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Essentials of the Latin Language II (Spring 2003) |
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Summary |
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I taught six students in the second semester of a year-long beginning Latin course. Since the class had gotten somewhat behind the previous semester (during which I was the TA), I had to adopt an accelerated schedule. The students rose to the challenge and all of them were ready for intermediate Latin classes by the end of the year. In addition to assigning traditional grammar study and translation of simple sentences (using Wheelock's Latin), I developed a website with online discussion groups in which students worked together to translate sentences and extended passages. These exercises helped the class members work out their own difficulties with the material and built a sense of class unity, while also giving students some flexibility in their homework schedule and saving class time. In the last two weeks of the semester the class read short but unmodified passages of Cicero and Catullus, and each student gave a brief presentation on a Roman author.
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Selected Course Material |
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Syllabus |
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Conditions handout |
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Midterm Exam |
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Short Exam |
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Evaluations |
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"He is very helpful and insists [on going] over difficult areas." |
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"Very good; very clear and knowledgeable... I am very pleased with the amount of Latin I've learned." |
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"Ben's expectations were very high, and he made sure that we kept up with the syllabus... I feel that it paid off in the end." |
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"Ben was a very good instructor willing to answer questions and spend time outside of class." |
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"His help with translations was great. I never felt too intimidated to ask questions... I plan to continue on the Latin track." |
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From the Critical Review (for full report see: http://www.brown.edu/Students/Critical_Review): "On the whole, Benjamin Low, the graduate student who taught the course, was reviewed as a good instructor. Respondents praised him as clear, concise, and available for assistance, even though his class thought he may have assigned too much work. Mr. Low's students thought he was very knowledgeable and understanding, but that at times he moved too rapidly through the material. However, he provided thorough explanations and did not mind reviewing pieces which gave people difficulty." |
