How do keep emotion/ passion out of the classroom?
I have alot of passion for my subject (culinary Arts). When students disrespect me, my profession, or don't take curriculum as seriously as I think they should, I have a hard time getting motivated to teach them or to keep my personal emotions out of the classroom...Can you help?
As someone who teaches the "required" courses, I do see a lack of passion in many of my students. I take it as a great compliment then when they tell me that they really appreciate the passion I bring to my subject. For example, I recently had a student comment that he could tell I really love what I teach, and that makes it more fun for him to attend the class. We may have the tendency to let the energy be drained from us, but as far as I am concerned the less energy they give the more we have to put forth. I have had students in the past that did everything they could do make the experience sour for everyone else, and all you can really do is try to show the difference that attitude brings to every aspect of our lives; not just the classroom. I hope this helps!
Hi Judith,
This is good advice for instructors so they won't get discouraged when certain students don't respond. As long as we do the best we can and work hard to provide high quality instruction we are being professionals and fulfilling our responsibilities.
Gary
I strongly agree that this "passion" the instructor displays for the field can be very motivating for the students. I will say though, that not all students will share the same passion. And, that does not mean they don't have direction or drive. And, the instructor can't take those kinds of things personally. Each student will absorb and respond to the course content and the instructors enthusiasm in different ways. I just try to be myself and share my excitement when I want to share but don't expect anything in return from the students.
Hi James,
I like your excitement. You have 35 years of experience that your students are going to benefit from through your teaching. That is value added instruction at its' best. Keep up your great attitude.
Gary
My idea is "why" keep emotion/passion out of the classroom? I've been Master auto tech for 35 years, I thought I had lost the passion of repairing cars but took an opportunity to train. My passion is renewed and I reflect and relay that passion to the students. I have fun and they have fun even during a dull boring lecture. They get excited to go to the lab/shop and apply the lecture to hands on training. Yes, some students can't get interested yet they willingly participate and it shows in their grades. No passion shows as no interest...
Hi Ryan,
This is what teaching is all about. You are modeling all kinds of behaviors and attitudes that illustrate why you are in the field you are and why you are teaching about it. Keep up the good work.
Gary
This is an excellent thread because it is such a common aspect of career college learning. My own experience is spotty, but I do find that my passion is contagious: students are motivated by it, especially when they see it applied to "real life" situations. I try to keep the focus on outcomes and what those outcomes mean in the field, how each topic is relevant to the student, regardless of their individual "specialization". Everyday in class, I try to give "real world" experiences/situations that are applicable to that days content. This gives me an opportunity to show passion and enthusiasm and it demonstrates the importance of the content to all of the students. I have found that by doing this consistently, I have less issues with the classic student attitude of "this doesn't apply to me/isn't important/isn't relevant".
Hi Robert,
What a great story. Thank you for sharing it and how all of the various components came together for this young man. It took effort and grit to be successful but he did make it as a result of much caring on the part of everyone that had a part in his educational development. Examples like this is what makes teaching worth it.
Gary
Indeed. I call them the "lightbulb" moments - when I see the lightbulb go on over a student's head. It might even be something as little as a student nodding during a lecture - it tells me that they're getting it, and therefore, I'm doing something that at least for that one student (and therefore, likely, for others) is working.
In an earlier post elsewhere I mentioned that I have students tell me all the time after my course that because of my course, they can no longer watch TV or a movie without thinking about some of the lessons from my film/literature course. That also reassures me that I'm getting something done.
One of my favourite anecdotes from my career has to do with a young man who failed my course the first time around. He came from a disadvantaged background; spoke a rudimentary, slang-filled English; and actually came close to getting into a physical confrontation with a classmate over perceived "gang signs". He was, in every way, the classic disruptive and uninvolved student, and was finally moved out of his cohort in some final attempt to get him back into the coursework.
Due to that, and some other unrelated scheduling situations, he didn't wind up back in my class until he had gotten through virtually every other course in the curriculum. He just had to pass my course before he could go out onto externship. (I was of course surprised that he had lasted that long.)
In his second time in my course, though, he performed much better. He still wasn't a great student, but he did more work and better work. He mostly kept to himself since his classmates were new to him and he to them. But he performed much better than his first time around, and his demeanor was noticeably improved. I thought to myself, he's getting it. Something's happened to him.
As one of the final assignments, on the last day of the course, I gave the students a short in-class writing assignment, with several prompts they could select. He picked one that basically asked him to tell hypothetical future students how to prepare for the course and what to expect. His response told his own story - that he had failed the course his first time, and he hadn't taken the class seriously, but when he started encountering real-life customers as part of his subsequent coursework, he found himself embarrassed at his inability to communicate clearly. He was acutely aware of his slang and informal language, and could see first-hand in practical terms how it was affecting his performance and, frankly, his reputation.
His advice to those hypothetical future students was spot on, and doubly so because it was earnest, honest, and clearly grounded in real life. And I was so proud of him - even as I calculated his final grade of a C, I was so proud of the growth he had shown in the weeks between taking my course the two times.
I've referred to that young man several times in subsequent lectures and conversations with students, and I've waved around his final, short, handwritten in-class essay several times. Because I kept it.
Hi Curtis,
Thank you for sharing this insight. It is very helpful.
Gary
Hello,
There is no need to keep your emotions out of te classroom; as instructors we need to show some level of emphaty towards our or for our students. You are not only teaching a subject but also molding their behavior for the industry.
I usually challenge the student or students at a learning level to get their attention and show them the correct behavior. If you get upset you will be loosing their attention, respect and appreciation for the profession.
Hi Marcus,
Great question that faces all of us in our respective fields. The thought that our students don't share our excitement and dedication to our field is hard to accept.
What I do is to focus on "winning" students that don't care over a little at a time. If I can get one of them excited about one small part of my field then I consider it a success. Then I move on to another student or another part of the course. My point is I take my victories on small part at a time. It took a while for me to get there because I like you want them all sold on the field, but reality says that is not going to happen. A single "aha" moment with one of the students gets me fired up to try again for another such moment on another topic.
Gary
I profession is in the Medical Arts. Students that I come across, oddly enough, periodically act the same way; it is a very serious career that should not be taken lightly. I have found that once they see the outcome, particular patient they are put in charge of, taken care of, then seem to be in tune, and focused on everything that involved with that patient. They might have not done exactly what I would have done, but at the same time, that comes with experience.
I do not think there is any need to remove your personal emotion. You are human, and passionate. There is nothing wrong with that. It's that passion that will motivate students. I don't know how young your students are, but it also depends on the passion the individual student has for the subject as well.
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