Hi Betty,
Your comments are so true. What are some strategies you use to help keep you excited about your content and teaching?
Gary
I find that within any given term, both the students and I can reach a kind of malaise in which we are less 'connected' to each other and to the material. In these instances, much of the advice given in this unit is quite helpful, especially the idea of a learning inventory which helps students and instructors measure the true mastery of the material at a given point in the class. It is a way to put things into perspective and it also gives the instructor a chance to shift gears and move forward in a more dynamic fashion.
Anyone, no matter who they are or how much they love their job, can become burnt out or jaded due to the repitition they encounter day after day, month after month, and year after year.
Even though we like our comfort zones, sometimes they can become tedious and we need to break out of our cocoons of complacency to try to develop new ways of presenting our material and interacting with out students.
Hi LeeAnne,
This is a great way to keep reminding yourself of why you are a teacher and how you are impacting the lives of your students. Be excited and focused on your teaching helps with student motivation.
Gary
Effective teaching requires a lot of energy because in addition to demanding knowledge in the field, which constantly needs to be updated, it also requires creating an optimum learning environment and maintaining rapport with a diverse group of people. This takes a toll as the term proceeds, and energy and enthusiasm can be drained by midterm time. Pausing to REFOCUS refreshes one's attitude and enthusiasm, and also serves to redirect one toward the goals of the course if unexpected situations (which seem to always arise) have caused some veering away from those goals.
Without taking time to REFOCUS myself, I do not have the energy to complete the remaining courses in the term. If I feel myself drifting away from the course outline or if the students seem to loose interest, I have to refocus in order for them to learn the course requirements.
By doing this, it motivates me to get excited about teaching.
Hi Jonathan,
Good advice that we all need to heed. I teach two sections of the same course back to back. So I need to remain excited and fresh throughout the semester as well as throughout the each class section. I work hard at this because I want each class to feel that I am speaking to them and that my content is tailored to their learning needs.
Gary
Refocusing enables the instructor, as the class and course content leader, to to rejuvinate and recommit to the success of the students and the learnin objectives.
Instructors can become bored just as easily as students. It's the same subject, again! By the middle of the semester or quarter you can lose your enthusiasm. It's important to refocus, regain that early semester excitment. Your attitude will be reflected by your students. If you're not "into it" your students won't be into it.
By midterm of the course, both students and instructor may be discouraged by lack of progress or bored of the same routine. Highlighting past accomplishments and bringing a new element to the next class meeting helps to re-energize and renew interest in the course.
Refocus allowing instuctors to do a self analysis. For me I will take a day and work on how to make the classroom interesting for the student. This give me an opportunity to regroup.
Hi Tracy,
Great to hear about your REFOCUS effort. Everyone is going to benefit from your renewed enthusiasm about teaching your content. Have fun with it! I wish you the best in your teaching.
Gary
I find that this topic comes at just the right time! I’ve been going full speed for a year or so and have recently found that my enjoyment of my classes is beginning to slide. It is so easy to get caught up in the “checklist†of things that must be done – discussion participation, midterm letters of counseling, responding to emails and grading papers – that the initial excitement of helping students learn vanishes. By following the principles of REFOCUS, I am confident that I can regain my enthusiasm and in so doing, provide my students with a more vibrant, engaging learning experience.
Hi Brian,
I wish you success with your educational studies as well as your teaching. You are living the life of your students. This way when they complain about life and all the pressure you can share with them your own methods of keeping a bit of sanity and surviving.
Gary
The note card strategy is one I will use with future classes. Knowing students are getting something will energize me. Chris Bloss
Midway through a course students tend to get frustrated with the course load, the midterm exam they just took, upcoming project deadlines, or just life in general. Instead of plugging along, stop and shake things up a bit. I really like the idea of the 3x5 notecards. Since I teach online, I would be able to use this same concept but in a discussion thread.
Burn out, drudgery, and overburdened are my three favorites. Going to school for an education degree at the same time I am teaching massage therapy leads to all three afore mentioned factors. I find it neccessary to step back and reevaluate regularly. It keeps me from resenting students less motivated than myself and allows me to not take things so personally.
Hi Connie,
Well said. It is exciting when we get feedback that tells us we are doing a good job and impacting the learning of our students. Your point about making sure to share affirmation with our students is a good one as well because adult students can lose their way easily as a result of life pressures, work, etc. As you know it is easier for online students to become victim to failure because they are studying alone and at a distance. By keeping them engaged as you are you are helping them not to feel lost in the learning process.
Gary
It is so easy to get burned out....the same course...the same questions...the same problems...pretty soon you find that you are just plain tired and you forget that the reason you teach is because you WANT to! (In my case I am an adjunct with a full time job and I truly do this because I want to...not because I need to.) At times I have to take ten and remember why I decided to teach. I think the hardest part of on-line teaching is not falling into the habit of just giving the same responses....you have to make yourself search out to material to add to the call...you have to try to find new and interesting tid bits to make your students want to log-on. The other day I posted an interesting and topical link and one of my students actually responded, "Well, I lost two good hours of study time....BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!" That small bit of reaffirmation made me totally psyched to go look for more supplemental information. Now I just have to remember to give my students the same reaffirmation!
Jenell,
I also agree with what you had to say here. It does help them to see the trees through the forest.
