Several ways: Attend continuing education courses that keep you up to date with the latest in your profession. these may also include educational technology and planning courses to help you with the instructional part of your teaching. Knowing the latest information and keeping up to date with new and effective ways to facilitate learning will be productive for both you and your students.
I read everything, immerse myself in activities that relate to my learning so I can pass it on to my students... I myself am ever the student.
I learn from others and what has been effective in their classrooms. I attempt to observe and interpret others learning styles and techniques as well as good and bad habits. By doing this I can see what is effective and how it was delivered, as well as, what was ineffective and the causes tendencies for its failure.
Dianne,
this is a great approach & as you said helps to make sure you are connecting with the students.
Dr. Ryan Meers
When I am taking continuing education classes, learning new material, I am in the student role. From that position it reminds me of what my students face in the classroom when new material is presented to them. So, while I am learning, I am also thinking of ways that I would present this material to my students.
What I normally do is I take a look at the course and how I teach it each term. I think decide what I want to change for the upcoming term: my knowledge or new ways to teach the information. I like to focus on one at the beginning so that I am not overwhelming myself. I do find that throughout the course I am finding new knowledge along with finding ways to teach concepts differently. For my classroom time, I have found the best way to start it off is with a brainteaser and a journal entry. I will probably continue these since the students enjoy figuring them out.
This is a very interesting topic. As a learning Focilitator we need to learn the topic clearly first, then we should apply different methods of teaching according to the performance level of the of the students.
Thomas,
this is a great illustration of the need to stay up to date on new developments, while also remembering the importance of the core or the basics.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I find that as I learn more about new topics that it gets me thinking about new ways to teach. What I need to balance is making time to learn. It gets easy to get caught up in things that need to get done but aren't necessarily important.
I am working on setting time each week as a learning time. I leave the classroom and go to a place where I am not distracted by the daily tasks.
If I don't make the time to learn I can quickly become outdated. I am at my best when I do learn new items. I believe the students also respond better to me as they see that I too am learning. They are more motivated as we have new items to discuss.
Maintaining balance is never easy.
In my industry (electronics)there is a constant change daily. I have found that the students that I see daily come from different walks of life and all have there different avenues as to where they are going in this field.I keep up in this field by finding out about new inovations and data thru electronic organizations that are world wide. I am a firm believer that the heart of electronics lives in the basic understanding of it so I constantly review the basics from prior terms.I have found that over the years by doing this that my students have a much better understanding of how things are developed and how to troubleshoot once that they have picked the path that they are going on.
Jennifer ,
this is a great way to learn, through hands-on. And it reminds us that this is how our students learn best.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I am constantly learning new ideas by reading and daily working on personal projects. I can then take the new concepts I learned and implement them into my courses accordingly. A lot of times I will learn easier ways of teaching a concept by the way I am taught.
Using outside training and staying current with technology in my job allows me to balance the need for the students to learn. Most of my examples are many "learn by burns" from the IT enviornment, some of which have happened at my place of work - these always keep the interest and directly apply and re-enforce the student's need to understand the material.
Dr. Stacee,
yes the more we can be reflective practitioners the more we will improve as instructors.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I balance the need to learn more about adult learning, in general, and the core classes that I teach with developing new ways of teaching by a) engaging in critical self-reflection, b) participating in various professional associations, c) engaging in continued education, and d) evaluating trends and techniques designed to promote stronger collaborative environments. I am a firm believer in learner diversity and the need to support and guide learning environments so that the learner achieves maximum empowerment. Collaboration is a necessity. In order to be a successful facilitator, I must be above the authoritative mentality and be receptive of growth. Part of the growth is the willingness to submit myself to the process of critical reflection both by the learners and my self.
Donald ,
and how great that you can speak to your students from your personal experience about the need for them to stay current in the field.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Make sure the knowledge you retain is communicable in the classroom, this involves a creative approach to address the differing learning styles in each class.
I am always trying to improve my teaching skills through maxknowledge and other workshops related .
I have been in the welding field for over 40 years. Believe me you want last long without changing with the new technology that changes on a year to year basic so you are always learning new teaching techniques along with the new equipment.
My profession is HVAC- R, as with most technology driven occupations, new innovations are being developed and put on the market daily. I have a list of web sites that I give the students to examine technical support, new products, tech blogs, etc. The students will search for interesting topics to use in class. This includes troubleshooting tips, new EPA regulations, new equipment and news of the industry.
I find that the nature of each class is different. I know the learning style of each student is different, but, I find that teaching techniques that work in one class may not cross over to another. I have had to shift gears and change my instructing style from class to class. I try to find out what excites the students about the subject and give them practical applications to relate to.
