The best teacher of the year, Agnė Blažienė: students are my audience, and her thanks are the highest appreciation

The best teacher of the year, Agnė Blažienė: students are my audience, and her thanks are the highest appreciation

On March 5, the 10th V2 anniversary evening was held at Vytautas the Great University. V2 is a traditional VMU event during which the best teachers, student organizations, projects, the most popular phrases of the year are evaluated, etc. One of tonight's nominations is the best teacher of the year, which is evaluated in this way after taking into account teacher evaluation questionnaires. This time the nomination was won by Agnė Blažienė, a doctoral student of the Department of Lithuanian Language. She gladly agreed to share her impressions of the celebration, thoughts about teaching and students.

What brought you to Vytautas the Great University?

I came to this university to study a master's degree in applied Lithuanian linguistics. I had heard many excellent reviews about this university, the university radiated modernity, the opportunity to communicate informally with professors, to boldly express my opinion on one issue or another. I liked the freedom of the university, the work of the teachers, their enthusiasm and the desire to convey to the student what is relevant, useful and necessary to know today. That's how I ended up here at Vytautas the Great University.

What does the work of a teacher mean to you?

At first, work at the university was an internship. It was necessary to monitor the settlements, correct one other work. Later, certain conditions arose that I started teaching myself. It was awkward at first, but gradually I got used to everything. I realized that for me to be a teacher is to convey what I know in a language the student can understand. I want students to come to my lectures and take away what is relevant, useful and necessary for them. I want the students to remember the imparted knowledge, given examples, and to think "after all, the teacher once said that".

You are interested in many areas: sociolinguistics, multilingualism and other areas of language. Why the Lithuanian language?

When studying Lithuanian at school, I associated the Lithuanian language with putting commas, with reading works that were not very interesting to me at the time, with boring learning of language culture, because even if we didn't use the words "kurtke" or "fortke", we had to know that we couldn't use these words. I had a negative attitude about learning the Lithuanian language. But later I started thinking about studies. I chose whether to study journalism or Lithuanian philology. I thought that a good journalist must, first of all, be able to write well, so I chose to study Lithuanian philology. While studying, I realized that the Lithuanian language is really interesting, there is still much that has not been explored in it, that Lithuanian philology is everywhere - on television, in the press, on the radio, club flyers, posters, product descriptions. I realized that the studies of Lithuanian philology can be applied in many places, which is why I chose to continue researching the Lithuanian language in my master's and doctoral studies.

Has this job always been your dream?

In fact, yes. I was a stage person from my childhood - I acted, organized events. I needed attention. It felt good to stand in front of an audience and see the audience. Now, having the opportunity to teach, I again feel as if I am on stage: I have my audience, only in it I express my experience, knowledge. After the lecture, I always think about what I did well and what I should have done differently. You want the next exit to the "stage" to be better. I think I'm "in my sled".

VDU is the only university where students have the opportunity to express their opinion by filling in the teacher evaluation questionnaires. What do you think about this way for a student to express an opinion?

Teacher evaluation questionnaires are a good way for teachers to find out how students rate teaching, lecture material, etc. I think it is effective because I myself, as a teacher, want to know how students feel when they are in my lectures. Taking into account the students' answers, you can improve, think about what to do even better. You want the student not to think "oh no, it's the same lecture again" after coming to the lecture. Students can evaluate both the teaching structure and recommend lectures to others, which is a help not only to the teachers, but also to the students themselves. Of course, you won't change the subject program itself, but after reading these questionnaires, we try to do our best to make it a pleasure for students to attend lectures.

Have you changed something in your work, or maybe even in yourself, because of the students' opinions expressed through these questionnaires?

It really is. Taking into account their opinion, I try to present information, slides, learning material in a structured way, to find more examples that make sense of the theoretical material. What do I learn from myself? Gesture less, don't be late. I try to encourage and motivate students to get the best they can from university. The comments and praises expressed in student questionnaires do not allow you to stay in one place, they encourage you to move forward, which is very good.

VDU is...?

The opportunity to be yourself.

What is the greatest appreciation for what you do?

The best assessment is students' comments that they hear information during lectures that is relevant, useful and applicable to their lives. I am also pleased with the students' praise that the lectures were fun, interesting, and non-monotonous.

How does it feel to be elected teacher of the year?

Good, fun, happy. This assessment made it clear that I am really where I need to be, that the efforts put into work are not in vain, because the students feel it, notice it. This encourages you to keep moving forward, to constantly improve the lectures so that the student is interested. Sometimes you don't know if you are doing well or not, but hey, look, students rate you as the best teacher through teacher evaluation questionnaires. It feels great, I feel like I have to put in even more effort to live up to this rating.