Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Stephanie,
Thank you for sharing your experiences with this format. Learning groups do work very well if they are put together in a way that has every member contributing.
Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Stephanie Edwards

I like the idea of dividing students into different learning groups. I have found it be very effective in the past. I have also made it a point to "change it up" when I notice the same students choosing to work together for every activity. I change it up by choosing for them so that they have an opportunity to get to know each other. which builds a more comfortable setting for learning. They learn to recognize the difference in their knowledge and abilities and are more likely to be supportive of their fellow students when they see a need or struggle.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Hi Janelle,
One thing you might try is to do some small group activities. This lets the students react to a situation or do problem solving. They report out on what they have discussed and you get to react to their comments. This is a very informal interaction that is relaxed and is often humorous. This shows you in a different light to the students and helps you to step back from being too tight. You can resume a more formal approach once you move back into the lecture mode.
Gary

Janelle Lietz

I have enjoyed reading these responses as developing my own instructional style has been a challenge for me. I teach both college and high school level courses. I find that I am sometimes too uptight in my classrooms. I would like to find more of a balance between being strict with policies, but also being relaxed with students in the classroom. Any suggestions on how to find this balance?

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Hi Jeaneen,
You are right about the adjustments an instructor needs to make when working with different age and experienced students. By knowing your personality and how you can adjust it meet the current group of students you will be able to keep them more engaged.
One of the things I do to better blend the differences between my students is to create learning groups where I mix the different ages of the students. By assigning them case studies and projects they get a chance to share their own life experiences with each other while they work toward a common goal. Once the projects are completed they have a common bond that extends over into future class activities.
Gary

Jeaneen Roberts

I agree with Gary's comment about knowing your personality. However, I realize my persona changes dependent upon the age, maturity level and subject matter I am teaching.

I teach lab and lecture courses and find when I have a huge gap in age,I struggle with my delivery. While I want to include life experiences as a teaching tool, I find I often 'lose' my younger students. When I incorporate experiences, the more seasoned students are excited about the subject matter because they can relate it to their own lives.

This is a fine line I am walking and I need to develop a style that is cohesive in nature to incorporate various learning styles as well as student levels.

If anyone has any suggestions as to how they manage this type of situation; I would love to hear your commments.

Jeaneen

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Hi Rich,
First have a clear understanding of your own personality. You can only be who you are. Then look at what your comfort level is in terms of working with people.
Decide how you are going to manage the classroom, meaning how you set the stage for the conducting of class. Also, you will need to "read" the students to determine the dynamics that are present.
Put all this together and you will start to see an instructional style that shows you as a caring professional educator that can manage the classroom while offering instruction in a variety of different ways.
Gary