JOYS OF TEACHING
I enjoy doin mini lectures. I find that when teaching adults, they seem to like a lot of examples and life experiences.
the joy of teaching is when a student demonstrates understanding of the subject.
Toni,
This approach really engages students as you know. They like hearing these stories because they reinforce what they are being taught and shows them what they can expect when they are out working.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I find that using life experiences really helps the students. I try to give examples of both good and bad experiences this helps them to understand more about the field that they are going into. It also breaks up lecture and gives them time to reflect on what we talked about.
Michelle,
This is a win win for everyone. You are giving content and then having the students reinforce it through discussion and other activities. Sounds like a fast paced and enjoyable class.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Mini-lectures are fantastic springboards into group discussions. It lets my students pull in their lives and relate the content to "real world" stuff. All I have to do is keep them on track. Of course, I also have to be ready in case they veer into another topic -- so it keeps me on my toes as well.
I have to agree with you. When my discussions begin with a specific topic, I try to relate a professional experience with it. The students actually listen and participate and try to associate their lives or personal experiences as well. This is when I can see that they did pick up on the topic and are using their higher order of thinking in the discussion group.
Mary Jane,
I agree. It is a way of helping the students to see the value of what is being taught. In addition, they are making application of the content in their lives.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Using life experiences, gives life to the lesson, they give the student something tangible to associate the lesson with. Hooray for this technique!
Sharing my experieces with my students bring "Life" to my class. I want my students to smile when they come in to class and frown when they have to leave.
