Become knowledgeable on the subject matter because they will always ask a question that will stump you if you are not up to par on the recent developments or changes in the subject matter.
I try to walk about the classroom and engage the students (sometimes one on one) then quickly ask others for their ideas on the subject in order to promote thinking and the ability to express their ideas.
i give an information sheet where students can tell me how they learn best. I use these to shape additional activities for my lectures
More hands on classwork and focus more heavily on the ways in which English can be applied to my students individual careers.
Work closely with student drafts to offer more one-on-one comments and assistance.
I like to hand out surveys to my students at the end of each class and get input about what they liked or didn't like.
I also like to give examples from my experience, including applicable pictures. My students have said that this keeps their interest up!
As a person who is somewhat aprehensive getting up in front of class, my technique will be to practice, practice, practice.
I couldn't agree more. I too implement real world situations into my lecture. This keeps students attention and allows interaction in the classroom.
I like to employ real world situations relative to the course subject matter and real world events. I find the material in the course is validated for many students when relevance is shown to the career field of their choosing in real world events in real time. The importance of the actual content is then solidified because they know this is material I can actually use and the reason I chose this particular college.
Hi Erin,
Welcome to the profession. I wish you much success in your teaching career. I am glad to hear that you have gained a lot information from your first module. Professional development is ongoing so keep looking for ways you can increase your expertise as an educator.
Remember to always keep the human factor in your teaching and you will earn the respect of your students and develop rapport as the course progresses.
Gary
I can use more visual adis in my class.
Course assessment techniques (CATS) are one tool I use to enhance both my instructional style and the students motivation in class. One example of a CAT would be to give a brief oral or short answer quiz at the end of each class asking the students to describe what the most important topic they learned this class.
I am a new instructor and very excited by taking these online modules with MaxKnowledge. I have learned so much in this first module.
I try to very my instructional style with lectures, demonstrations, PowerPoints and group activities. This breaks up my class time and keeps the group interested. I also relate personal working experience with the group to they can realize how important it is to learn the subject matter.
Hi Sandra,
This is a good point because this brings balance into the classroom. This way the students have an opportunity throughout the course to use their preferences while learning how to take in information through other avenues.
Gary
Hi Linsey,
Good question because of just what you said about not wanting to wear out your students with your feedback requests.
I ask for feedback after the completion of a major project, activity or group exercise. I make it very simple and quick. I give each student a 3X5 card and ask them to make any comments about the just completed effort. I don't ask "what you liked or didn't like" because I don't want to set any parameters to their responses. They are very candid and I have not had any student over the years vent. They are constructive even if they didn't do as well as they expected or didn't like what we did. This feedback method takes 3-4 minutes at the end of the class so the students are losing any instruction time.
I have a more formal feedback form I use at the end of the course for my own growth for the next class. This is different from the formal course evaluation my college uses. This evaluation is worthless because it asks such generic questions because it is used for every course in the college.
Gary
My instructional style has been defined as down-to-earth by the instructors who have observed me. I use that style because I have so many first-generation students that I don't want to alienate them with an ivory tower/ivy league style.
I believe that instructors should in-cooperate a variety of learning styles in order to maximize students' learning. Using a variety of styles will definitely enhance learning
I believe that instructors should in-cooperate a verity of learning styles in order to maximize students' learning. I have noticed that when students get a little of each they do better.
I think that it is important to bring outside resources into the classroom. Guest speakers who are currently working in the field can be a great source of information for the students and can often add different insight to the curriculum or topic of discussion.
