Karsen Midterm Reflection

2021.02.21

Before the assignment to make these videos, I got the opportunity once to teach Chinese in 5 minutes in 8th grade. Really, I could've taught any skill, but Chinese was something I was passionate about. That was probably the single best experience I've ever had teaching at all- yet I didn't teach the class anything at all- they could figure it out themselves. That was what made the lesson so engaging, giving students who originally may not have cared less, a sense of accomplishment in discovering the "hardest language in the world" all on their own. Using what I know now, it could have been even better. How could that relate to my midterm assignment? My mom gave me one of the most memorable pieces of feedback (since she is always there when I am recording my podcast) as someone who majored in advertisement in university- that my lessons had lacked engagement. I had made a perfect lesson- for nobody. It was with my current motivation to learn Chinese now - necessity and efficiency - to teach my 7th grade self, who was motivated by curiosity, and wouldn't have been engaged.

That is my original misconception - that a learner would be more interested in functionality than engagement (though not directly). I had kept in mind that I am more used to the Chinese language compared to beginner students - but what I had produced may have not even worked for the most ideal student, in an unconscious way. It may have worked better for me to do a trial run live with my coordinators, but at the time there was another misconception that would have discouraged me from doing so: I believed my end product needed to be highly edited and show clear time in the production- rather than what would have actually done the student well. I could have recorded a Loom video with barely any editing at all and produced something clearly better. It may have been possible for me to realize this, but only if my time had been managed better- I wasn't expecting (outside of this class) the immense workload at the end of January which pushed over into February. With a clear mind now it seems simple, but if I had incorporated the creativity and originality I know is possible, I could have produced something much better.

The entire process of making videos was very challenging, but what set me back and challenged me above all was a combination of the voiceover and the editing. Of course, I dreaded editing the most as it took the longest and was incredibly tedious, so I avoided making a long original recording- but much of my challenge in editing was the lack of voiceover material I had, and by the time I had figured that out I would have run out of time to record again. In planning I needed to think more outside of the box: transitioning from the academic and restricted mindset from school to a curious and creative one that is so essential to real life (and EMC) is easier said than done. Referencing my 8th grade lesson, I was able to do more with my lesson simply because at that point I didn't care much about school, and my mind didn't work at all the way it does now. I wasn't so afraid to fail, so naturally I created something ideal for myself. The class structure of EMC is just about perfect because it allows for that, but I need to somehow change the way I approach creative assignments; not like I'm following a rubric, instead something that is bold and unique.

The last point has already addressed my point of view about creativity, but aside from that my weakest "C" is collaboration. It likely goes back to my struggle with trying to express my creativity even when I've been long conditioned not to. I've always been a very independent worker. Getting advice from others helps a lot, but directly working with others to create something is difficult simply because it's difficult when I am not completely in control of my assignment. Additionally it is difficult with COVID, my schedule, and the very limited Taiwanese and even Chinese community locally. My strongest "c" would have to be critical thinking- though not on a technical level, I believe it's what I do best. My third best strength, according to my Cliftonstrengths is being strategic- having the ability to create alternate ways to proceed and plan effectively for the future- which matches with my first strength, being futuristic. Rather than continuing when my method of learning clearly isn't working, I critically process what needs to change.

I have never made a video tutorial before- but with this assignment, for the most part, I'm confident about making tutorial videos. My process always starts with stupid ideas. I do consider myself deep down to be creative- and though I'll come up with a million stupid ideas, that's what it takes for a great idea to take root. Once I have a solid general idea, I'll make an outline of exactly what I want to teach- depending on how comfortable I am with teaching a topic, I may go on to write a script. I can fluently speak about certain topics, and have trouble myself to understand others. Next, I record a voiceover with a lot of jumbled thoughts, which usually doesn't take long after I've practiced a few times. The longest part of the process is editing my voiceover- it's challenging or sometimes just tedious to decide what to keep and what is unnecessary. If I need to record a background video or other useful footage, I typically fit that in whenever it happens to work- since I don't have any artificial lighting that can mimic natural light well or a camera that can record well at night, it is only possible to take a video during golden hour (an hour before sunset and after sunrise).

I learned most that it doesn't matter what the content is, as long as I can make a personal connection to whoever may be watching. My videos required preparation for the audience in between, as the lessons built upon each other- but they lacked engagement- if they only had that, it wouldn't have mattered what amount of preparation a student had. This is something that is likely only achievable from actual experience. Additionally, engagement is much easier said than done, and requires time and creativity. Personally, and a struggle I know other teachers of Chinese run into often (even the most experienced), have to find a limit to their being technical when teaching. Having spoken with students who have learned Chinese through purely their heritage, they aren't typically familiar with tone changes or sometimes even the Pinyin system at all, yet they could find equal success to someone who does know the technicalities of the Chinese language.

The teaching of Chinese without knowing needs of individual students was definitely a formidable challenge, but I feel I handled it relatively well. The problem I ran into was the unpredictability of what they don't understand or think based on my wording (as language teaching is just so delicate in general)- for example there was confusion between the tonal aspect of Chinese and inflection generally. That isn't bad at all- and getting curiosity from someone watching is for sure an achievement, but the fact I don't know something is not something I would be able to address in the video, as any individual questions. Getting questions at all, especially individually is really special for me- and the video format didn't completely lack that, but having a true personal connection with who I'm teaching to is what is fun about it.

Time and planning were some of my biggest challenges- and what immediately sticks out was that I was meant to plan and produce the videos separately which proved to set me back. I was "afraid" in some ways to change what I had in the lesson plan. Often when I'm in the process of recording and editing is when I notice that I need to completely change the planning that went into the video- which may be a sign I need to take into account more factors like time and relevance when I plan out my lessons. Planning to be honest wasn't that difficult at first, but the lesson plans weren't useful once I realized the time constraints and my means to make a quality video.

Next time I would try my best not to procrastinate- though with the workload it was difficult. I should've used the time when we made the lesson plans to get a headstart on the videos, yet reflecting on it now when I have a productive (and well rested) attitude and mindset. Editing and recording is quite draining, so getting myself to do it is usually as much of a challenge as actually doing it. The advice I would give to future students is to keep your expectations and plan as small as possible, but make something amazing from it. Procrastination is where most trouble comes in- and what I'd say to a future student is that if you are procrastinating, if you can find something in a big task or just something small otherwise that takes <2 minutes, do it now, otherwise schedule it. I just started doing it recently, but it's something you can easily adapt to work for you. Another strategy that works is to separate your procrastination reason in one of two categories: too easy or too difficult. If a task is small, make it more difficult for yourself, but if it is larger, try breaking it down and being consistent rather than doing everything at once.

My new goal for March is to study Chinese every day. At the time of my writing this, 2/22/2021 (it has taken a few days), I am working on my main Anki deck and only have about 20 new cards left. I should be more consistent in the future, as I started with over 200 cards last week, additionally newer words might stick better in my mind. Some days I can memorize efficiently and other days that isn't the case- so it would benefit me more to study frequently but for shorter intervals of time, which would allow a better chance that when I'm studying it is at my best and most efficient. I recently started listening to a podcast in Chinese from Taiwan (at least from the accent of the hosts), which has a great segment at the end where they go back and review all the new words in English and translate them to Chinese, after in the bulk of the podcast giving deeper explanations. I may not know the word "疫苗護照" (vaccine passport) or “標誌” (logo) if not for this. I mostly also watch Scissor Seven with traditional Chinese subtitles on Netflix, and add new words to Anki. In the future I'd like to try adding whole sentences to improve my speaking ability.