Growing up as a young man I had a family member who was a teacher and had a great impression on me to become a teacher. They had a talent to help others while giving a student a ray of hope that the student can do something great. The best thing is now that I am a teacher I can give back to my student what I have learned over the years.
That is the MODELING component of the 3 M's!!! Nice going!
Andrew,
You were very fortunate to have had such a won derful mentor in your life to model after. You are now becoming that same mentor to your students.
I worked with a guy who encouraged me to take things apart. He said if someone could build this thing there is no reason you cannot take it apart and rebuild it
I have had many years of experience in the field that I teach. the mentor that I remember as having the most impact on my life taught me to take things one step at a time, with a positive attitude and all problems will be solved.
The mentor who probably had the biggest impact on my education and my career was an instructor I had in college. He was a wealth of knowledge, he ran a tight ship in his classroom, and always had time to talk with his students. As graduation approached, I entered a technical competition, and I won. He was there at the awards ceremony, and when the school sent me off to compete at the national level, he came along, taking time out of his own vacation. He passed away later that same year, but I have never forgotten what kind of mentor he was. I thought about him often while I was in the field, and now that I'm an instructor, I try to lead by the same example he set.
My mentors were those that didn't just tell me what was expected and hold me accountable; but those that lived by the same expectations they taught. Students can see through insincerity.
Antonio,
You were fortunate to have such top quality mentors. Your students will remember you the same way!
My mentors were the Field Enginners at the Ford training center , everytime I went for training I was always impressed with the way the classes were conducted and always pictured myself doing the same thing some day , teaching someone and having a good time doing it too .
James,
Getting to know your students helps drastically in the ability to mentor to your stuents. Knowing information about their work or family, can develop the relationship needed to directly touch a student's success.
When I first started out as a technician my mentor was the shop forman at the dealership. He didn't just treat me like one of the techs. He got to know me personally and we eventually became friends. Ontop of being one of the smartest techs I've ever known. He was a nice enough guy to want to get to know me -- always asking about my home life -- getting envolved.
The effects it has on me for my role as a career educator is huge. I always try to get to know the students a little and help them with non automotive related problems. This has helped me build a solid relationship with them.
I had one employer when I first started in the field that took the time to teach me simple ways to do things its showed me that he cared. Still talk to him years later.
Anthony,
I am sure if you look back at the best instructors and the "not so good" instructors in your life, you will find that you have also picked up teaching methods from each of them as well.
I have had many people though out my life that i have learned from When i am teaching I try to use different things that i have learned from them and as such have many types of teaching methods depending on the student and their needs
Matthew,
This is a great way to develop your own strategy. We can learn a lot from both the positive and negative teachers and mentors in our past.
Steve,
Practicing what you preach, or modeling what you mentor is very important.
John,
A great point about your grandfather is that he lead by example, he modeled the behavior. We can always mentor to students and others, but if we do not model the behavior we may lead them in the opposite direction of our mentoring.
Remembering how former teachers or instructors handled different situations, or how they interacted with different types of personalities served as a basis for my own strategy in dealing with similiar situations.
Lucy,
You made a very important point in your post. Understanding perception is very important because as you said it is not always right. You were very fortunate to have a mentor who took the time to discuss your perception of events.
I like to watch other instructors so i can apply there good points to my teaching style.
