William,
That sounds great. Enthusiasm is hard not to be contagious in a classroom setting, especially when it is a lecture format.
Barry Westling
My personality stands out during lecture. I am enthusiastic about my field and being able to transfer my enthusiasm to my students is apparent with the feedback i receive.
Leticia,
Instructors like you who express passion and enthusiam about what they're teaching make for more enjoyable and memorable classes. I think when we care it conveys a notion that students pick up on, and nearly always appreciate.
Barry Westling
My personality comes out in each course. I am serious throughout most of the class and understand when the students need a good laugh and can make light of a topic or give a funny example of something that has happen to me. I love the profession I teach, I love every part of it. I feel that the love I have for the profession and how wonderful it is once you are done with school and are working in the field comes across to my students. I hope that they love what they are studying. I am always prepared and organized to make sure class flows and no learning time is "wasted" .
Denise,
I think they call that experience! It's something that can't really learned, but we must experience life in the trenches to really become knowledgeable about what does and does not work.
Barry Westling
When I began teaching my cohorts gave me lots of ideas but also wisely counseled me that I would have to find the ways that worked for me. This takes time and constant revision. It's hard to br patient with ourselves!
Verna,
I think being kind and natural goes a long way to creating a relaxing learning environment for my students.
Barry Westling
My personality in the classroom helps students know that I am easy to get along with, but I also follow the rules, I am very organized and ready for class everyday, the students know what I expect of them and they know what to expect from me, I as the instructor also understands that not every student learns the same, and some learn slower then other, or some even faster, so I have learned to accomadate or do my best to accomodate all learning styles in the classroom.
Myrna,
Yes, smooth, effortless flowing of material can only occur with adequate preparation, and perhaps, even rehearsal.
Barry Westling
Myrna,
I agree. Unfortunately these acts of generosity are not as abundant as they once were due to the awful state of national economy. But shrewd marketers ought not forget that today's students will be tomorrows purchasers.
Barry Westling
Myrna,
Good introspective comment. I think being sincere, genuine versions of ourselves is very important. Trying to emulate another rarely works successfully. And while it's true some many have an innate, natural ability to relate a certain way, we have to remember we were all hired for our expertise, knowledge, experience, and bring our training, education , and workplace experience to the classroom setting. That's unique to each of us - none two are alike.
Being natural, approachable, fair, consistent, confident,and displaying a good sense of humor are traits that will bring success to most any instructor. Yes, we can always try to improve, and should. But I don't think anyone should diminish the great attributes we all bring to the table.
Barry Westling
I think the best way for an instructor to be at ease is to be well prepared. This includes both being well organized and knowledgeable. In this case no acting would be required. The student should feel that the instructor is the expert on the topic.
I have also found that many companies that sell models, or other equipment are willing to come out and demo in the class as a guest speaker. They understand that if the student learns of the equipment, they are more likely to either look for it in the clinic, or request it once they are licensed practitioners. Win/ win. Students learn of and how to use the equipment,and the company has future potential buyers of the equipment.
I have often questioned what makes a great instructor. This section was very interesting as it highlighted the role of personality. I agree that the instructor needs to understand their own personality and, while staying true to who they are, attempt to understand additional ways to engage their students that may require that they step beyond their own comfort zones. Each student finds traits that they find engaging and the challenge is to incorporate many aspects of personality to engage all the students. Observation of instructors who do this well helps but I am not sure which techniques are the most important to develop. Student surveys are always higher for those instructors who do this well but do not often give answers of how to make the poor scoring instructor better.
Tamikah,
This is a good example for role playing. For daily lessons, I think instructors who portray authentic, genuine versions of themselves receive the best response from their students. Today's students are savvy, and they can detect a "put-on" performance, different from a sincere, honest instructor set to help them. For me, that's what separates just OK instructors from really exceptional ones.
Barry Westling
My personality plays a great role in the delivery of the courses. It's depends what subject I am teaching that I used a different personality to delivery the course content. Example(Networking)
I will put the students in groups of 3 have provide a IT scenario for them to react out in class.
I will usually play the the angry customer who is calling the tech support center to fix my home internet network.
My personality plays a a great role in the delivery for the course content. In providing a real life concepts students can really see the process of what career path they will follow in the Information Technology sector.
Brenda,
Yes, I agree. It's a fact that not all topics can have a directly related hands on activity. So, the instructors affect, such as energetic, enthusiastic, animated, can help make these topics more interesting. It's just hard not to be engaged and focused when the instructor is able to captivate the class because they make it interesting to be there and participate.
Barry Westling
I am a very interactive personality type so I tend to be quick to move to a hands on experience when instructing students. I feel they learn better if they are participating in a related activity while learning new material.
Deb,
Great. I agree students like stories, and those that relate to the professiona are particularly memorable and usually instructional too.
Barry Westling
I am organized and prepared. I like to show this side of my personality to my students. I teach in the medical profession, and I like to tell stories of my days in this medical setting. I tell students what I said in response to others. Students love "real life" stories. I think it makes me more real to them.
I talk about empathy and other attributes of some medical people, and ask them to explore their personalities as well.
