I pride myself on being vibrant and relevant. Although I am a professional, students know I am human.
My personality does play effective way in my instructional delivery selection. As I beleive in active thinking, I give my students a room to think and analyze the different points in the subjects I teach. I think this is an important corner stone of active learning.
Hi Patricia:
Another idea about this concept is to keep balance between too much personality, and not enough professionalism.
Ideally, the instructor should input their personlity traits and passion into the teaching without making it a distraction.
Regards, Barry
Hi Patricia:
Humor is a great tool to use in the classroom, so long as it is balanced with professionalism, and doesn't cross the line into inappropriateness.
The key word here is BALANCE.
Regards, Barry
Hi Herb:
Right, but there must also be balance. Too much personality or the lack of (either way) can be distracting to the learning process in the manner you've described.
Regards, Barry
I think my enthusiasm about the topic definitely gears up excitement about the content. It can be tough to deliver interesting content when discussing radiation theory, but it helps that I have true stories and personal stories to tie into the subject to keep it interesting.
I like to find ways of sharing information that involves the students and engages them in the delivery of the content. This can be done through small group discussion, large group discussion, student presentations if the students are prepared. Involving the students also sends the message that I expect them to read and be prepared for the class.
Hi Lynn:
One thing to keep in mind is that there should always be a balance with (for example) friendliness and professionalism, etc.
Too much of any one thing may serve to distract the student from the main topic at hand.
Regards, Barry
Hi Barabara:
That's definitely true. However, as a general caution, there should be a balance of instructor friendliness with professionalism.
Too much of any extreme can serve to distract the student.
Regards, Barry
Hi Pamela:
These kinds of mannerisms and such can be both beneficial AND distracting depending on the extremem to which we utilize them. I think the best ideal to consider when speaking about instructor personality is BALANCE.
Regards, Barry
Having appreciated upbeat, lively, and variable delivery of instruction as a student, I realize the importance of those qualities and strive to maintain them in my own delivery methods.
Certainly the personality of the instructor plays a significant role in the selection of delivery methods, but also experience with the media, being comfortable with the subject matter,being willing to embrace new methodologies and technology, and an ongoing desire to be a lifelong learner can reinforce skills and deliviery.
I think my personality plays a big role in my delivery methods. I really don't like to lecture, so if I do lecture, I keep it as short as possible. I would much rather give them a project to work on and move around helping them one-on-one.
My personality plays a huge role in my delivery selection, I like to use different techniques to reach different learning styles. I mainly teach online so I use PowerPoint, my voice, and email to deliver the information to my students.
I find this to be an interesting question, given that it became an issue for me last quarter. My own career is in computers, and I find that my programming students appreciate my methodical, laid-back style. However, when teaching an Anatomy & Physiology class to Criminal Justice majors, they found me boring. I realized that CJ tends to attract certain personality types, which tend to be very different than my programming students! I had to modify my usual teaching style to try to keep their interest, which was very much in conflict with my own personality!
My personality matters alot. The students need to like me to be certain they trust me with their learning experiences. If we do not connect on a personal level, then we may not connect on a learning level.
I truly believe that energy is a contagious thing. The more energy we, as instructors, put into our lectures and classroom teachings, the more the students tend to become engaged with us in the learning process.
I believe it is very important to know your own style and personality, so methods or tools you use to convey information to others are maximally effective.
I enjoy PPT presentations as either introductory or supportive information when I am in the process of transferring basic points or expanding on those points with personal experiences.
As a visual learner myself, I naturally gravitate toward the use of the white board, SmartBoard, and PowerPoint. I could make much better use of models and demonstrations, and I'm sure many students would prefer this. Even though I am not a kinesthetic learner, I need to recognize that many of my students are.
Hi Karen:
I believe we should teach to our strengths (and work on improving areas that could be improved). I aslo try to look at a lesson from the student's viewpoint, and think about how it could be improved.
A key is being comfortable with myself in my role. That conveys more interesting, natural, and enjoyable classes for the students. I want to be a genuine version of me (not an artificial copy of another).
Regards, Barry
