As instructors we sometimes teach the same subject the same way to every class, this may be o.k. for some students but could be very difficult for others. I have fallen into this catagory before. When we teach the same courses over and over again, I feel we need to present things different from time to time. How I approach this now is that I will ask the class how they liked the presentation or activity that we just completed, then I will ask if there is anything they would like me to do different, let them have some input.
Hi Jennifer,
Great to hear about the ways you keep yourself focused and fresh in terms of the course content. You are right it is easy to fall into a rut and not be at the top of your game each class meeting. By being aware of it and working to keep it "real" you are doing a great service for your students. Glad you like the module.
Gary
I teach in a career college where we give the same lecture every three weeks--which can become pretty tedious after a while. I found that by learning new material and taking seminars in education, I could change the way in which the information is presented without straying from the curriculum. By constantly looking for new ways to engage the students, I'm more engaged with the educational process and always excited when I've devised something new for the classroom.
We're educators usually because we value the process, so keeping ourselves in a position to learn will help us focus on the "boring" stuff and make it fun again.
Hi Charles,
Good points and well said. We need to remember that we are shaping lives everyday we teach so we need to be prepared and organized for every class.
Gary
After 7 years of teaching I find there are times I feel less energized. When I take the time to step back and evaluate what has led to that feeling, it generally stems from discouragement over the amount of follow-up to get students to submit assignments, or handling disagreements among team-members in small groups, or poor quality of submissions despite repeated guidance and instruction on concepts. Some sessions are definitely more challenging than others, and in those times I have found a need to refocus and re-energize!
I didn’t really have a “name” for what I was doing to refocus, but I see now how the REFOCUS steps do describe the process I used. I tried to recognize the issues and what led to my feelings of disappointment and discouragement. I also increased my focus on recognizing those students who were meeting course objectives. The excitement I saw from them and what they were learning excited me! A time of reflection is definitely required. When this happens I just need to recognize it is a “phase”, not a “teaching burnout”. This was a very interesting module with many good tips!
instructor like all people feel can feel some job burn out and a sense of "...am I getting anything done here?" Refocusing on what you are doing and why is good for the instructor and the students. We decided to teach hopefully to convey knowledge and build our professions and we need be sure remain in that light- it should not be a pay check job...we are impacting lives and need to be at the top of our game because always!
Too many things to deal with can derail your focus.
Re focusing ourselves as instructors helps us better deliver the topic or class we are delivering with an excited and clear delivery. At times when not focused you tend to go offtrack in tangents that can confuse the student as well as lose the students interest.
Hi Michael,
Keeping excited about the material is an ongoing job so anything we can do to keep the excitement level up we need to. The use of current events helps to show the students relevancy and application which gets them motivated to do well in the course.
Gary
An instructor can get "lost" in the processes of trying to get through the course. there are times when as an instructor you just start feeling burnt out, due to time management for yourself, sometimes for your students. when a class isn't following all the high expectations that you the instructor had at the start of it; test scores are lower than expected, assignments not being turned in on time, constantly having to get after the students to get things done, you sometimes just feel ragged. this is when you need to take a step back and get a good view of what went wrong and start planning on how to get not just the students but yourself back into the right perspective. I've been here myself and when this happens you sometimes just ask yourself "why am I here?". If you can't refocus yourself, you can't expect the students to be able to do it.
After some time, both instructors and students can lose their enthusiasm for the material. I know that I can become tired and that the class can become too routine. So, I find that, from time to time, that I need to bring something new to the class. One thing I do is to bring current events into the discussion. That can liven things up.
I find a good way to refocus is to sit in on another instructors class and see how the class is being presented from another point of view. Doing this off and on keeps the class from getting stale.
Hi Richard,
You make a great point about keeping up with the field. This does keep us fresh and excited about the field because we are being the latest content in our field to our students course after course. Great fun in being current and being able to share it.
Gary
There are many reasons that have been discussed here, of which being energized may be the most important. One that I don't see is that it gives the teacher a chance to relearn parts of his or her field, and to make sure of being up to date in the material. Granted this goes on all the time. But a chance to look at and perhaps integrate new material into the class can give both the teacher and the students a sense of participation in the creative work going on in their field. This could be very exciting! Nobody wants to teach the "same old" every day, just as no one wants to eat the same dinner 7 days a week.
If the excitement starts to dwindle down from the instructor about the class and the materials, so will the excitement fromt he students. Instructors need to stay fresh and excited about what they teach so that it will show through in their instruction.
I feel as an instructor I would need to refocus myself to keep the excitement going. Sometimes I may feel like Ive already "went over this".. When infact I have. But if I cant show excitement to my new students who have never seen this before, then how can I expect them to retain the information?.....I can't. I always need to take a step back when I feel the information I'm teaching is getting repetative, and "refocus". So that I can keep the attention of my class with ease.
True. A new activity such as the surprise game seems like a good idea to implement; I've seen success many times with that one activity that stands out from all others in the course.
If the instructor is burnt out, bored with the material, or frustrated with their performance, it will show, and it will affect the students' attitudes towards learning. Negative energy is toxic and contagious! By refocusing and committing once again to do our best to use all of our skills as instructors, we can reenergize ourselves and our students.
A burned out instructor is rarely effective. Instructors need to recharge their own batteries so that they can go out and charge up their own classes and students.
As an instructor, I find it easy to start beating up on yourself when you set very high expectations for your students. I enjoyed reading REFOCUS, I will be using some of these strategies when I start getting down on myself half way through the quarter.
