How to motivate and inspire students
I have been in education for 10 years and I have learned that the first day of class is the most important. Instructors should set guidelines, rules and regulations, objectives and of course do a meet and greet.
I always start by introducing myself and giving my background experience and certifications. Then I will ask each student to stand and give their name, and why they chose to enroll in Medical Assistant school.
I hand out my class rules and regulations, along with the syllabus, and we go over each one.
First impressions are lasting. If an instructor starts a class off on the wrong foot (i.e., being late for class, being impolite, not having the course syllabus, etc.) this will cause the student to be unmotivated to do well in the class.
Throughout the class, if any student is struggling, instructors should always offer tutoring and encouragement to the student. After all, the students are why we are here!
I agree with celeste.....I think it is very important to greet each student as they come into the classroom. Your smile will welcome each person into their next "learning world". The first day especially will set that tone that you (or at least I) are trying to achieve: this is a professional environment, but that we are all in it together.
If I, as the educator, know the name of each student, and encourages the students to know each other as well, this starts the process of being a team.
I agree also that each student should be encouraged to share her/his history: there are many stories from each of them, and many students have overcome hurdles to get to this classroom....with the sense of teamwork hopefully being worked on every day, sharing these personal stories seems to work on the inspiration component too!
All good comments. I particularly agree that setting the rules and being as organized as possible from the beginning creates a fundamental sense of order that is essential in an advanced learning environment. It is also, at least for me, the easiest part of establishing your instructional style. You set the boundaries, and then it's fairly easy to fill in the less formal areas inside those boundaries.
This helps you maintain a sense of control even when you turn a good share of control over to the students with more informal techniques because you have already outlined the general framework in which they are allowed to work, explore and learn.
The meet and greet helps open communication and create understanding between teacher and student to foster learning inside the framework that has been established. Free communication back and forth is essential.
Finally, I like to allow the students a chance to build and contribute to the framework of the course. Within some general guidelines I already have laid out in my mind, or on paper, I ask the students to cooperatively lay out a good share of the class policies, to vote on them and discuss them. This helps create buy-in and I think it helps motivate the students because it makes the class more of a partnership than a top down spoon feeding or information download format.
I like the idea of asking students to share their learning style preference. In addition, I also always keep in mind that I was a student before and need to take into considerations (especially adult learners) the students life outside school. One cannot learn if they are not able to focus in class. It's nice to be aware where their stressors are coming from.
In addition to introducing myself with a short bio and having each student do the same, I share with students and ask them to share with me a little bit about their personality (are they really organized, really disorganized, really efficient in their studies or not very efficient, needing to share everything with others, sympathetic to other people or not, etc.). I also share with them and ask them to share with me their learning style preferences. This helps me to better tailor my teaching style and presentation to the needs of the students in each class.
The first day of class is very important to the students. After a introduction of myself and the course content a brief explanation of what is to be expected of them during the class is given. When a class is started on time with a clear purpose and distinct guidelines I feel the rest of the course is managed much easier.
