David,
I would agree with you that teaching is an art. I would also agree with you that teaching is a wonderful profession.
The best part of my night is when a students "light" goes on and they admit now I understand why we do that at work!
Keep up the good work!
Prof Ferber
I like the hands on approcah to teaching it was the way i learned and found out through survey other students perfer that.
Teaching is a wonderful profession; as teachers we have the opportunity to contribute to the development of others so they can experience success in their endeavors.
However, teaching is an art and the utilization of certain methods of delvery is essential to connecting with students and maintaining their interest.
A style I used continuously is past experience. I often will take concepts and discuss its application and provide examples of how I have used these concepts to gain success in the working environment.
As a firm believer of collaborative and cooperative learning,it is important to keep the students engaged. We learn as much from the students as they learn from us. Seeing their involvement and contributions, what's effective and what's not, are valuable lessons for us.
I came up with a few diffrent things I could do to help futher develope my instructional style. 1. I can provide students with more hands on experience when appropriate.
2. I can identify students who seem to be having difficulty learning and give more 1 on 1 instruction.
3. I can engage students more by developing games, competitions etc in class to review what they have read, or to help prepare for test.
Hello Gary,
I feel from introspection, that my speaking and listening skills could use quite a bit more practice. (As it was said in the first lesson; practice, practice) Speaking clearly with enough volumne is some thing I can improve on. Soliciting responce from my students as to their understanding of my lesson would provide great feed back. Feedback that would boost my confidence.
If you are excited about your subject it will be seen by your students. Staying on top of what is happing in your field allowes you to keep it fresh and exciting. Just because you are now a teacher it does not mean you can no longer get your hands dirty once in a while.
Hello Armando, I also love teaching. It's an adjunct position for me, but it gives me a great opportunity to get away from my full time job in the criminal justice field. I get to meet new people and interact on a totally different level on a different subject. It's also an opportunity to give back to others what God has blessed me with.
Winnifred
I totally agree. If students do not take ownership of their learning life then they will not get the maximum benefit. The presentation to the class is highly effective because retain information more effectively if we can teach it to someone else.
I think that instructional style should be dictated by what works best with each group. You should try a variety of instructional styles from your 'bag of tricks' and when one bombs in your class, be ready with another. Also, I believe a mixture of styles should be used based on the content of what is being taught.
Therefore, the main technique I would use to further develop, refine and enhance my instructional style would be to use many different methodologies .... videotape, peer observation, student response, etc. to determine which ones work best with which groups and further refine them.
1. Asking colleagues what tips and techniques that they find successful with our students and then incorporate these ideas with my instructional skills so that I can improve how my message is delivered and retained by my students.
2. Being prepared for class at least two days ahead of time so that I can move on to other aspects of the class if the students are able to grasp the information.
3. Finding new ways to deliver the information so that I do not bore the students or myself. If I can keep the information current and relatable to my students I think that they will be more open to participate in discussions.
I think that is the best idea to keep the students exited about the lecture, they defenitli will have a vivid image of the industry, also field trips helps
I use real life situations and experience from the field to provide a vivid image of what can be expected in the industry. And by doing that I have found that the students have been more receptive and responsive to my lecutres. They thank me for showing them what to expect in a less than text book manner.
Hi Christina,
There are many great lab activities out there from which you can select those that will work best in your setting. If you haven't already talk with some of your textbook reps and see what they have to share with you. These activities come in many different formats so you can pick and chose those that you like.
Another source of lab activities is from your professional association(s). I have found them to be a great resource since most of them have an educational division that develop exercises and case studies, etc. that work well as lab activities. Talk with them and see what they can share with you.
Gary
I would like to become more familiar with Power point presentations and use them to show processes in the lab. I would also like to find good resources of lab practicals that I can use when demonstrating techniques to my students. I plan to break our 2 hour class time in half. The first hour would be used for lecture on new material. The second hour would be used for practical demonstration of the material previously presented in lecture. So to enhance the lecture content I would like to find the most appropriate lab activities.
Dr. Meers,
In addition to my reply to your question, I replied to the following question within forum 1.
See one teach one
by Karen Ferber - Monday, 27 October 2008, 01:36 PM (EST)
Dear Tim,
I would try to get involved during the class. Watch to see the students reactions of how they respond to you and the experienced professor. Watch their body language, you will be amazed at how many will have their arms crossed, their books closed/open, and how many are taking notes. Watch and see what works.
Good luck and remember, your more afraid of them then they are of you!
Prof Ferber
Dr. Meers,
I already responded to the forum. Here is my reply.
The way I run my class is discussion, lecture and Powerpoint presentations. I like to get the students involved in the discussion, even if I have to call upon them.
I usually warn them the first day that I will call on students, as a lawyer, I like the socratic method! This lets them know that they need to be prepared, and most of the time it works well.
Prof Ferber
Dr. Meers,
The way I run my class is discussion, lecture and Powerpoint presentations. I like to get the students involved in the discussion, even if I have to call upon them.
I usually warn them the first day that I will call on students, as a lawyer, I like the socratic method! This lets them know that they need to be prepared, and most of the time it works well.
Prof Ferber
I like the part were you said, learning is the most important thing going on in the classroom, not teaching. I need to remember the students I am teaching dont know as much as I do so it may take them longer to grasp the concept, so I need to be more aware of this when presenting material.
The gathering of information from widely different sources and blending them to help a student relate to my information seems to be a good enhancement.Many times,my student doesn't follow a concept because my examples or terms are as unkown to him as what I'm atempting to convey.I've begun to slant the information based on his background/culture rather than my own with good results-I intend to build on that.
