Instructional expertise
You need to know howto put togrther lessons that will inform your students about the career field in a way that will keep them interested and engaged in learning.
Scott,
Like your approach because it helps to get the students on board with what you are doing and then you slowly yield the content you want them to know and show them why it is valuable to them and their future.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
LaTonya I agree that presentation is key. You can be the best in your field but if you stumble over your lecture or copy things last minute your students will be distracted from what you are actually saying to what you are doing. I have seen this take place and found myself lost in the "shuffling" of the instructor looking for things rather than the material they were teaching. Planning ahead is vital to looking the part even if you know the materials.
I've been teaching for a number of years and cannot overemphasize how important this is. It is important to guide your students from the known to the unknown, and building lessons that start with simple ideas, concepts, and vocabulary. By taking the students on a journey into new topics that they do not know, it is always satisfying when you see them gain an understanding of what you're teaching them. It's one of the biggest reasons that I choose to teach adults.
Rebecca,
You did start off with a challenge. As you know it is tough to start off using material from someone else. As you get into your teaching career a little more you can personalize this material and let your own personality and instructional style come through. Then you will start to see how much your students relate to you as their learning leader.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I just taught my first class and had to use someone else's materials. It was really difficult to make the presentations exciting as it was all power points and really dry in the speaker notes. I understand I was an unknown element and they were covering their bases because they knew everything that had to be covered was already there but I am looking forward to my next class as I will have at least some freedom in what and how I present.
LaTonya,
This is an ongoing challenge all of us educators face. We need to be creative as we pull our content together and then put it into the format that we are going to use to deliver it. Through feedback we can see what did and did not work and then make improvements from there.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
