If you're going to be giving any sort of complicated lecture where you refer back to things you've mentioned previously, be aware of how you use pronouns. One of the biggest cardinal sins of lecturing is overusing words like "this", "it", and so on. The point of teaching is to transfer knowledge which the professor has and which the audience lacks. By its very nature, the pronoun assumes knowledge on behalf of the listener. This creates the possibility of danger.
In most cases, people in the audience aren't going to have their eyes on the lecturer during every moment of class. Time and again, I've been sitting in class, taking notes furiously (in my crazy mad frantic shorthand) when I hear the dreaded phrase "this one" and the clack of the chalk as the instructor physically points to something on the board. I have to look up and see where he's pointing, and that's if I'm lucky. With some teachers, they're going so fast I miss it entirely. In an instant, I've gotten lost. In an ideal world, I'd raise my voice and make some noise, but a good teacher understands that in the typical classroom, this isn't going to happen.
Just the other day, I was doing a recitation section on some basic graph theory, and caught myself pointing to some dots on the board and referring to them as "this one" and "that one". I quickly corrected myself. Fortunately, the graph in question was a 3x3 square of vertices with some edges connecting them, and I only needed to point out the vertices, so it was fairly easy to accomodate the note-takers: "the top right vertex", "the center one", and so on.
When you cut down your pronoun usage, it forces you to be more articulate, and this is a great help to a student who is having trouble following along. For some teachers who have an issue of talking too fast, just replacing "this"'s and "that"'s with more articulation, can make a world of difference in the quality of the lecture.
I became aware of this in part because I've been going to various classes, lectures, and seminars for about a decade now (I'm a PhD student in mathematics), and in part through my involvement in Toastmasters, a public speaking club where we work on helping each other develop as competent public speakers. (For my introduction to Toastmasters International, read here.)
I've been getting anonymous student comments back from my undergrads over the years I've been teaching math, and there's a definite correlation between these seemingly pedantic distinctions and what the students say of my performance. When I first started, TAing a class of engineering calculus, my students weren't too impressed. I remember standing in front of the room, stammering a little, and waaay overusing pronouns. But as I've paid attention to my teaching style, good style has gradually started to etch itself into my brain subconsciously, so that now I effortlessly dodge verbiage that would confuse my students.
I have a girlfriend who speaks English as a second language, and it's easy for me to tell when she's getting tired, based on how she speaks. As a general rule, the first things to go are her pronouns. "He"'s become "her"'s, and so on. If you're giving, say, a history discussion with lots of actors in play, it's crucial to make it clear who you're talking about. Of course you know who "he" and "she" are at all times, but if the students knew that, they wouldn't need your course. ;)
Obviously you shouldn't go overboard and totally uproot every pronoun from your lexicon. With any rule of thumb about communication, it works best with a happy degree of moderation. Just be aware and pay attention to what you're saying. I know it's tough-- it was a difficult skill for me to master-- but make some effort to put yourself in the shoes of your audience, and observe yourself through their eyes.
It's definitely worth it when you get those student evals back and read how you're the best instructor ever ;)
FURTHER READING
For some other ways to be better at conveying your vast and mighty knowledge, read How To Be A Better Teacher.
It's true people judge you by the words you use, but that doesn't just mean you should go memorize the dictionary. With words, it's better to use a smaller lexicon very effectively, than to misuse a bunch of Shakespear. Read more: Using Words Effectively.
For another linguistic nitpick about the classroom, check out Problems In Mathematics.
In most cases, people in the audience aren't going to have their eyes on the lecturer during every moment of class. Time and again, I've been sitting in class, taking notes furiously (in my crazy mad frantic shorthand) when I hear the dreaded phrase "this one" and the clack of the chalk as the instructor physically points to something on the board. I have to look up and see where he's pointing, and that's if I'm lucky. With some teachers, they're going so fast I miss it entirely. In an instant, I've gotten lost. In an ideal world, I'd raise my voice and make some noise, but a good teacher understands that in the typical classroom, this isn't going to happen.
Just the other day, I was doing a recitation section on some basic graph theory, and caught myself pointing to some dots on the board and referring to them as "this one" and "that one". I quickly corrected myself. Fortunately, the graph in question was a 3x3 square of vertices with some edges connecting them, and I only needed to point out the vertices, so it was fairly easy to accomodate the note-takers: "the top right vertex", "the center one", and so on.
When you cut down your pronoun usage, it forces you to be more articulate, and this is a great help to a student who is having trouble following along. For some teachers who have an issue of talking too fast, just replacing "this"'s and "that"'s with more articulation, can make a world of difference in the quality of the lecture.
I became aware of this in part because I've been going to various classes, lectures, and seminars for about a decade now (I'm a PhD student in mathematics), and in part through my involvement in Toastmasters, a public speaking club where we work on helping each other develop as competent public speakers. (For my introduction to Toastmasters International, read here.)
I've been getting anonymous student comments back from my undergrads over the years I've been teaching math, and there's a definite correlation between these seemingly pedantic distinctions and what the students say of my performance. When I first started, TAing a class of engineering calculus, my students weren't too impressed. I remember standing in front of the room, stammering a little, and waaay overusing pronouns. But as I've paid attention to my teaching style, good style has gradually started to etch itself into my brain subconsciously, so that now I effortlessly dodge verbiage that would confuse my students.
I have a girlfriend who speaks English as a second language, and it's easy for me to tell when she's getting tired, based on how she speaks. As a general rule, the first things to go are her pronouns. "He"'s become "her"'s, and so on. If you're giving, say, a history discussion with lots of actors in play, it's crucial to make it clear who you're talking about. Of course you know who "he" and "she" are at all times, but if the students knew that, they wouldn't need your course. ;)
Obviously you shouldn't go overboard and totally uproot every pronoun from your lexicon. With any rule of thumb about communication, it works best with a happy degree of moderation. Just be aware and pay attention to what you're saying. I know it's tough-- it was a difficult skill for me to master-- but make some effort to put yourself in the shoes of your audience, and observe yourself through their eyes.
It's definitely worth it when you get those student evals back and read how you're the best instructor ever ;)
FURTHER READING
For some other ways to be better at conveying your vast and mighty knowledge, read How To Be A Better Teacher.
It's true people judge you by the words you use, but that doesn't just mean you should go memorize the dictionary. With words, it's better to use a smaller lexicon very effectively, than to misuse a bunch of Shakespear. Read more: Using Words Effectively.
For another linguistic nitpick about the classroom, check out Problems In Mathematics.
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