least two or three times a year.

Each of those new starts follows at least a week break. Some of the value of a break is actually taking a break from school tasks. However, the break also provides a time for reading, reflection and revising of course plans.

As I begin a new semester of teaching Mass Communication Teaching (MMC6930), I am considering the blend of the ongoing issues of teaching and learning (i.e., motivation, critical thinking) and the issues of this moment in time that affect teaching.

In our first class meeting, the class and I will talk about their goals for themselves as teachers and what their hopes are for the course. Many of those issues are consistent from semester to semester as graduate students strive to be effective teaching assistants and prepare for the teaching component of a university teaching career.

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