Hi James:
Great self analysis commentary. I like the axiom you used, "less me". It really is about the student.
Regards, Barry
Hi Craig:
Great - critical thinking ultimately helps the student much more than just feeding information and rote memorization. Your natural tendency towards Socratic methods should be a benefit to your students.
Regards, Barry
By having an understanding of myself as an instructor gives me the opportunity to improve on my teaching skills. I think I favor the Socratic style.I love to answer a question with a question. This allows the students to work out a solution to there own question. Of course sometimes it is necessary to steer them in the right direction. Students are sometimes surprised when they find out they already knew the answer but needed the right prod to get it out.
Hi Carol:
We're all better off as we grow to understand more about ourselves. Confidence, knowledge, caring, and structure - with these attritubes and behaviors, students should be set up to be taught and experience a menaingful instructional environment.
Regards, Barry
Hi Carol:
Color can inflence an attitutde too, I think. And if an attitude towards learning can be improved, we've made some progress. I believe it can also impact the students mood.
Regards, Barry
Hi Anthony:
Being willing to change and adapt as needed is terrific - not all instructors are that flexible. You almost sound like a concerned parent - and that's a good thing - looking out for the individual needs of your students. And like a parent, there will be both cjallenges and triumphs. I guess we get to celebrate them all.
Regards, Barry
Hi John:
Right. I guess how well an instructor is prepared might determine the overall effectiveness of that class.
Regards, Barry
Hello,
Yes, it's amazing what color can do. It also says something about the personality of the instructor.
On some of my handouts, I like to use clip art. For example, on the descriptive writing handout, I have a picture of an artist using a painter's palette. My message: Use words to paint a picture.
Hello,
Understanding myself as an instructional leader affects how I manage the classrom, how my students respond to me, and how I present my material.
Knowing myself as an instructional leader affects student learning. If I have a negative impression of myself as a teacher, the students will pick up on that.
It is important to create a solid presence to the classroom.
I tend to find I have to change my methods depending on the class and the student. Some will need more compassion and some need more discipline. Some days it's adapt to survive.
Preparing for class ahead of time keeps everything rolling smoothly.
What I do well, what I dislike, where I need growth are all important considerations when I set out to teach a course. Being aware of these things allows me to stay focused on delivering what the student needs to be successful and reminds me I can make my job easier and more pleasurable by understanding what I enjoy or what I avoid. Making my day less "me" centered opens up opportunities for growth, both for myself and the students.
Hi Brenda:
Working at home in preparation for the kind of classes you teach makes perfect sense. I bet your familiy appreciates your "homework".
Regards, Barry
I always do a lot of review and planning at home.
I make sure the recipes that day fit to the material that I will be teaching
Hi Andrea:
We all have aspects of each of the teaching profiles. It's interesting to see where we see ourselves. It'd be fun to see if our peer faculty and even students would rate us in the same way.
Regards, Barry
Hi Andrea:
Great. Focusing on how we can best benefit our students is an excellent goal to strive for. Our awareness of our strengths and weaknesses can work to help achive this goal.
Regards, Barry
Interesting to note that I find myeslf in several of these categories....a mix of several types of Instructors, although I wouls say (if presssed) That I fall into the Dead Poet Society the fullest.
By understanding ourselves we can better serve our students. knowing our strengths and weaknesses allowes us to formulate the best of who we are and use it to the benifit of the student.
Barry had a very good comment about comparing self perception versus how others percieve us(peers and students). My department has student surveys where we get a lot of feed back about the perception of the class text and instructor. This comment has sparked an idea to include a peer review process.
Hi Paul:
Can't go wrong with that approach!
Regards, B arry
