I also love teaching and I love my class. We are very professional and we also have a great time. It does become a problem when the actvities of daily living begin to hinder their learning experience. A Student Services department is a great asset in this type of a situation.
I think that shadowing experienced instructors and also reviewing surveys from the students, as well as attending teaching seminars are excellent techniques to refine my instreuctional style.
I utilize the comments on course surveys issued by the school, and the survey I made and give my students at the end of the semester. I am always looking for new ways to improve the program, and they way the class is taught.
My style is more of an open floor/discussion. I prefer to have the students to more of the talking. They learn more from one another than they do if I were to lecture the entire time.
Hi Patricia,
Great way to "spread" out your presentations so you are appealing to different learning preferences. This as you know helps to keep the students engaged and focused.
Thanks for sharing with us.
Gary
By taking professional development CE classes I am able to gain more knowledge about the subjects I teach. I feel that it is also important to take classes on teaching methods in order to have an interesting and dynamic classroom.
I have found that I have to vary my instructional style not only to the course subject but also to the individuals in the class.
Working in a community/business college setting has taught me that class dynamics play a big role in my teaching style. Even the time of day has an impact on my style. My early morning and evening classes need high-energy activities. How social the students are with each other also impacts the way I approach a class.
I try to present pertinent material in at least three formats to accommodate different learning styles. Although the repetitiveness can sometimes present a challenge because of the time constraints when teaching quarters (rather than semesters), it pays in the end when evaluations reveal that the students have actually learned.
Hi there,
I have also realized that students like to have mentors. they want to hear your success stories. This also encourages them!
isabel
I think it is important to first understand your students/the learner before refining the instructional style. To fully undestand what type of instructional style to use you first have to evaluate the learner. How the student learns will help the instructor refine and enhance their own instructional style. An example may be as follows:
You present your info on powerpoint in a formal teaching environemnet and than you realize that you have lost the learners attention. Perhaps changing to small group work willl help the learner be more attentive during class time.
Just my thoughts,
Isabel Da Silva
mentoring is a great tool students enjoy this system and seem to excel
Very true. When I first began teaching I was focused too much on my delivery and worried if my content was relevant that I didn't take the time to listen to students replies or opinions.
Hi Scott,
This is a great idea. Thanks for sharing it with us. The outcomes from this mentor mixup have tremendous benefits.
Gary
Hi Scott,
Right you are about needing to mix things up with the instructional delivery methods. I teach in the same format so I know how hard we must work to keep the students engaged and focused for the duration of the class.
Gary
One thing I have done in the past that works well and helps new students adjust to school is: We take a group of students that have been in the program for at least 6 months and they join a group of students that are in their first quarter.
The new students meet and share experiences with “veteran†students in the same area of study, ask questions, and really be introduced to potential mentors. This works great and helps put the new students at ease. They gain a friend and mentor and see that they can attend class and be successful!
We call it mentor mixup!
Scott
This is an excellent point. We cannot fix what we don’t know is broken. This feedback is absolutely invaluable. Sometimes, students even identify what they enjoy from a class that is taught by someone else. We can potentially learn a new classroom method that we may use down the road! So these surveys are quire valuable. I read them and make adjustments based on what I read.
Scott
I very much believe in utilizing kinesthetic teaching methods. I try to get the students involved. They need to get up, move around, write on the board, etc.
We have 3.5+ hour classes. We need to keep students entertained. They need to want to come to class. We cannot simply lecture. The class needs to be mixed up with variety of lecture, audio, visual, kinesthetic, etc.
I use PowerPoint's as an introduction to a new topic or technique that I want my students to lean. It is reinforced with exercises within the PowerPoint. This is followed up with an assignment that puts all that is discussed within the PowerPoint and material discussed during presentation. The follow-up assignment lets me know if they got it or not. Judy
by reaading all material that cn be found about the subjects i am teaching. by books or the internet. all material that other instructors offer.
learn about learning, think like a student, learn from other instructors, teach frequently
I feel the same way. The best ideas I received were from other teachers. There are many ideas that you can adapt to other classes. For example, there are some general test you can give, learning style, listening skills, and communications skils that work in most classes.
I'm a new teacher so I watch others alot. I always heard & teach that the best copy cat wins. I speak to colleagues about what they do and how its working, then I pull out the things that inspire me and work through it. I always go back and revisit what worked well and what did not and I continue to adjust a tweek for best results.
