Get Your Students Hired
how many instructors feel as if they were not given enough training before having to teach a class?
Jose,
Tough way to start a teaching career. Sounds like you adapted well and have been able to enjoy success in the classroom. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I agree with the topic of not having enough training on a subject that you will be teaching. I became an instructor of my profession, but when it came to my first day to teach class I was given a syllabus and to teach on my years of experience in my profession. I was not given any literature on my profession or material to give examples of the profession the students were about to start learning. So i had to wing it on my first day. Then i went home to gather as much material that I had aquired in the 15 years of my profession and set the best way to teach it to my students by lecture hands on training.
Hi Joan,
Well put in relation to how instructors need to approach planning and preparation. I have heard it said that to "teach is to learn twice" so we are fortunate we get to learn twice our content while making a difference in the lives of our students. This is what makes teaching such a great career.
Gary
I find it surprising that so many of us feel as if we are inadequate. We somehow manage to put our classes together and make it through the first terms. We have all had professional development courses; yet when it comes down to actually teaching, we never feel we have the skills we need. Every situation in which we find ourselves is different. Nevertheless, the dedicated teacher is the one who tries to do his/her best to make the lessons meaningful to the students.
Hi Marlena,
As you prepare to teach your first class keep in mind the years of experience you have and how you acquired that experience. Try to break that down into teachable units. You probably have been given a standardized curriculum so you can take your teachable units and integrate them into the curriculum. This way you will be personalizing it to meet your own style and comfort level. You have a lot of offer so see how what you have to offer can be delivered with the technology you are being provided. Don't let the technology drive you but make it a part of your instructional delivery. This way you can expand the use of it as you get more comfortable with teaching. You are going to do fine if you keep the human element within your approach and look for ways you can impact the lives of your students.
Gary
I will be teaching a clinical course starting in April. My practice in the field is 12 years and I have some doubts about how I can support the students with the experience I have. The University I will be working for has been very supportive in all the in-service opportunities, access to DVD on all technologies used in the clinic and all books that students are using. Many of the technologies that are available to the students in the clinic I am not familiar with using. Maybe my stress comes from the overwhelming amount of material that I need to master to provide the students with all that they may need to know. This class is not even a didactic class and I am stressed about how successful I will be. I welcome any suggestions from others in similar experiences.
Hi Shannon,
I always like to hear stories about instructors that in spite of pressure find their way through the maze of instructional planning and delivery. Good job with your students. You have found your stride and are making a difference in their lives. I wish you much success in all of your teaching efforts.
Gary
I had the same feeling when I started teaching. I was hired approximately 4 weeks into the term. The terms where I instruct are 12 weeks long. It seemed overwhelming at first. It took me a couple weeks to feel really comfortable with teaching. I do all my prep work at home. I am an adjunct instructor and only get paid for my teaching hours.
Now we are 2 terms later and I feel so much more comfortable with my classes. It is a little rough getting them started. I have not taught the same class twice.
I enjoy my students and they seem to be learning well.
Hi Kari,
Great story, thanks for sharing it with us. Your success illustrates your developing skills as an instructor. Glad you are feeling comfortable now that you are half way through the course. Keep up the good work.
Gary
I definitely feel like I didn't get enough training before having to teach my first class. I was hired on a Wednesday and my first class was the next Tuesday. I did attend the college's new teacher orientation, but it did not include much information about how to teach. Also, because I have another job, I only had enough time to go over the previous instructors syllabus and notes for the first lesson. Since then I've had to make changes to the syllabus schedule to fit with my teaching style. Luckily I only have 8 students who have been very understanding. Now half-way through the quarter, I finally feel like I mostly know what I am doing.
I think the information provided in ED101 would have been very helpful BEFORE I started teaching, since this is my first opportunity.
Hi Catrina,
You have a great attitude toward your students and teaching so I know you are going to be a success. A suggestion I would make in developing your confidence it to select one part of your teaching effort and work really hard on refining it. Once you feel confident with it select another and soon you will have a number of teaching strategies within your expertise that you know work well with students and this will give you a great confidence boost.
Another part of professional development is time. This is true for any field and teaching is not different. Going through a couple of courses will help you to refine your instructional style, expand your delivery abilities and increase your rapport development with students. It will be at this point you will see your confidence level at a extremely high level.
Gary
I feel like I was thrown into things, without much help on becoming an instructor. I haven't ever instructed before, however I do have 12 years of experience in the field, and I am very knowledgeable. However, learning to break it down and instruct it, is way different then training someone one on one.
I feel like I am growing as instructor and love this job, I lack the full confidence that I feel is needed to be an instructor though.
Thank you
catrina
I feel that the training on-line is helpful for new instructors, but more can be done such as providing us with a mentor that has previously taught the course. This could assist new instructors with feedback from instructors that have previously taught the course.
Hi Jason,
Welcome to teaching. You will do fine because you have such an extensive background in training and communication. Keep this background in mind as you do your instructional planning. Remember you will never be totally prepared so do the best you can and go from there.
As for the self doubt part of teaching this isn't all back. I have been teaching for over 30 years and I feel much like your professor. Each time I finish a class I think about how I could have done it better. This reflection enables me to improve my teaching, keeps me on edge so I don't get too comfortable and helps me to continually improve my abilities as a teacher.
You are going to do fine because I can sense your dedication to your students and your field from your comments. I wish you much success with your new career.
Gary
I will be teaching my first class within just a few days. I have well over a decade of staff training and development experience, as well as, manage a staff of over 50 individuals for whom I am responsible for ensuring they have continuing education. I think there are two elements that make me feel the least prepared.
1.) The ambitious timeline. I have only been employed by the school for a couple of weeks and will be teaching a new subject matter. The only thing provided to me was a master syllabus that is relatively general. I have spent a great deal of time preparing for this class writing lectures, establishing quizzes, etc. I feel that I haven't had enough time to properly prepare.
2.) Secondly, I keep fighting off self doubt. I have to watch myself so that i don't continually second guess what I am attempting to accomplish. I have found myself reworking several of topics to the point of the exhaustion. I know the institution for whom I teach has high standards and wants us to do well, but has clearly shown that they expect us to not be experts on the first day. I actually spoke with a professor of mine several days ago. She told me after 25 years of teaching at the college level, there are still many days in which she doesn't feel she is prepared or could have used more training.
Hi Nona,
You have a great attitude about what it takes to be an instructor. I like your professional development plan because it enables you to grow each day you are a teacher.
You ask a good question about covering all of the content. This is a challenge for all of us. We have to work at and be creative in finding alternative ways for the students to get all of the needed content while keeping the class moving forward. These kinds of challenges keep us fresh and excited about being teachers because we are using our life experiences to help our students learn.
Gary
It is very important for new instructors to become grounded as they enter the role as an instructor. Because of time limitations and constraints related to shortages (of instructors), we as new insturctors often find ourselves left to fend for ourselves. I believe it is important to find a role model and someone you can depend on for guidance. Additionally, it is important to take classses as well as get feed back from the students. I have learned so much this last year as an instructor and my goal is to learn something new each day from the students as well as my peers and superiors. This will help us to monitor our progress. I am feeling more comfortable going into my second year. I still have much to learn and I am enjoying it too. How do we cover all the content in lecture? There are times when covering the objectives only doesn't seem to satisfy the subject area (or the students curosity).