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| Willie the Worm, Lakota Tribe
add to GA's Teaching Style
From: University Currents Date: June 2, 2000 Story and photo by: Marianne Kunnen-Jones Phone: (513) 556-1826 Archive: Campus News You would expect a German teacher to say that two years of study abroad in Germany provided experiences that he can use with students in his classroom. David Stroeh, a graduate teaching assistant in Germanic languages and literatures, says that. You wouldn't expect a German teacher to say that a semester studying the Lakota language at a tribal college centered on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota has provided insights to teaching German in the classroom. Yet again, Stroeh says that.
Stroeh, winner of this year's Graduate Assistant Excellence in Teaching Award, found that studying the Lakota lanugage, thought and culture, under the guidance of a Lakota elder, taught him a lot about inserting himself into his own teaching. "Lakota is taught by the elders, the only ones who are fluent in it anymore. The most central thing in that class for me was the elder, who drifted off into telling anecdotes. The class really became a story-telling session. I don't think I could approach teaching German that way because I do have to talk about grammar and things like that. Plus I would probably run out of stories to tell. But it show me that it is important to insert some of my own experiences and perspectives," said Stroeh, a PhD student at UC since 1996. It is part of his teaching philosophy to give students a glimpse beyond the classroom. Studying abroad in Giessen, Germany, in 1990-91 as a master's student at University of Missouri, and at Hamburg, Germany, in 1997-98 through UC, immersed him German culture and improved his fluency in ways that his students appreciate. He also tries to draw on students' own experiences and to inject a bit of humor into the subject. For example, he sometimes borrows Beanie Babies from his girlfriend's collection to bring into the college classroom. During spring quarter, he brought in Willie the Worm -- Willi der Wurm -- to give a lesson on prepositions. Using Willie's tent, he went over on, under, beside, above and the like. Another time, he brought in more to give to each student to use with in-class conversational pairs of students. "This is my favorite class of the day," said one student on an evaluation recently. "No matter how sleepy I am during my morning classes, I always perk up by German." Says another: "Dave has given me a deeper intest in the language than I ever expected. I look forward to the future German courses." His supervisor for German teaching, UC professor Cordelia Stroinigg, praises Stroeh's skills in the classroom. "He motivates students and inspires a faculty grown cynical," she says. "In the classroom, Mr. Stroeh is very dynamic, enthusiastic and energetic; he approaches topics with a dramatic, often playful flair." Stroeh says some of his inspiration comes from his own first German teacher at Loveland High School (Ohio), Amos Friedman, whose enthusiasm for the subject got him headed on the path to German teaching at the outset. Stroeh's award carries a $1,000 cash prize. Other honorees in this year's teaching assistant competition are: |
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