william reed

stay relavent to material ,not to long and enjoy.

Justin Rudick

I agree. I try and teach my classes in a way that lets my students apply what they learn each day in their jobs the following day. Sharing our "real life" examples shows our students that what we are teaching from personal experience, and this give more credibility to our lectures.

Richard Grossman

Manuela,

I agree that an experiential "story" is most often the most effective means to drive home a point or topic.

Appropriately, I try to bring in guest speakers whenever possible. I have discovered that students tend to give their undivided attention to a real-world, outside perspective. They appreciate the chance to ask questions and the added networking opportunity is invaluable.

It also help my credibility when an outside speaker reinforces my own perspective and experience.

Manuela Wikinger-Henry

I use real life experiences as it applies to the subject matter. Having worked in the field I am teaching for 4 years lets me bring in "life" examples. It not only lightens up the lecture to listen to a "story", it also transfers theory into practice.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Hi Barbara,
Make sure they are relevant to what you are teaching at that point in time. Keep them brief and to the point. Making them interesting in the way you describe them. Set the stories up so there is a catch phrase or dramatic question at the beginning and then go into the story.

Students like real life experiences that are specific. They don't like a rambling story that they have to work at to find some kind of point within it. I use real life experiences all the time in my courses and the students really like them because they capture their interest and help them to see relevancy and application to what they are learning. I fold the stories into each unit so their is a direction connection between the lecture we just completed and application.
Gary