I bring a student to the board and have them outline the critical points of the anatomical or physiological point presented.
Alice,
Humor is a key part of the instructional process. Does not hurt to laugh once in a while.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree. Humor all the way to break it up.
Travis,
Good way to get a "read" on your students and what knowledge about the topic they are bringing into the class. This gives a good departure point for you to introduce the new content and expand their knowledge base.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Alana,
Yes it will. What are some strategies you use to get all of your students engaged?
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Raven,
Great plan! Like the way you are approaching the change of pace and flow of your class. Your subject matter lends itself to personal applications and you are make those connections for your students. I am sure that increases their understanding of why accounting is both relevant and has application in their personal lives as well as their careers. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Carole,
I have a six hour shift from 4 until 10 pm so I can relate to your comments. It takes a lot of planning and change of activities to keep them engaged for the duration. Sounds like you have a very good plan working for you to keep them focused on the content.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Terrence,
I like your approach. I use this same method to get everyone involved and contributing. What I would suggest as a next step is to have each student in the group present on their part of the group project. This way everyone talks, not just the group leader. What I do is to have the group come to the front of the class and sit behind a table. Their location at the front of the class gives their presentations a bit of a more formal status. Then I have each student present for a limited amount of time such as 2-3 minutes (note: the time limit is based upon the number of groups and the topics being presented.) By giving them a time limit I control the flow of the class plus my more shy students know they only have to talk for 2-3 minutes so they relax a bit more this way.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I introduce the subject and ask the students to share what they already know about it. I start there and add to what they share that is correct. If some of the information is wrong then the class and I work together to determine were the mislead information came from.
Student participation in activities will capture their attention.
Dr. Meers,
My class meets for two and a half hours twice a week. I begin my class with lecture. I teach various Accounting classes so I relate Accounting to what my student's do in everyday life (ex. paying bills, working, receiving a paycheck,etc.). Then I go into details about the content being taught that day. For example, one class we talked about liabilities. Liabilities are things that we owe (light bill, gas bill, etc). I am able to expand on liabilities because I now have related to them in terms that they can understand what that word means. I also learned that lecturing the entire time or even one hour at a a time can quickly lose their attention. I've started lecturing for twenty minutes and then changing it up some. Either we do a problem together on the board or some type of group activity. Changing my teaching style helps the learning styles of my students as we all learn differently. I am able to capture everyone's learning style by changing up the way I teach.
I teach a five hour class and sometimes really have to work to keep the students engaged. I mix in humorous stories from my time working in the field, hands on activities, and group activities. If it's a really tough day I also like to take 5-10 minutes where they can ask me anything related to the course (pharmacy technician prep) whether it is related to the material at hand or not.
Gary,
I have 23 students in one class and sometimes its hard getting students to participate. One of the things I try to do is have my students collaborate by working together in small groups to solve problems. I notice that when each student is responsible for a particular task, no one is able to tune out or drift away. Do you have any suggestions?
Pixie,
These are good learning strategies to use with your students. This way you are changing the pace of the class and keeping them engaged for the duration of the class.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Pamela,
Keeps them on their toes plus lets them know you value their input because you know their name.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I try to encourage students to ask questions so that it does not get boring and that way they will stay interested. I know that we have 2 hour lecture classes and depending on the subject matter, I lose the focus of many students. I also try to reiterate keppoints by making them answer questions to make sure that they are still with me in the lecture.
Calling students by his/her sir name unexpectedly is a sure way of keeping them engaged. The majority of our students have extremely short attention spans (most
Thomas,
Good for you and your students. Using different forms of media as well changing the flow of class is important to the learning progress of students. They need the opportunity to "reset" their brains at times and your strategy enables this to happen.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I try to mix it up. I show films, bring current event articles to class, ask students for their input on particular topics and issues. I also share my real-life professional experiences with them.
Most of my classes consist of students from several different countries. I initially provide some of my personal experiences and as the classes progress I encourage the students to provide some of their experiences. Whenever possible I try to inject humor to assist in the learning process.
