Hi Bill,
Thank you for sharing your amazing story. Flunking retirement is a good thing when it brings joy to you like teaching is. I wish you much success in your "new" career of teaching in a career college. You are right about there being a very different dynamic in the career college setting verses a medical or graduate school setting. By the fact that you are raising the integration question about technology tells me that you are a professional educator that is going to continue to learn and grow your entire life. Keep your wonderful attitude and I know you are going to leave a legacy of well prepared students ready to succeed in their career fields.
Gary
Listen more and talk less. Make sure students remain involved in the discussion and limit the amount of lecture time so the students can give feed back.
I think that self-review is critical to true improvement. One method that one can use is to videotape yourself while teaching, and then ask a mentor or leader to sit with you to analyze and critique your style.
I observe...I watch others instruct, or just give business presentations, and I observe the participants. (Also, whenever possible, I try to see the results in learning and subsequent performance.) Then I try to adopt those things that work, either by increasing learning or by just improving classroom environment (which usually increases learning).
Gary - I have taught in medical schools and graduate schools my entire career, and after flunking retirement five years ago - my temperament and personality is not consistent with being retired - I began teaching at a career/technical college, and gladly report that I am experiencing more enjoyment in the "teaching" part of my work than I have in the previous 30 years of my career. I have found myself making many changes in my instructional style, and continue to do so. My student, peer and administrative evaluations are quite high and I take a sense of personal pride in that accomplishment, since teaching in my current setting is quite different from teaching in medical schools and graduate schools. An aspect of instructional style that I continue to struggle with (battle?) is the onging integration of new technology into the classroom given our constantly increasing students who are far more effective at multi-tasking than I am. I am finding it challenging to re-program this mature (a politically correct word for older)brain to manuveur and manipulate myself through this ever-expanding world of educational technology.
I have found that prior preparation is a major key to success. If I am not personally (and professionally) organized, I will never be able to get my class organized. Getting the students acclamated to the environment on day one as well as explaining class expectations has been a key to this success.
I feel that I need to use this same sense of groundwork every day at the beginning of class to ensure continuous successful classes.
Hi Ernest,
All the items you listed are ways you can improve as an instructor. The key is to get a impression of how you are perceived by others and then work to refine that perception. This will create a delivery style that is comfortable for you and supportive of your students.
Gary
Hi Richard,
These are all good ways to improve your delivery skills. One of the hardest is the video taping as it is hard to watch yourself sometimes. You can't believe you are doing some of the things that you are. You never noticed that you have a method of repeating a movement that becomes distracting, etc.
Will really help you to keep on your toes about how you present.
Gary
Techniques that I should employ more would be to use reflective teaching more often.
FOR MYSELF, I MUST KEEP SHARP AND CURRENT ON ALL TRENDS IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY, KEEPING UP MY CERTIFICATIONS AND GENERALLY BEING AT THE TOP OF MY GAME. I EMPLOY PRECISE DEMOS OF ALL PRODUCT STUDENTS WILL PRODUCE FOR THE CLASS ALONG WITH GUIDE LINES AND EXPECTATIONS OF HOW THE FINISHED PRODUCT WILL BE GRADED.I KEEP MY OWN SKILLS HONED VERY SHARP THROUGH CONSTANT USE OF MY HANDS AND MY BRAIN. STUDENTS WILL COPY YOU, EVEN IF YOU MAKE MISTAKES, SO IT IS TANTEMOUNT THAT I SAVE THE LESSON BY SHOWING HOW TO CORRECT THE SITUATION. THIS COMES WITH YEARS OF INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE WHICH IS WHAT MY STUDENTS WANT. MY STUDENTS WANT TO LEARN FROM A MASTER CHEF, NOT THE JELLO CHEF.
Visual self-assesment would be a powerful tool. The recording of instructor lecture and demonstration, followed by self observation might be transformational. (Insightful at the very least.) Other useful tools Might be:
Student Feedback Forms
Classroom observation of other accomplished instructors
Public speaking classes
Relaxation techniques
Ensure superior command of subject matter
Have someone videotape one of my demonstrations of skills/techniques. This would provide me with feedback that would indicate pacing, concept presentation, clarity and indicate if I need to modify or change my approach.
Also, I have seldom delivered instruction to my peers, other instructors. This would be the hardest or most demanding "audience," although perhaps the most instructive in terms of feedback.
Hi Kelly,
I wish you the best in your new instructional arena, adult learners. What you will find is that they are really like all the other learners you have worked with. The like to learn, laugh and advance in their knowledge. Have fun with them and in return you will develop respect and rapport for and with a great group of learners.
Gary
Hi Judy,
I wish you the best in this new effort. Keep working at it because before you know it you will be feeling very comfortable using this new delivery format. The fun part also is that you get to learn so much about a new area. Part of the life long learning process.
Gary
Hi Amy,
This is an ongoing problem with all students. They only hear what they want to hear and only when they think they need to hear it. When we receive new information we do three things with it, delete it because we think we don't need to know it, distort it to make it fit what we want to hear, or personalize it to ourselves. Of course we are striving for the later, but much of what we say gives shifted into the first two categories. So we keep on saying things over and over.
Gary
I am new at the institution by which I am currently employed and I am new to adult learning. I believe that getting to know the school and my students is a great way to adapt and further develop my instructional style. I have also been away from the classroom for 5 years and may discover and rediscover how I best teach. While certain techniques may work beautifully in a K-12 setting, they may fall flat with my adult students. On the other hand, I may find that the adults do enjoy some of the activities which I have traditionally used to teach in my younger classes.
As I teach a class for the first time at this level, I am really paving the way for myself by learning about the college, as well as its students and its faculty. By integrating what I learn about the school with what I know and learn about myself at this point in my career will indeed enhance my instructional style.
I need to work on technical competence as well as presentation skills. I have been teaching in some classes that are not my area of expertise and it is hard for me to project a sense of competence.I have also been asked to teach an online course. I am not proficient with computer skills so it will take a great deal of preparation, even though it is in my area of expertise.
I also try to have other activities for example, working in small groups or having students demonstrate math problems on the board. The tune out of a lecture pretty quickly and some never take notes but most of the students like some other kind of activity.
I feel like communication with the students is an ongoing battle. Some students hear every word you say and other just hear what they want to so I need to make sure I use several different ways to help the students understand and want to learn.
Hi Shantana,
Good professional development plan. You are working to stay current with both the technical aspects of your field as well as the delivery of content. Always let your personality shine through as you mentioned because that is who you are. Your personality is what your students will be seeing when they learn about the field and associate you as a model with success in their careers.
Gary
