Hi Angela,
Humor is always good! Students and instructors alike enjoy laughter. All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy.
Patricia Scales
Hi Linda,
Wow, you are so organized and ready! Your students should really appreciate you. You sound so much like myself. Preparation is key! Things are so much better when you are prepared. Continue to be ready for your students, and you will continue to shine as an educator.
Patricia Scales
I find if I use a lot of humor it relaxes me and puts my students at ease,and we get off to a great start.
Prep is key for me. I have a checklist of everything that needs to be covered. It actually includes a reminder of items I need to make copies of and a reminder to pick up the class rosters. My power point presentatins always end with a "Homework" slide that states what we need to do to prepare for next class and sessions following. I have also made study guides for my classes to help them follow along in class and/or help narrow the study field.
I just survived my first year of teaching. Yeah!!! I was more nervous than the students on my first day of class. So to prepare myself, I studied everything that the students need to learn.
At the end of each term our college requires the students to take an anonymous survey of their instructors. So, I take these surveys as a guide on how to improve my teaching skills.
Hi Judi,
I concur! Preparation is a must! Students can quickly tell when you are unprepared, and they will rake you over the coals when you come into class unprepared.
Patricia Scales
I find that preparation is the key. Knowing the material inside/out instills confidence. It is also helpful to visualize your performance prior to class.
Being prepared is key! If I do run out of material, I merely ask for questions, knowing if one student isn't clear, there probably are others. Since so many students preface their questions with "this might be stupid, but...", I remind that there are no stupid questions.
Preparation is the best way for me personally to reduce anxiety. I need to feel that all of my bases are covered and having a thorough outline of each class period helps tremendously.
Breathing techniques before class and well prepared lesson will be my main goal
I make sure I am well prepared with my talk. I try to keep my class stuff ready as soon as I reach my office desk, so that I don't forget stuff to carry to the class in nervousness. And then revise my talk.
I think the best way to overcome pre-class nerves and anxiety is to be prepared. Make sure you have the assignments ready, lecture has been perfected, and you know your agenda for the next day. I use to worry every night and day for the next class and I never felt prepared enough. I began writing the agenda down and making a checklist. When I had it ready, I would cross it off the list, and then it gave myself the reassurance that I am ready for the next class.
Hi Melissa,
Great response! Preparation is key! At least when you are prepared, you really are less nervous. Do the very best you can, and perfect it along the way. Experience is really the best teacher. The more you do it, the better you will become.
Patricia Scales
I think taking time to read and comprehend the material that you will be teaching helps greatly. Preparing your class lecture, assignments, activities and then more or less rehearsing them in your head-kind of getting a "picture" so to speak as to how you want your class to go. Taking notes as you go through your class as to what works and what doesn't or at least taking time at the end of class to reflect on what worked to engage your class and at what points in your class you know that you had lost their attention, or you yourself as an instructor even became bored with the content and the way you were delivering it. There will never be any way to be 100% anxiety free when walking into a new class with a new set of students, but if you can prepare the best that you can and accept that there are going to be moments of inadequacy because we are all human than I think you are one step ahead of the game.
Melissa Katsanos
If I end up having to teach a topic where I am not really that qualified, having to fill in for another faculty, I will let the students know that. One time I had to lecture in Oral Biology for a faculty and I let the students know I had forgotten most of this material because I did not really use it much. We had a great class discussion on several areas of the lecture where I was uncertain of the topic. Several of the students jumped in to explain the topic better than I could. The trick is not being unprepared in the other areas you are lecturing on.
Hi Vaughan,
Make sure you cover what needs to be covered first and then if time allows do the extras.
Patricia Scales
One of the ways that has always helped me to overcome pre-class nerves and anxiety is being prepared. When I say being prepared, I mean that I have prepared an actual set of lesson plans, not just a lecture. Years ago, I took a teaching in college course that was designed to teach instructors how to design and implement an entire course from the ground up; from writing course goals and objectives that are technically correct to writing lesson plans on individual topics that help students to achieve the goals and objectives that the instructor has set. I have always used this structure to write my lesson plans and this structure includes at least one, but usually two, small group or whole class activities that are designed to help reinforce the concepts/topics of the lesson plan. The lesson plans also include lecture material to help reinforce the concepts/topics of the individual lesson plans.
What do you if you have over prepared and don't get to all your material in the time allotted? How do you keep from being behind all the time?
I am surely going to take all these suggestions into account. I am a new instructor and have experienced most of these mistakes. I will definitely be more pro active in stopping the patterns from continuing.
With experience comes confidence, but I would caution against setting a goal of "no pre-class jitters." A little anxiety demonstrates that you care about your role and responsibilities.
Rules I have learned include:
Review notes prior to class. Take a deep breath and hold it (x5). Arrive early to class. Get a layout of the room (from student perspective). Watch as students enter the room - understand that they each have worries and concerns - welcome them. Have a slow and organized introduction: focus on course objectives, not personal/professional background, first.
