Trying to do Social Theory with NLD and Interview GSI

Today we’ll discuss social theory and NLD. I interviewed my GSI Alex for this topic. He helped with teaching me shortcuts and writing essays in my junior and senior years. What subject did you help me with?

Alex: “Yes, so I was a teaching assistant for a class on Sociological Theory. It was a year-long class. Where students were expected to read some really dense, sometimes poorly written texts and put them in dialogue with each other. And sorta of keep track of all that content over the course of the whole year.”

Me: What sort of strategy did you use when helping me with really difficult things in Social Theory?

Alex: “Well I think the most important thing was something you did not do that I did, which was that you were really consistently coming to my office hours. And I remember it was really interesting because at the beginning of every semester I sorta of ask students about their learning styles. And almost everyone says that they want more visuals. And unless I’m completely forgetting this you said you were an oral learner, which I had never even heard before. But it was basically that you learn through talking and hearing [about] things. I think that was something I had to realize that office hours really needed to be about talking through the ideas. But it was also something that I tried to incorporate into my teaching in general by bringing in things like podcasts. And I think that was beneficial to everyone. But you were definitely the first person who said that was your preferred learning style. I tried to work with that.”

Me: Yeah you’re remembering correctly, Alex I am an oral learner. And that’s true with anyone who has NLD they learn better with orally or auditorily methods of teaching because they can retain that better than any visual methods. Do you recall any shortcuts that we used when you were helping me?

Alex: “Well I’m not entirely sure what shortcut would mean specifically. And I think the goal of the class was really to try to wade through these really difficult [sociological and theoretical] texts. And really just try to pull out the key ideas. Then put those ideas from different authors in dialogue with one another. And so I think the challenge for you was often pulling out those main ideas. But once you had the big picture you were really able to piece it together, throughout the whole course. I think a lot of students kind of struggled with it. They may have understood one text very quickly but then if you asked them about it a month later they didn’t even sort of remember that we had read that author at all. And I recall that you had a much better recall of [the authors] we had covered in the course which was really helpful. Because then the final exam was an oral one about everyone we had talked about in the course.”

Me: Yes I do remember that and I would agree with you that because I had better recall with the oral and auditory memory gave me an advantage then some of the students with that. And like you said getting the big picture was helpful because I know with NVLDERs sometimes it’s hard to understand the big picture. Because they tend to focus on the little small details of things more naturally.

Alex: “Yeah I think I remember one time it was just a particularly difficult reading. And I remember you emailing me multiple times as you were struggling through this text. And it was kind of like [you kept saying] ‘I don’t understand this sentence.’ And I think in that case we had to zoom out. And say it’s okay you don’t have to understand every single sentence. Actually you have to understand the main idea and afterwards it’s not important if you remember every single sentence. I think for you that was really important. Even though you struggled with the pieces of the readings, you were realized you were going to be able to get the big idea eventually through class, talking through it, and getting through the reading.”

Me: Yeah I would agree with you. I’m sure there were times when I would send you a message about a specific reading that was difficult for me. I may not recall one right now because it’s been more than two years since I graduated. 

Alex: “It’s been a year, it’s okay. Yeah.”

Me: But I’m sure there were times when it was difficult for me to absorb the readings. And having not only my mom but also you to go for information about the readings was very helpful. Do you have a memory of me when you were really proud of me when I got something really well that you were trying to teach me?

Alex: “Well I think the moment I was proudest of you was the final oral exam. Because I think that was the moment that a lot of people who were graduating sorta of peaked mid-semester. And by the end of the semester they were just kinda done with it. I felt like you throughout the year you were doing better by the end of the semester than you were at the beginning. And by the second semester you were doing better than in the first. It was really cool to see you come in for the final [exam] to see that you really had put all of those pieces together. You ended on such a positive note I felt in the class.”

Me: Thank you. I thought that was a good memory too. I remember the visual I used for the oral exam was a butterfly. I’m not sure if you remember that.

Alex: “Yes.”

Me: And I’m not exactly sure how I had it structured. But I think I put a group in each wing and in the middle.

Alex: “Yeah.”

Me: And that was kinda cool that I used a butterfly then. Now I’m talking about a podcast where the cover is a butterfly. Maybe we can fit in the authors’ names here.

Alex: “So in terms of talking about your recall of them. Or am I quizzing you about them now?”

Me: Yeah. Well I was thinking we could do a little bit of both. I can share with you which ones I remember then you can try to get me to recall more.

Alex: “Who do you remember?”

Me: I remember Karl Marx.

Alex: “Good start.”

Me: I remember Fendrick Engels.

