Wayne Hutchens

I have had the opportunity to teach bout younger kids and adults; I find in easier for me to work with adults. I agree they are more motivated and goal orientated but you must listen to them and acknowledge their questions with respect. I find that if they see no value to the material they will not participate but when they see how the information or lesson impacts their life they are eagerly motivated to participate.

I am an automotive instructor, I find that sharing my mistakes and showing me students how I learned from them, helps them be more secure in performing task in a lab setting. They learn by my examples that everyone will make mistakes but it’s what we learn from them is what’s important, I find that they do not feel judged and are very willing to share their mistakes with each other which helps everyone learn.

I teach a class on Hydraulics, one of the most dangerous fields to be in. I find that going over the safety requirements every day before we go to class is crucial for a safer lab experience. I have a zero tolerance when it comes to safety just as it is in the work place. They must understand the importance of safety. For example, if not wearing safety glasses that student is literally fired for the day, sent home to thing about the danger he put themselves in. You must teach it but you must also enforce it

I teach at a company that is moving to web base training. I feel this will be a great move, students that learn how to teach their self will be better prepared through out their lives. there is so much information avalible today right at their finger tips and they need to know how to use it.

Asking questions is a great way to see if the class is grasping the material and leave opportunity for other students or yourself to elaborate on the subject giving everyone a better understanding by hearing how other student interpret what they got out of the material.

I find using the interactive learning strategies gets them thinking on their own and they get downright excited about what they are learning. But be careful, you must be engaged with them, if they start to get frustrated and you don’t help guide them to the correct solution they may be lost for the rest of the day. Stay involved with them, don’t give them the answers just guide them; they feel more satisfaction when they discover it themselves

I find that positive reinforcment even for a partial correct answer and having the other students add to the answer in a open discusion format takes the stress off of the students and makes them more willing to participate and boost their self confidence.