"It's Showtime!" - Motto Before Entering Classroom
When I started teaching in a small school in Berlin, the other teachers and I would always get up from our chairs in the break room right before classes started and yell, "It's showtime!"
The idea was, our students were mostly adults who had just finished a long day at work, barely had time to eat dinner (if that), drove through traffic and were pretty tired, hungry and grumpy.
Our job was to make them glad they made the effort to show up. We had enthusiasm, smiles, quick fun activities right off the bat and then jumped right into the lessons. Our students suddenly caught a second wind and there would be laughter, smiles and eager questions.
To this day, I always hear a voice in the back of my head yell, "It's showtime!" whenever I bound into a classroom.
We sometimes take it for granted that students show up in our classrooms - I think it is very important that you make them WANT to show up and make every start of every class be dynamic.
Oh, and don't even think about sitting down at your desk for at least the first 15 minutes...walk around, go to the students, stand in the back of the room, keep moving, don't stop.
I sometimes teach an entire class and never once sit at my desk!
Trust me - try this approach and watch what happens
BTW, my student retention rate has always surpassed every expectation, no matter where I have taught.
Hi Michael,
I wish you the best in your teaching. I know you are going to be successful by the attitude you are displaying.
Gary
Hi everyone, I am an instructor in training at a trade school, and expect to start on "evening shift". All the training so far has been in learning types, preparing material, etc. This discussion really made me think. I remember back to when I was a student at this school, and how difficult it was to work AND go to school. I also remember having instructors that made me feel that they appreciated my efforts and how that helped me. I want to be one of those guys, the class everyone wants to go to. (even if they're tired or not feeling so great.) thanks for reminding me of this.
Hi Christopher,
You are right about the early morning classes. Caffeine can't hurt and the fact that it is provided indicates to the students that you are serious about their learning at the early hour and that you want them to be successful.
Gary
Yeah, I can really see how this would be very effective. This is especially important for those night or morning classes. I'm considering offering coffee to all my students before class (with guidelines) to try to stimulate discussion and help them engage the subject matter.
I remember how unpopular early morning classes were during college, and I think that a little caffeine and a lot of enthusiasm might help motivate the students.
As an educator at a design academy, I'm going to remember "It's Showtime!" I'll say that the next time I burst into the classroom, because the students are actually in the process of doing a positive/negative assignment that will be a stylized cut paper design of a scene from their favorite movie or TV program. Thanks for the tip!
I agree totally. In fact, this is one of the reasons why I quit teaching one particular class.
It takes energy and enthusiasm for the topics covered in the class for me to feel this kind of positive influence. After teaching this particular class for a couple of years, I felt burned out by always having to be "up" for the class and just couldn't muster the level of enthusiasm I felt I needed.
That's a really good idea. A great piece of advice I got from one of the Deans at our school was to "create a presence" before class starts. Your idea has the same concept and I'm going to incorporate it in classes on Monday.
Thanks David--I really enjoyed reading your post. I think I will try adapting your motto before I login to my online classes. Hopefully, this will make my posts sound more energetic!
Heather,
I feel your pain - and that is something I think few teachers understand. We always felt sorry for those students who were struggling with family, work and other obligations, but still made the effort to come to a night class in bad weather, when they were not feeling well and when they had a lot of other stuff on their mind. I gave these people a lot of credit for going the extra mile.
We figured the least we could do was to make our classes lively, keep upbeat (hey, there were days WE didn't want to come either) and basically make them glad they made the effort to show up.
Those teachers who did not get on board with this concept often found their classrooms empty, or the classes canceled. They would blame the school administration. We (the other teachers) knew that was not the case - it is no trick to get someone to sign up for a class; the trick is to keep them coming.
And come on - how hard is it to put on a smile, jump into the room and hit the floor running?
I remember one teacher with a Doctorate's Degree from Oxford who was the most deadly boring teacher you ever met - spoke in a very quiet monotone, sat at his desk and had the students take turns reading one page after the next, and calling on the students in alphabetical order. Watching paint dry was more exciting than sitting in his class. Needless to say, his retention level for students was about zip.
Hi David,
I wish my instructors had done that when I was taking evening courses for my bachelor degree. It was the same old thing... come to class, listen to lecture, watch the powerpoint, take notes, turn in homework. It was 3 hours of torture sometimes, because I usually hadn't been home all day or eaten dinner.
Thanks for sharing!
