Hi David, Thanks for your post to the forum. (Loved your description of your "vanilla" voice!). Are you using questioning sessions? Can you use videos at all? Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
Hi Vicki, Thanks for your post to the forum. Yes, a lot of what we need to do is make our students feel at ease so that they can concentrate on learning! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
Realizing that the class is comprised of a varying population of students and thus diverse methods of acquiring information, I always ty to assess their needs and select the most effective method to capture all of them. Keeping to one method - example lecture - you will quickly lose moe than half of you class. What I do the fist day is simply ask and then I present the material in forms of powerpoint, handouts, reading assignments, short 15 minute lectures with use of the boad to emphasize the subject.
Realizing that the class is comprised of a varying population of students and thus diverse methods of acquiring information, I always ty to assess their needs and select the most effective method to capture all of them. Keeping to one method - example lecture - you will quickly lose moe than half of you class. What I do the fist day is simply ask and then I present the material in forms of powerpoint, handouts, reading assignments, short 15 minute lectures with use of the boad to emphasize the subject.
I agree with your style of changing every 25 to 30 minutes. However, I have a hard time finding the right time to switch over and how to do it. I feel as though I have gotten myself in a rut and I have developed a very vanilla voice. Do you have any suggestions?
Using various methods of delivering information will ensure the success of more of my students. They also feel "included" in the topic if they better understand.
Hi Michael, Thanks for your post to the forum. It does take some extra time and effort to give each student personal attention, but, as you mention it means a lot to them. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
Hi Stelian, Thanks for your post to the forum. Yes, it really is as simple as that- by combining a few delivery techniques we can reach many more of our students! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
Hi Ellen, Thanks for sharing some great examples of active learning in your classroom! Susan
Susan Polick
I always like to know what works best for my students. I take a moment to interact individually and get a feel of how they prefer the material be presented. They really appreciate it when i take those extra steps to help them understand
Knowing the learning styles of your students greatly increases your chances of effective content delivery to the students, and increased retention by the students.
It is very important to know the different techniques that students learn, because it will tell you as the instructor, which variety you can use to teach your class. Obviously it is best to combine few techniques, so you can capture more student reather than just a few.
Hi Tammy, As you mention - the payoff in terms of learning is HUGE! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
Hi Catherine, Thanks for sharing an important point. Often students are not aware of learning styles so we can really be helpful if we counsel them about how they can better work with their own style. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
Knowing the learning styles of your students allows the instructor to plan class time for the most effective delivery of information. Changing acticites avery 20 minutes or so and utilizing multiple methods-like video, power, point, hands on and group work make it possible to address most learning styles. Another benefit is that it also makes the class more interesting.
It was only a few years ago I was a student and I still am able to put myself in their shoes and explain how what I am teaching is relevant to the work place
The instructional benefits of knowing your students' learning styles are huge! Let's face it as instructors are primary goal is for our students to achieve that "A-HA" moment! If it means we have to step outside our comfort zone and utilize a different teaching style to accomodate our student, than that is what we have to do!
I have found that by knowing my students' learning style it helps me prepare my lectures. I try to include multiple aspects with each style in mind and if I have student who is not doing well I can advise him/her on better ways to study based on their learning style.
HI Jeanne, Thanks for your post to the forum. Having students "teach-back" is an excellent technique! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
Knowing the learning style of your students obviously help them master what is being taught. I find that demonstrating while explaining and them giving the students time to take notes and then giving them a reference sheet of page of text has worked the best for me. If time permits I like to have the students demonstrate what we've learned on each other. If time doe not permit I may assign them to demo the procedure on a family member as homework. Example would be learning to take blood pressure. I have them take out their own stethescopes during the lesson. On procedures where they don't have individual items to demo i.e. Oxygen tanks, I may have them come up in groups where one can demo while the others watch closely and can ask questions. The rest of the students may self study while this is being done. This way I try to cover as many learning styles as possible and the students love it.
