Teaching House Chicago

My experience with the part-time 10-week course at Teaching House Chicago was intense. I've encountered "you are set up to fail" from systems and the people that administer them before, but never in my experiences had it been quite so true. My personal schedule was a bit tight, so it was easy for me to fall behind in the early stages of the course. It took a good month-long stretch of fighting and clawing to get back in shape. Luckily the TH center was well-stocked with reference materials and excellent educators to help me straighten myself out.

The Saturday inputs were serious business. Every week a lot of new information is disseminated, with very little time for review. As we were going through these inputs, it all made perfect sense. Once you are planning your lesson at home by yourself, however, that illusion can quickly fade. I found that at least 12-13 hours was required to effectively put together a lesson plan with a reasonable expectation of success. This, of course, is best accomplished over the span of a couple of days. One my major follies as the course started to heat up is that I would force myself to do it all just one or two days ahead of the lesson. There wasn't much time for rehearsal, editing, editing and editing. Eventually I got the hang of the preparation process and I became prepared and eager for my lessons.

If you are someone with a busy schedule or hectic lifestyle, this course can be a challenge. Time management is of supreme importance both in class and wherever you spend your time outside of it. This is a rewarding challenge, nevertheless.