Alex: “Mmm.”

Me: And Antonio Gramsci. 

Alex: “The professor would be very happy that you remembered that.”

Me: Yes. Of course I remember the professor’s name, Michael Buroway, but that wasn’t somebody we read. I actually wrote them down as a cheat sheet so let me look at the list. I also remember Foucault Michel. I think I’m saying that correctly.

Alex: “Michel Foucault.”

Me: Yes Michel Foucault I flipped flopped them. And Milo Yinappolis was one I did a paper on individually I think. 

Alex: “Mmm, well he was somebody who came to campus that year.” 

Me: Yes exactly and I think one other French one was Beauvoir. I don’t know if I’m saying that one correctly.

Alex: “Beauvoir, Simone de Beauvoir.”

Me: Yes, I couldn’t remember her first name but I did recall her last name. I remembered an expression Michael would use often in class was ‘Bob’s your uncle.’ 

Alex: “It’s true. He was probably the only person in my life that I encountered that used that phrase.” 

Me: Ditto. So those were the ones I remembered on my own. I think I remembered quite a few.

Alex: “I think that’s over half.”

Me: Oh wow.

Alex: “We read over four authors the first semester. We read six so you missed two of the marxists from the first semester. So in between Marx and Gramsci we had a russian. I don’t know if you remember.”

Me: I kept thinking there was a Russian. I think it started with an L. 

Alex:”You’re on the right track.” 

Me: Was it Lenin?

Alex: “It was Lenin. You got it.”

Me: Okay. Yeah I kept thinking there was Russian cause I was to look at countries to jog my memory. Because I knew we were from different countries. 

Alex: “Second semester we had a French and a German author.”

Me: French and German. I think the german one was probably oh yes, Weber. 

Alex: “That’s right, you got it.”

Me: Cause I know the W sounds more like a V in german. You said French.

Alex: “He was the one that I think you had the toughest time reading. He was the most convoluted, poorly written.”

Me. I’m not sure if this one is French. But I’m thinking of Durkheim.

Alex: “You got it. It was Durkheim.” 

Me: Okay. I didn’t remember if he was French or not. See you did tweak my memory there.

Alex: “Well now your way more than half way.”

Me: I know there were more feminists than just Simone.

Alex: “There were.”

Me: Weren’t there two more?

Alex: “There were two more.”

Me: Yeah I thought there were three that I had on the butterfly. For some reason I thought there was one with a P. But I’m not sure.

Alex: “That’s correct. I think the reason is that you remember part of it.”

Me: How does my mind do that? I don’t know if I’m remembering correctly but for some reason I want to say Polly.

Alex: “Mnmm.”

Me: No, okay. I was going to say that’s probably too simple. I’m probably not gonna remember it. I can’t think of anything else other than that. But that’s okay.

Alex: “That’s okay. Patricia Hill Collins.”

Me: Ah, actually I was going to say Pat but I wasn’t sure if that was right. 

Alex: “You were on the right track.”

Me: Let’s see if I can think of the other one. Because I got most of them. I’m trying to think of something that might jog my memory.

Alex: “There’s one other one from the first semester. His name had two F’s.”

Me: Oh, was he asian.

Alex: “Mnmm.”

Me: No, oh Fanon?

Alex: “Yep you got it.” 

Me: I don’t know how to say but I think it was Fatz. 

Alex: “Yeah there was a r. Frantz Fanon.”

Me: Yeah Frantz Fanon. I was close. Let’s see if I can think of the last feminist.

Alex: “We only spent one day on her.”

Me: Hmm. We only had one reading with her?

Alex: “Yeah.” 

Me: Okay well then there might be a slim chance I remember. This is fun though. I don’t think I’m going to remember it. But I remembered most of them.

Alex: “Yeah, Catherine Mckenna.”

Me: Oh okay. Well it was fun thinking of them.

Alex: “It’s like going down memory lane.”

Me: Yeah it is like that. NVLDers tend to have a good memory for small details and mine seems to be people’s names. 

Alex: “Interesting.”

Me: That’s why I was trying to do that little exercise there. 

Alex: “Well I think that’s always the key there is figuring out where your student’s strengths are. Right?”

Me: Right.

Alex: “We’re all trying to make you know correct things and fill gaps. But you know the way you do that is actually finding where the student is strongest.” 

Me: Right I agree with you and I think I definitely remembered what seemed to help me with you. Was you always willing to have me record not just the discussions but also the office hours? 

Alex. “Hmm.”

Me: Which was really helpful because then I could go back on my own, if I wanted to when reviewing for an exam or essay. Or something like that. And that was helpful.

