Tammie,
We have to stay current in our field. If we don't then in reality we are not teaching our subject we are teaching the history of our field and that is now what we are about.
Thanks for making this good point.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
In my particular situation I teach the same two blocks of a course alternating monthly, and there are times when I can get lost in the repetivenss of it. But if I take a minute to realize that EVERY class is hearing it for the FIRST time, no matter how many times I have taught it, then it energizes me to not get lazy. My experience as a stand up comic helps in this aspect because even tho I have done the material a thousand times, EACH audience is new and fresh and waiting for what I have to offer!
As an instructor I'm refocusing all the time. with new procedures & materials in the field, my focus has to be on the future, how I can stay on top of my field as an instructor. Receiving the latest news letters or magazines for my field is a great way to refocus and receive up todate information to share with the students. We tend to burn out over time and lose the excitement in the everyday work. refreshing your mind and refocusing is what we all need in life.
I agree on this. I have noticed with working with different instructors that they are still setting examples from the past. I have been in the medical field from 1997 to 2012 and so much has changed in those years.
we get stuck in a rut. we need to refocus to get re-energized about what we love.
If we do not then we will loose the class interest. They will get bored and some may quit.
We need to keep it fresh and fun so we keep there interest and excitement.
I believe it is important to re-focus to re-assess yourself as an instructor on a regular basis to keep improving ones technique to be more effective.
We sometimes get so used to the material that it becomes blan. We need to take a step back and re-evaluate how to do the class. If not and we keep it blan we will lose the students interest and they may get bored and drop out.
This refocus drives and increases my interest in my field thus showing motivation to the student.
I find that I need to refocus several times with some classes to remain excited about the material and keep students from getting bored.
Students come from a variety of life sitautions and walks of life. REFOCUS-ing enables the instructor to keep pace with current changes and conditions in the field as well as building student enthusiasm by recharging the instructor's excitement and intrest in the field.
Instructors need to "REFOCUS" because they are constantly being presented a new target audience. I know that I like to ask my students their preferred method of learning and then I take that feedback and apply it with what I know I am good at to present class material in the most effective way. I ask coworkers for advice and am constantly trying to learn myself both as an instructor and a professional to help my students.
Sometimes things can get stale and just plain old boring. This is when we need to refocus our efforts and get excited again about the material. One way that I do this is current events. Notice the word current? If you keep things current, they won't get boring. I alternate current events. SOmetimes I bring them in and students listen and debate and sometimes students research and bring an article in and discuss the topic. it works
There are times when an instructor is going to need to refocus. When a class is not grasping the subject or topic. Or when you have lost your audience, so to speak. They need to look within and find out what needs to change to better get their message across to the students. This will make the class more interesting for the students and instructor.
As the class interest diminishes, so doea the instructor's enthusiasm. Yes, the class can feed into the instructor's level of excitement, but it also works the other way. I "dread" going into certain classrooms because of student attitudes, body-language, etc. It takes an extreme effort to present an enthusiastic attitude to this type of cohort.
This is to keep the students attention so they don't get bored and lose focus.
To not burn out and become discouraged. To re-prioritize and become enthusiastic and passionate about what they are teaching.
instructors need to refocus everyonce in a while. Just to do a self assesment and see what they can do to change up there teaching style. To make it more student focused.
Bess,
Can you expand on this? Also share with us some ideas of how you do this? Thanks.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
to come up with freasher more effective focuses fore students
