In the final episode of the GTA series, I reflect on my experiences teaching two semesters of an undergraduate public speaking course at a public university. I taught as a graduate teaching associate while I pursued my Master of Arts in Communication Studies.

In episode 6 of Professor Zoomer, I'll be talking about how teaching my second semester and revisiting my lesson plans gave me a serious reality check. As the saying goes, "hindsight is 20/20." I also talk about how important it is to create space for learning by doing, both for ourselves as individuals, and for students in the classroom. 

In episode 5 of Professor Zoomer, I'll be talking about my experiences of being a graduate student, working towards a Master's of Art in Communication Studies, while at the same time being a Graduate Teaching Associate, which means being a college professor teaching a lower division college course, all at the same time. I'll be going into the role switch that takes place mentally between being a student and a professor, and I'll also talk about how I manage (aka don't manage) both roles, as well as some insight into what grad school is really like. HINT: It's not all research.

In Episode 04 of the Graduate Teaching Associate (GTA) series, I talk about how being adaptive (aka winging it and doing my lesson plans last minute) has actually benefited the quality of my lesson plans, their relevance to social issues, and my engagement with students. On a broader level, I discuss the benefits of being prepared in advance as well as the benefit of learning how to be adaptive and flexible with different situations and spur-of-the-moment whims and scenarios. I draw heavily upon the flipped classroom method and explain how I use this and am able to pull off great lesson plans with a solid balance of lecture and engaging activities without excessive prep work as a college professor.

In today's episode, I talk about my experiences teaching my SECOND ever class, where I was dealing with an extreme lack of motivation leading up to the start of a new semester. Thanks to a great lesson plan as well as some general mental preparation, I was able to take it in stride. Listen to me discuss my experiences, then offer some general tips on how to prepare for lack of motivation. 

In episode 2 of our GTA (Graduate Teaching Associate) series, I discuss why I wanted to be a graduate teaching associate, in charge of leading my own Public Speaking course for lower division college students. I talk about where my passion from teaching stemmed from and how it translated into my experience as a first time college professor. I talk primarily about the motives behind teaching as well as offer some reasons to become a teacher for all those future instructors, tutors, assistants, TAs, teachers, professors, and more.

In our very first episode of the GTA series, I talk about my experiences as a first time college professor and fresh graduate teaching associate. I do a deep dive into how I felt teaching my first ever first day of class. Not only was it my first day teaching college, but it was also my first day teaching a synchronous online class. I express all the uncertainties I felt as a graduate teaching associate, impostor syndrome, and how these played a role in my outlook towards teaching. I also offer a few tips and tricks to help future instructors, teachers, TAs, and more, especially for online learning and education.

My name is Professor Zoomer. I'm a female college professor, grad student, and teaching associate born in 1997. I'm a product of Millennial and Gen Z culture, and I'm teaching Gen Z students. I'll be discussing my experiences as a first-time college professor, grad student, and teaching associate in the ever-growing digital world. 

I want to offer a fresh perspective for college students and professors alike with my own unique insights into the college atmosphere, student life, classroom environments, in-person and online education, teaching practices, and so much more. I'm here to demystify what goes on in a teacher's mind, but also to demystify what goes on in a student's mind as well. Beyond that, I want this to be an educational podcast that anyone can list to - something that's not filled with jargon or academia, offering a safe space to hear my teacher rants and also share your own. 

Stay tuned and support us on Instagram & YouTube @ProfessorZoomer and at https://anchor.fm/professor-zoomer/support