Rusty Din,
This is such an important part of the instructional process. You are showing your students respect by learning their names quickly and in return your are earning theirs. This sets the tone for a positive learning experience by everyone.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I put extra effort in remembering my students' names and in our second meeting, I make sure that I address them in their respective names. The students appreciate it and always telling me that I am doing a great job remembering their names especially if my class is a big class that has 30 to 40 students. For me it's like giving a personalized customer service.
Rita,
Like this idea! You are rewarding those students that are on time and demonstrating their professionalism in relation to being dedicated students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I like to have an "early bird" special every morning so that the students that are punctual get an extra boost fo the day. I find that this helps give incintive for others to pay more attention to being punctual and time management
May-Lin,
Thank you for sharing these class openers with us. Sounds like a good time for the students and well as very informative. You are giving them a lot of connection points through the questions you ask them and the information they sharing. I know these approaches will be valuable for other instructors to use.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I like everyone's suggestions like remembering their names and sharing stories. One thing I like to do when doing class introductions is asking them to introduce themselves and their program, career goals, etc. and then one unique thing about themselves that make them different. I have had all kinds of things mentioned like someone who didn't like pizza and from day one everyone remembers this unique thing and they will bring it up in class weeks later.
I also like to always bring the WIFM into play and tell them why they are learning a particular subject and how this will help them in the job they will be doing. This is especially true if I am teaching a general education class and have many different majors in the class. I will bring up how it will benefit all of them with examples in their career field.
Ruth,
You make a very good point about student motivation. We need to remember that adults are just taller children in many ways so we can use many of the same strategies with them. My students love to play games, get stickers, earn candy, and have pizza and it is all based upon them earning these items through course performance.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Some effective motivation techniques that I bring into my classroom are the same ones I instilled into my children growing up. They can do anything they put their minds to and achieve success. Being clear and consistent when lecturing can help with motivation in the classroom. If the student does not understand what it is you are saying or doing, they are not going to be motivated and will begin to nod off.
EDWARD,
They have a very strong influence on the course and what is being taught. Sharing stories like this shows relevancy and application in terms of the content. They help with motivation as well because they show the students what it is going to be like once they are in the field.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I think life experiences that are related to the course will encourage and motivate students. By connecting experiences with outcomes from the course it will give validity and purpose to suceeding
Susan,
I am sure this is a great time of discussion. By taking this approach you are showing both relevancy and application of your content to your students. They are seeing what they are learning come alive as a result of the articles being discussed and topics being covered.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In my senior Trend course, the students are required to bring in interesting news articles for discussion at the beginning of each class. The students find the half hour discussion of what it means in the scope of things motivation to be on time to class.
Stephanie,
Good way to make a connection between a topic that may appear not to be to interesting by giving it application. So this way the students can see both the why as well as the value of learning about coding in relation to benefits from being able to do it.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Theresa,
I am sure all these different forms of input help the students to see how they can benefit from listening and learning from others. In addition, by sharing themselves they get the opportunity to help others in their career development.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
When I teach I love to bring in the true life scenarios to motivate the students. While teaching a class on billing and coding the students were feeling a little bored, and not really grasping the concept because they are more interested in drawing blood and giving injections. When I learned that the labs really interested them, it was easy to bring the necessity for them to know coding because when they are doing labs, they also have to code the lab orders or the doctors won't get paid.
More time in class for meetings and communication between the students. Seeing them help each other with their projects. Design is such a hands on profession and feed back is everything. If they are seen as succeeding with their peers then they will feel better
John,
These discussions are great opportunities to see what your students are thinking in terms of their preparation as well as how they see themselves entering the field and the contributions they can make.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Daniel,
This is such an important discussion to have with students. I commend you for having it. You are helping them to see they are not only preparing for a career but for the future of which they will be a part of shaping. This increases the value of the content for the students and gives them something to think about as they get closer to graduation.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I try to have many classroom discussion about our industry and talk about current events in our field.
My students seem to respond to my view of the future of their chosen field, and how their education and training will put them at an advantage as our career field progresses through technology and other advances. I like to share my "predictions" to keep them thinking about how things will change and how their generation of professionals will facilitate the changes to come. I want them to feel how important they will be in the process as my generation "hands off the baton" to their generation. I tell them they are our hope for a better tomorrow.