Alex: “I was wondering if you really listened to those recordings.”

Me: I think I did because I remember I would go back to them on my own. And see if I missed something or to just refresh my memory.

Alex: “Mmm.”

Me: Especially for the oral exam. I know I don’t think I really told you what learning challenge I had in college. But what was I thinking if you knew what I had, would you have changed anything that you did to help me?

Alex: “Mmm, that’s a good question. I mean I think we receive these letters that the student has accommodation for a disability.” 

Me: right.

Alex: “It tells you what the accommodation is but it doesn't tell you what the disability is. And I think that’s probably the way it should be. That's really up to the student. I think it’s true that there are some disabilities that are understood instantly. Like you get a letter and it says the student needs a ramp to get into class. You know that they have some mobility issues.” 

Me: Exactly.

Alex: “I think what we deal with a lot now is what we would say is invisible disabilities. And yet the accommodations people get are kind of always the same. Its you know always more time on exams. You know extensions for things. I do wonder sometimes if that's kind of the right fit for people. So it is really important that with the system we have that students articulate what it is they really need. And what their strengths are. Like I said so I don’t really know how much it would have changed specifically. Because you were pretty good at communicating what you needed. Right?”

Me: Yeah I agree with you I was good at communicating what I needed because I was learning more about what I had on my own. And because I was learning about it through the testing I got. I was able to communicate more to you and my other teachers that I had what I needed. And I think because there’s not so much information due to the nuance of it. It would probably be difficult to give more help with that than something like autism.

Alex: “Yeah I definitely have learned things from your podcast.”

Me: That’s the reason I made it. I would say definitely what you and I created was definitely helpful for me. I know I would still have graduated but it would have been tricker if I didn’t have the accommodations that I had. And if I didn't have people like you, my mom or my other professors and GSIs would help me as much as they did. 

Alex: “Well I’m glad you feel like you were supported.”

Me: Me too. I know that when I’ve interviewed other NVLDers, they aren’t as supported as I was. 

Alex: “Mmm.”

Me: It makes me feel more blessed and fortunate for the support I had. Like I said it would have taken me longer to graduate. I mean because I went to a school like Berkeley. That level was one of the things that made it harder. 

Alex: “Yeah for sure we have high expectations.”

Me: Yes. I think also something that made it easier was being able to talk to my teachers in person. Since I came from a background of being homeschooled online up until college. So I had a big transition in college to being able to see my teachers in person and ask them for help. As opposed to having to email them, so that was a little different.

Alex: “It must have been a big change too to go from homeschooling to being in a section with 20 students doing a discussion.”

Me: It was different in that physical aspect because then I had to remind myself that I had to physically walk to class instead of jumping on my computer. I remember one of the first things I did was figure out how long it would take me to walk from my apartment to my class so I can get there on time. And I did that because even if I had Berkely time that extra 10 minutes. I didn’t want to be late. 

Alex: “The GSIs appreciate that.”

Me: Right and I didn’t want to miss any information even if I was recording it. Like you said it was a transition that I had to get used to especially with having anywhere from 100 to 500 students in my class. I wanted to do this interview to provide a resource for students. To provide them tools for subjects that are like social theory or have writing in them. That’s what I was thinking would be helpful with this one.

Alex: “Is there anything else you want me to say?”

Me: Not unless you thought of another question to add.

Alex: “I wanted to ask you what accommodations would you put in that letter if you could write it instead of the DSP.”

Me; Oh that’s a good question. I would think that if it was specifically for a NVLDer. I would definitely include the accommodations they need like Berkeley does. Because that alerts the professor or GSI what they’re going to be using in the class. And it lets them know what they might be asking permission for. 

But I think I might also try to see if there’s a way to see if there’s any new accommodations that might be helpful. This is where the research would come in handy. But I mean the ones I had for audio, were really helpful. Other than recording the classes. The other one I had was converting textbooks to audio. That was another one. I had to be able to listen to those books. It was helpful. I was able to have extra time on exams. I could make notes on the textbooks too. 

Maybe also put a little note to the professor about how the student learns better. Because maybe the student would be shy to say that to them. That is a good question to help think of how to customize that letter if you were given the choice to do so. 

Alex: “Well keep thinking of that, maybe you can talk about it in a future podcast.”

Me: Yeah that’s a good question that I wouldn’t have thought of. 

Alex: “Thank you for having me on.”

Me: Thank you for letting me interview you. Whether you’re working with a teacher, parent, GSI rather than by yourself you’re able to have more help then you may have from yourself. Since they would have more knowledge about the subject that they are helping you with.