I incorporate life experiences and true stories into my Spanish classes. I believe through some of my experiences whether successes or failures could have a substantial impact on my students and their educational growth. I also, think it helps the students learn about the other cultures and broaden their prospectives and mind sets. Any other suggestions on motivating learning in the Spanish classroom?
Angela,
This is fun isn't it? When they see that the content being offered is relevant and has application they start to come alive and realize that this is why they are in school. These examples increase the ROI for the students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I love to see the students reaction when I apply real life situations to the class room, I feel that it puts a realistic spin on the career path they are taking. It is also a confidence booster for most of them.
Charles,
The more connections you can make between the course content and application the more your students will be engaged in the learning process. Your efforts are what make the value of the course increase.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Charles,
This is true and this is why it is good to use these individuals throughout the course so the validate what you are teaching.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Yes, involving peers in dialogues is like enlisting testimonials; students believe it when they hear something from both peers and "experts".
By sharing real life extensions of course material; talking about relevant, work-place examples helps students want to learn.
Ed,
I use guest speakers and case studies as well as the activities you are using. I like to have previous graduates come in a tell about how the course content helped them in their career development and what they are currently doing. These sessions really get the students pumped up. The case studies get the students to using their newly acquired knowledge and skills as well as develops their problem solving abilities. The case studies show relevance and application of content and this increases the motivation as well as the ROI for students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
To motivate learning, I relate the subject that I am teaching to specific examples of professional competency. Students often can not make the connection between the skills I am teaching and their perception of what they need. I make that connection explicit. What other ideas do you use?
I teach audio production.
Michele,
Your last sentence puts it all in perspective. Yes excitement is contagious. By bring our passion for our field and our excitement about getting to teach about it to class each and every time it meets our students will see that we are modeling behavior they need to acquire.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
One way to help students to become motivated and excited about your course is to model motivation and excitement yourself. If you are not excited and motivated, then they won't be either. When students can see that you love your subject matter and when they understand the benefits of the content you are teaching and how they can apply the knowledge that they are receiving to real world situations, then they become involved and motivated. Excitement is contagious!
James,
Said but often common story. One of the reasons many of us teach is that we get to learn and interact with students. We treasure the opportunities that we have to help move our students toward their career goals.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Invest in the student. I had an undergrad economics class with at least 75 students sitting on the first day. By the 10th day of class there were 50 students and 25 tape recorders. By mid term the tape recorder became the majority student. The professor never faltered or altered what they did. They also never connected with the students. They never took the time to make an investment in their students to adjust to our needs. They never invested in developing techniques that utilized multiple learning styles. They never invested in the students and the students never invested in the class.
Sally,
Peer peer work groups and work activity completion is a great way to have the students share their skills and knowledge while learning how to work with others.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
This works very well in teaching cpr. I pair a student that already knows something about cpr with a novice. They practice together.
Angela,
What are the ways you do this?
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Mark,
This is a great approach to show your students the value of effective communication, both oral and written. You are making English have value to your students with these assignments. This will help them to see that effective communication is one of the keys needed for career success no matter the field.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Offer a variety of teaching styles and media.
I teach English Composition at Le Cordon Bleu and I believe the most obvious answer is to make the assignments relevant to what the students will experience in the workplace. For example, I incorporate an assignment where students must use descriptive adjectives to describe their favorite dish to be published in a menu. I also have them act as a food critic for a magazine and write about an experience where the food was left to be desired.
Asking their input on what they want to get out of the course.
