Best Advice for a Newbie
What is your best advice for someone who is teaching for the very first time?
Misty,
I think that a creative and dedicated instructor can make any course interesting. The key is how the content is segmented and the activities that are selected to reinforce the material. A mini-lecture of 15-20 minutes followed by a discussion, Q&A session, game, case study, etc. will keep the students engaged. Also, the instructor needs to bring passion and enthusiasm into the learning process and good results will follow.
I teach a required general education course that is not valued by the students since it is what they consider outside of their field, yet they have to have it in order to get their certificates to practice. My challenge and fun part of teaching is to get them engaged and learning about something they don't want to and enjoying it. At the end of the course they tell me that they now see the value of the content and can use it in their personal lives.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Being new to the "teaching" field, I too enjoy reading all the advice. I still find myself struggling with keeping the lecture somewhat interesting and keeping the students attention. In a few weeks I will start teaching a new course, I have asked for advice how to make it more interesting, a couple of replies I have received is that some courses just can't be made interesting. How do you feel about that comment? Do you think that is true?
Brian brings up a great point--learning is reciprocal. Students are so used to being told what and how they should learn, and this helps to create an adversarial relationship between student and teacher. The more we can show them that we are learning right along with them, and that we--the teachers--are learning from them--the students--the better our rapport and relationships will be with each class.
My best advice is to be yourself and show them you are learning along with them each and every day.
Hi Cheryl,
Thanks for sharing this great advice. One of the real holes in our educational development in this country I believe is the lack of career knowledge. Through your experience and training you have developed a foundation from which you can be of valuable assistance to the students. Keep your great attitude and excitement about being help to students as they create a career identity and future.
Gary
I'd agree that being prepared is the best advice. My second piece of advice would be "don't take what the students question too personally" You sound like you are sensitive about your age, so you will react to comments about that - well, I am 58 and they STILL question my expertise. I think that is part of the generation style that is attending school. And I think it is more about them than about what we lack or don't know. The hardest thing for me is to keep up my confidence. Yet, I KNOW that my experience (I teach career development) spans more than 25 years. Being confident in what you know and that you deserve to be teaching them. I like a quote I heard that said something like "you have never been my age and had my experience, but you know I have been 18 and have been to college, so I will have experiences that you don't have.
I try to keep that in mind. I also make an effort to ask the students what they already know about the topic. What have they done? What courses have they already taken. I don't assume they know nothing and have empty heads and that I know everything. If I teach them at the level they are at, they stay interested and feel respected.
Hi Amy,
Way to go in developing your preferred method of delivering content. The method you use doesn't really matter as long as it works for you. The PP links are a good way to keep you on target with the material you want to share with your students.
Gary
I try to link real life situations with the concepts presented, for ease of remembering but also for the student to transfer content from the case into the next similar situation they encounter. As a newbie myself, I did not write out cards or lecture notes as I was afraid I would resort to reading them. I made a couple bullet points on my powerpoint notes and linked the case example.
Hi Sachin,
Great way of putting what you are doing as an instructor--selling. That is exactly what you are doing. You have a product (knowledge) that you are willing to share if they will become stockholders or invest in the process. The end result will be dividends that pay back for life. The challenge is to get them to see the value of it all and how their efforts can shape their futures.
Gary
Dr. Meers,
You bring up a good point. Being new to the teaching environment I noticed a direct correlation with that of my sales environment that I am used to. You have to "sell" the students on yourself. Like anyone I approach in a sale, they will have there guard up with a lot of apprehension. Breaking the ice and getting them to figure out that you can be a valuable resource to them as well is the fun part. I use humor and my life experiences to relate to the clients (I.e. students) on a human level. It may sound weird but it is all like a show that you are pitching. They just have to believe in what you are selling.
Hi Todd,
Good points, both. We do do a lot of entertaining as well as educating. So edutaining is an accurate description of what we do. Plus, we move toward what we are focusing on and if we can keep students focused on their career goals we will be able to help them achieve those goals.
Gary
I was told during my first teaching experience that what we did was called "edutaining". I had a collegue who also helped by stating that we are merely here to facilitate the learning process, only the student can learn. Taking that to heart really helped gain confidence as I began to teach.
I liked reading through all the advice! I do have a question for general ed teachers- do you regularly have students bring their text books to class? I want to address the learning styles of those who learn by reading by pointing out specific topics in the chapter and by bringing in articles related to our subject. Is there any other way? I don't want these to get repetitive and boring :)
Thanks!
Hi Marie,
Experience will help you as you refine how you are going to establish your credibility with your students. Each time you teach a class you will learn more about what parts of your professional experiences really engage the students and you can build on these.
Gary
Hi Melissa,
Love to hear about your excitement as a teacher. This is what keeps the motivation level up for students. Keep it up.
Gary
The questioning of credibility is always a fear especially when your students immediately judge your experience on age. I liked how you reinforced your qualifications and then used the incident as a way of developing professionally. I have been in this same situation and I probably did not handle myself as well as you.
I miss the "putting on a show" element of teaching in a live classroom! That is what will bring me back from the online world at least for one night class. It is also what I find most exhausting about teaching face to face :) I love the vibe!
Melissa
Try to project yourself over the class, the way actor does in the theatre.
good luck!
I would suggest starting out with very clear, simple concepts early on to see how the students respond. I would then add more complex topics in after you get a feel for the students comprehension.
I find that anytime you start off over a students head early, they feel overwhelmed.
