Understanding yourself as an instructor
Why is it important for you to have an understanding of yourself as an instructional leader?
Hi John:
Using real world examples or personal anecdotes is an excellent way to motivate students and keep them interested.
Regards, Barry
Hi Heidi:
That's very true. It's a good idea to be transparent in this way. Many times, I've related questions that I couldn't answer to something similar that I could, along with a promise to get back to the main question after I looked it up.
Sometimes, I have the student look it up.
Regards, Barry
Hi Melissa:
By consistently working on our strengths AND weaknesses, we are certain to become more effective instructors.
Regards, Barry
Hi Melissa:
Personal anecdotes seem like they are always a great way to bring new life into a topic, especially in career oriented courses.
Regards, Barry
Hi Jeanette:
By understanding ourselves, we gain the opportunity to make continual improvements on our teaching styles, always striving to become more efficient.
Regards, Barry
Hi Al:
As I read your entry, I kept thinking about the work "patience". I think all instructors, new and experienced alike need to adopt an attitude of patience. I think this is especially true with repetitive information where the tendency may be for an instructor to feel impatient if a student is understanding something as quickly as "usual", or as compared to other students.
Regards, Barry
Everyone is inclined at least somewhat to teach in line with their biases. Without an understanding of yourself as an instructor it is much easier to exclude (from learning) several groups in the class without even knowing.
It is important to understand yourself as an instructional leader in order to give your students the best opportunity to understand the material you present. If you don't understand your strenghts and weaknesses, your instructional style can lead to your students inability to understand the material you are presenting.
For instance if you're the "statue instructor" that just reads from lecture notes, how do you know the students are understanding the material? Understanding that this style of teaching is not going to work in all classroom settings. Being able to engage your students with both lectures notes and open-ended questions will allow you to asses whether they understand the material.
To improve upon areas in which traits of my personality are deficient.
An instructor needs to know his strengths and weaknesses in order to help his students. An understanding of one's teaching style will also help to adapt to different student's learning styles. Every student and teacher is an individual and every student/teacher relationship cannot be treated the same.
This will help me relate to my students. As stated in the lesson, it's important that I know myself - my strengths and weaknesses - because they affect my effectiveness as an instructor. I will be working with a diverse population so I need to be aware of how I present myself to the students.
It is important so I can know how I teach and how I can best reach the students learning needs.
I think that understanding yourself and the skills you have is an important part of being an instructor. Knowing that you have the skills tio not only perform the job, but explain the job thoroughly can help with any lecture. You need to be confident in what you are explaining to truly get your messgae across to the students.
I am a quiet spoken individual. My students are aware that I "work the room" when I teach to ensure everyone hears me. I also am very tuned into individual personalities and monitor the students during class.
It is important to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses. Play to your strengths and begin the process of developing your weaknesses to become a well rounded instructor. If you try to teach and you are not comfortable, the students will recognize and begin to question the validity of the information being taught. As an instructor, you must deliver the information with a great deal of confidence in order to make believers out of your students. The only way to convey that confidence is to understand your limitations.
Knowing yourself is probable the most important aspect of being a good instructor. It allows you to use your strengths and develop "work arounds" to your weaknesses to ensure the students learn the material. All other aspects (knowledge of the material, proper preparation, classroom management, etc are driving by your understanding of yourself. If you don’t understand yourself you won’t be an effective instructor.
As an instructor I've been taking a look at the way the class sees me. I'm tring to improve the way I come across to my students. By being more prepared for class, with handouts and class notes.
We tend to teach the way we were taught or the way we learn the best. If we understand ourselves, we know where our strengths and weaknesses lie, and we can work on improving our weaknesses and capitalize on our strengths in our instruction.
Because my attitude and personality have an impact on my students and how they will learn in my class.
