I will establish ground rules to encourage positive group interaction. Start with a few of my own and ask the group to for any others they would like to include.
I start off the day with asking students what did they learn over the weekend as it relates to the current topic in class. This engages the students at the beginning of class. I always learn something new from the students.
Roger,
that's a good idea as it helps you to immediately discuss what you are learning with them.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Paul,
this is a great idea & also forces you to stay engaged with the material.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
As a novice instructor I have not developed a balance yet. I spend most of my time prepping my material for class and not enough time developing ways to teach. Right now I do a lot of lecture and demonstration with equipment until hopefully I won't have to prep so much.
This is how I balance. I do my cee while my students study. Then discuss with them what I have learned and see what they think would be applicable to them.
it always changes fro me. i teach the same topic differently according to the group of students.
That is an excellent question. Sometimes it is very difficult. One advantage I have is that my class is in a field I practice daily and I am continually bombarded with information from various newsletters. Finding the time to work on enhancing my teaching skills is the harder part. I don't know, what I don't know so I am constantly challenging myself to improve.
I find different topics that me and the students will find interesting. Use those topics to help enhance my learning and the students.
I find learning to be limitless even when I know a subject pretty thoroughly. I keep things in perspective. IE. there is only so much time to deliver the material and me getting board delivering the materiel is a real concern. I take direct action and short circuit the board-um by finding new ways to deliver the materiel and trying to remain on the cutting edge of the material. This requires a lot of personal motivation to make the product better every time I present to a class.
Carmen,
this is a great way to stay fresh & engaged; I also encourage all of us to stay abreast of current & new teaching techniques.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I do so by simply staying current about news, events,etc in my field. And in doing so, i am able to absorb the information myself, as well as find new ways to present it to my students.
Sharon,
this is a great way to keep the content fresh & also to develop in your own instructional methods as you incorporate the new techniques/info into the teaching.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Since I teach Foundations of Mathematics, the students have already been over some of the basics numerous times. I have found that not only do I need to know the subject matter, I also need to find new and exciting ways to approach the subject to try to get the students to understand things that they have not been able to understand before. I need them to have lots of small victories in order to help them overcome their mathematics phobias that have developed because of lost battles in the past.
To balance the need to learn more about the topics I teach with my need to develop new ways of teaching and my classroom time, I utilize the time in the classroom to learn more about my students and their needs. I have learned through my many years of teaching, an instructor or teacher never knows all. I learn from my students and encourage them to share their knowlege about a subject. One class I teach is math. There are different methods for solving a problem. My students may bring a different method than I show. I have them show their method to the class. They get the opportunity to interact while providing a different way of solving. I research to keep current on the subjects I teach; such as, technology classes and also learn from my students. I subcribe to online and hard copy journals to stay current with teaching methods and subject topics.
That's good to remember that every student group is unique.
I try to maintain my passion for the material, which was the reason I entered this field. I can't treat it as simply academic. I like to make sure I am involved with projects that sharpen my skills and keep me interested and involved.
The two go hand in hand. As I proceed through a course, new materials will always be discovered. When I learn about new relevant topics I always share them with the class so long as the add to the current lesson materials in a meaningful way.
I work to aways tie back to the intentions of the course and the tasks at hand. By keeping close the "big picture" goals of a class or training, the ties between learning more of a topic and developing new teaching methods / deliver are easier to discover. In order to be relevant, both new knowledge about a subject and modified ways of delivering content must tie to the purposes of the learning -- otherwise, they are learning (about the topic) and altering teaching methods just for the sake of doing so.
I love learning more about what i am teaching, it helps makes me a better instructor of my chosen field
Maria,
this is a great way to stay fresh & connected with the material, even if we've taught the class many times before.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
