Hi Michelle,
You are on point! Preparation is key! Seasoned instructors can teach you the tricks of the trade.
Patricia Scales
Hi Caleb,
I will tell you what I tell my graduates who are now instructors! Actions speak louder than words. Let them see how knowledgeable, prepared, organized, caring, professional, and confident you are.
Patricia Scales
Hi Shawn,
I love your attitude! I have been in this industry for over 23 years, and I always remind myself, "I do not care how good you are, you can become better." Teaching is a work in progress.
Patricia Scales
The biggest thing that I can do is make sure I am prepared for anything that could happen during a lesson. I have enough lecture material prepared for several days so if they are understanding the material and we go really fast I am not left with nothing to cover. I also think that asking other instructors what helped them and incorporating their advice will help me to avoid those mistakes.
I started teaching at my school within a year of graduating from the very same school. I was terrified that if my students knew how "un experienced" I was that I would not get respect. I have since realized that it is all about confidence. When students find out how young I am or that I am a recent graduate, I don't try to hide this fact. I just make it clear that I do have the knowledge to educate them and that my age is irrelevant.
I love this answer. This is one of the things i work the hardest at. Having only been a vocational instructor for about 2 years, i'm still fairly new at this. However, i constantly remind myself that i always have more to learn, my classes can always be better, and to make sure i do something everyday that betters my students, my class, or my organization.
Hi Brendon,
I can tell you thorougly prepare for your classes. Preparation is key, and preparation brings about great self confidence.
Patricia Scales
I try to avoid mistakes by spending roughly a 2 to 1 ratio of time preparing for class- this allows me to get a rough time estimate on lectures and tie in visual/physical aids so it flows smoothly- When it comes time for class I constantly remind myself that I KNOW THIS MATERIAL and that allows me to combine questions and discussion smoothly into the time allotted-
Hi Saranna,
You must find ways to rectify things in order to reconcile the realization.
Patricia Scales
Preparedness or just the appearance of being organized and prepared for each class is the number one key. Students start to attack if they even sense that you as the instructor are not prepared. On top of that the type of students I get in my program, thrive on structure because most of their lives have been unstructured.
I have seen myself in everyone of these instances. I would love to say that I am being hard on myself, but I do not think that is so. I would like to post for discussion how you would reconcile such a realization within yourself and the classroom.
Hi Boyd,
Preparation is key! Once students determine that you are not prepared, they will begin to lose all respect for you.
Patricia Scales
One thing is always to be prepared for class
secondly is to always make eye contact with your students
third is to write important information on the board
Hi Jerry,
I love your entire outlook as it pertains to getting students ready for their test. I follow the same practice, and I have outstanding attendance and an awesome reputation!
Patricia Scales
I have always felt that being prepared is the best way, before I give any assignments to my students I do them myself. I write my own tests off of the lectures that I have given and it lets the students know that if they listen to the lecture they can do well on the tests. There is nothing worse than giving a lecture and using a pre-printed test that does not cover your lectured material.
Jerry
I love that quote also and it is so true. I have improved so much since my first term and I think each term gets a little better. Learning from my mistakes has been a great educator.
I read some of the other posts and took the advice of many. Discussed this issue with several other instructors. Seems I am not the only one with problem and was given several differnet suggestions. Experience is the best teacher. Loved the course.
One of the biggest mistakes that I make is remembering names. I am horrible at it. Is is ok to make name tags the first day for the students?
Having just started teaching about 8 months ago, I'm still learning from my mistakes! The most recent being how to schedule flexibility into lesson plans. When we have a set amount of information to cover in 5 weeks, this has proven to be quite a challenge. I've found that scheduling a "project day" or turning in-class quizzes into take home quizzes to gain some extra time really helps.
I agree. I consider myself a beginner teacher and even now, I'd rather have my students' respect than anything else. Being a likeable teacher can open the door to becoming buddies with students which, I just learned in this lesson, can eliminate professional boundaries.
