continuing education classes are a great way to gain additional information to pass on to your students.
Jodi,
Good professional development plan you have developed for yourself. This is what will help you to continue to grow in your professional expertise as well as enjoyment as an educator.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Continuing to take classes/courses to expland my knowledge and ways to impact students to motivate them to want to learn and complete the course.
Lisa,
Good outline of your professional development plan. I know it will serve you well as you expand your instructional expertise.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Actively participating in online education opportunities such as this one. Another valuable method of expanding instructional abilities is to observe seasoned instructors and ask them questions about the methods they use. While each instructor needs to develop their own personal style, there is much to be gleaned from instructors who have developed effective methods.
Take courses and stay abreast og new teaching methods and resources available for courses
James,
This is a good strategy to follow by all instructors. It is good to get a fellow professional's input which can validate what is being done well and suggest areas where improvement can be made.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
James,
Thank you for these comments about how you will establish yourself as an instructor of merit. Your 5 C's say it all. By following them you will be able to approach your classroom with confidence (another C) and impact the lives of your students throughout the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I like to have other instructors observe my class and make recommendations. I focus on understanding at what points the students indicated most and least interest in the material. This tells me how much lecture is appropriate and when I should transition to multimedia or exercises.
One way to expand my instructional abilities is to take courses like this one. The exercises from this reading helps me to increase my knowledge of techniques, strategies, planning, and preparation for courses I teach.
Learning about the roles an instructor plays also helps maintain the focus of the lesson whether I'm playing model, motivator, or manager. I understand that my confidence will grow with my experience. I now understand that as an instructor I should present to be credible, candid, compassionate, committed, and clear when I instruct.
Charlene,
Good professional development plan. The key is to have an ongoing plan because as you can see by your coming into teaching at this point the only constant is change. As one person said it is "like trying to take a drink from a fire hose."
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
For me as a new instructor, technology has changed so much since I was last involved in any academics, I need to get up to speed on the technology side of things by hands-on. I like the idea of having other clinical instructors and teachers to communicate with about how they do things and previous problems. I also need to take classes to help me improve my skills.
Dr. Antonia,
Good advise for all instructors. If we are not prepared and knowledgeable how can we expect our students to be. If we offer engaging and dynamic instruction then our students will look forward to our classes and be motivated to succeed.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
First and foremost, I believe you need to be well read on the material. While, we may not have all the answers, we need to be prepared to answer some terms and definitions that while not specifically highlighted in the informational context, are crucial to the student understanding the overall point.
Second, technology use. If our power points could be made more interesting,with the use of graphics,etc, the students remember better and retain more.Also, the use of "live Materials" to show, where possible, what we are talking about is invaluable.
Jan,
You have shared with us a great list of professional development strategies that will enhance your effectiveness while engaging students at a higher level in the learning process.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I can think of many ways that I can expand my instructional abilities. The first one is practice. My comfort level increase with practice. the second one is preparation, I am more confident when I am prepared. The third thing that is helpful to me is to share best practices with other instructors. I like to evaluate their best practices and evaluate how they can fit into my classroom.
John,
This is a great and ongoing resource that instructors should use. By sharing and exchanging information about different methods and strategies everyone has a chance to grow in their instructional expertise.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I think it's helpful to speak with fellow instructors; mentioning specific problems that you've had in the classroom and asking them how them might address them.
Carmella,
A key element of professional development. The more we listen the more we learn and as a result have to work with in terms of our instructional planning.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have learned a great deal from the students themselves. As we are trying to become more student focused educators, I listen to the ideas
that students have especially in regards to what works for them when studying for exams.
