Hi Rtee,
I understand where you are coming from with the challenges of teaching evening students. I teach from 4 until 10 and have to work hard at providing the kinds of activities and class flow that is needed to keep the students engaged in learning. You have outlined a very good strategy for keeping your students moving forward in their learning in spite of having worked all day.
Gary
Hi April,
Each career setting is unique when it comes to instruction and learning. As instructors we have to adapt to the setting in which we are teaching career skills. In your case it is the the kitchen setting with all the components that make up a commercial learning environment. Well done in terms of making this setting work for you.
Gary
Hi Aaron,
You are right about a great instructor being able to teach an empty room. We need to try and eliminate as many distractions as we can plus create a comfortable setting for our students so they can concentrate on what is going on within the class. As instructors we have to work hard at being prepared and ready to teach the diverse students we have in our classes and that is what teaching is all about. The impact we have on their lives should be the guidepost from which we operate.
Gary
Hi John,
Good strategies for making the best of a difficult teaching situation. Movement really helps to keep the students engaged as the sound is different as you move around and when students look up there is a fraction of a second when the brain disengages and then reengages for concentration once again. Your pacing is good as well because you let your students change up their learning through the breaks and discussions.
Gary
Hi Jana,
I teach from 4 until 10. I know what you are talking about in terms of trying to keep my "tired" students focused on our class. Your use of activities and humor are great. These are the same methods I use to get me and my students through the evening. I like teaching this time of day since I get to be creative in my approach because of the challenges the time of day and fatigue presents.
Gary
If positive, the learning environment allows a student to relax and focus.
Clean, bright, well-organized room. Chairs/Tables arranged in a circle or semi-circle.
I agree, I often teach from 6-11pm to students who work all day. It's a challenge to get them to understand the material fully so we do alot of hands on studio work so they can quickly take what I've lectured on and understand by doing.(I teach perspective drawing) We take breaks as needed for food and energy and just to recharge. It can be difficult learning a new concept when you're sleepy.
I feel as if the learning environment is essential to the students success. Students need to feel as if the environment is there to help with the learning process. In the case of a college setting...students must have areas that are quiet so they may study. In the case of a culinary school, students must have equiptment and ingredients for recipes, etc.
Being comfortable in a learning enviroment will let the student engage more willingly. Getting student to stay involved during lessons is created by the instructor. Having a perfect enviroment will not guarentee a students sucess. I feel the instructor is the "key to sucess". A great instructor could teach in an empty room.
I sent off an email earlier addressing this, perhaps it did not pick up.
I teach in a large, loud and distracting room, that is challenging. In order to help mitigate the distractions, I often move about around the students and the room so that I may be heard more clearly, I can also engage students one on one more easily, and tell if they are nodding off or doodling instead of focusing. I also provide breaks to help with the length of the class as well as provide a chance to "wake-up" or refresh oneself. John Eliassen
Generally when I teach my course, it is located in a large, noisy room with an unfortunate number of distractions. I find that moving around the room, walking amongst the students helps to encourage participation, along with allowing me to be heard a bit better, as well as helping to focus their attention. I can tell if someone is nodding off, or doodling on paper. I also provide breaks and if appropriate encourage them to get up and move around during certain classroom activities to help mitigate the distractions. John Eliassen
I struggle with this topic. I teach a class that is 4.5 hours long and find it hard to create an environment that is stimulating for this length of time. I try to create a variety of learning activities that get students moving and thinking in different ways. My students see me as someone who is 'real' and humor often gets us through the evening.
Making sure that all suppleys aswell as the room is ready. Before class starts.
Hi Juan,
Great way to bridge the gap between beginning and experienced students. Also, you are showing your students what the real world is going to be like when they complete their college experience.
Gary
In our Graphic Design Associate's Degree Program, the instructors for the 2nd year classes try to simulate a workplace environment for some projects. For example, in a Graphic Design 2 class the students will be put into groups to work on an ad campaign and the instructor acts as their Art Director/Client. The students have to work together as a team and deadlines must be strictly met in order to pass. In beginning classes the learning environment is much more supportive and encouraging in order to teach new students how to be successful at being a college student and to keep them motivated.
Hi Philip,
Right you are. The dynamics of learning are changing at a fast pace. For example traditional institutions of higher learning are being challenged because they perscribe how many contact hours a student has to have in a course. They don't measure if the student is learning or the outcomes they just say a student has to have 54 contact hours with an instructor. With online learning and other formats outcomes are the measure of success. What is the return on investment (ROI) for the student?
Gary
In the future, the physical learning environment will be less important. With programs and courses moving online, advanced simulations and social networking tools it will be more important to make every environment and session a learning environment. What I believe will happen is the programs and courses will have to employ a solid structure and organziation; instructors will have to understand the learning tools and how to make them effective; and we will have to implement a more participatory learning environment rather than lecture and take a test.
Keeping a comfortable environment is important, but not so comfortable that students fade out. I like to keep students alert and involved
Hi Cassie,
Right you are. The students need to "feel" the career field for which they are training and a way to do that is to experience the physical aspects of the lab or setting. The more we can do to create a "real world" setting the more our students will see that they are ready to enter that world.
Gary
I think that the more "real" the learning environment the better prepared the students will be. For example, if the students are learing to be veterinary technicians and we have them in a room set-up for massage therapy they will not be prepared when they enter the field of practice. If you set up the classrooms like a real clinic setting then they can learn the material and also learn their environment.
