Guest speakers.
I teach at a career technical college. Since we instruct at such a fast pace, I am often correcting students behaviour, as well as surgical concepts. This some times paints a rather bleak picture of what is required to work in my chosen career. I find that a guest speaker has the ability to calm the students' preconceived anxieties while showing that this career choice is not nearly as bad as they might have thought!
I work at a trade school and when we've had guest speakers come in its gone one of two ways. I go's well and the students get a lot of good info.Or the guest speaker comes and try's to sale something.
Wayne,
Ii agree that utilizing guest speakers is a way to calm the fears that some students have in the fields that they are studying. I have also found that utilizing guest speakers who are actively working in the field will validate many of the things that I am teaching in the classroom to the point that the students will further "buy into" the classroom instructions.
Carl Graziano
Kristie,
A good guest speaker can definitely jazz up and energize a class. Sometimes students become more motivated to do well when they there is merit in their studies.
Barry Westling
I love guest speakers in class! I feel we spend so much time on teaching/discussing tecnique, time management, respect, & being prepated, a little reality of what it will be like in the real world always sinks in just a touch more!
Linda,
It's interesting, if the usual instructor would ask "is there any questions?", students are silent. Yet get an interesting guest speaker in the classroom, and the flood gates of questions often emerge. To me, that suggests students are interested, and magnifies the benefit of a good guest speaker.
Barry Westling
I believe that guest speakers allow the students to get a different perspective on their career and it gives them a chance to speak to another professional other than their instructor who they see all of the time.
Wayne,
Acting out and behavior issues is not uncommon by students in most career training programs. I agree that a dose of reality from someone from the outside can provide amazing changes in interest, attention, and renewed desire to learn the profession, and along with that, there may be a reduction in the number of behavioral actions.
Barry Westling
