Get Your Students Hired
For those few seconds, students can feel as if you are addressing them directly. Also, it helps the instructor to see who understood the material & who needs futher explination.
I think you make such a great point about the benefit of eye contact to the instructor as well as the student. I too have found it helpful for me personally.
I think that is an excellent point regarding communicating your confidence as an instructor with eye contact.
It tells the student "Hey, I know you are important to this class and this discussion." I see it as a sign of respect.
Calling the student by name often deflects the "deer in the headlight" face. They are immediately comforted when they hear their names.
I try my best to to include every student in the classroom. By working extra hard to not only recall their names--which is not always easy due to numbers--but by speaking directly to them, looking at them makes the process much more friendly. The students are very responsive to the eye contact and some ven seek it out. Passing through the halls, after classes and even out in the 'real world' I use eye contact to plan for a more positive environment in the classroom. It is imperative all the time.
Yes, it's amazing what the power of a look & making eye contact can do who might otherwise be not as engaged.
It makes the instructor more comfortable and can help keep the instructor on pace and quell any nervousness, it also reveals to the student that you are speaking directly to them, making them feel good.
Having eye contact with students lets them know you are confident with your knowledge and you are interested in they are learning the material.
Eye contact keeps the student attentive and shows control of the instructor. Also shows confidence!
Great point Teresa. It is amazing how that connection with students really can assist with retention of the material.
Ryan
I agree when you have eye contact with your students can make them feel important, and the instructor truly cares that the students get and understand the material that is being presented in class. But again you do not want to stare down your students and make them feel as if you are putting on the spot or singling them out in front of the whole class.
Gilbert,
Great illustration of working within your parameters to still try & make eye contact. While it would be impossible in your setting for every second, you still make it work.
Ryan
Bryan,
Great points on both aspects. I'm especially glad you mentioned the second regarding understanding if some students do not respond to direct eye contact.
One idea I have had is to find out if a student is from another culture & to find out a way that culture establishes that same sense of acknowledgement.
Thanks,
Ryan
the teacher can connect to the student making them feel important and they seem to feel like they are involved in the conversation. This can help with the student retaining the material that was covered in class.
When doing demonstrations I am usually performing tasks that use my hands and requires focus on what is is front of me. I do take pauses at certain parts of the demonstration and try to make eye contact. This is also a time to see if they are absorbing what is happening in the demonstratiion.It can be a challenge when you are trying to time the steps in the presentation with student feedback.
Many times, especially at for-profit or high-population schools, students may feel more like numbers than people. Making eye contact with each student sends a powerful message that they matter to you, not as numbers but as human beings. Taking just a couple seconds to meet someone's gaze, in our culture, is a great way to validate their presence in the classroom and subtly forge a relationship between teacher and instructor. Should conflict arise, students will be much more likely to approach and work with an instructor who they feel understands them.
It's important to mention, though, that for some students, eye contact can be a sign of disrespect or hostility. If students pull away form your gaze or rarely seem to meet it, you can look near them without actually making eye contact to still show you acknowledge them. Sometimes other methods, such as encouraging them to participate in a specific part of groupwork or calling on them, can still give these people a feeling of engagement and value.