As teacher we tend to fall into the "comfort zone." We need to constantly stimulate ourselves so students are more enthusiastic in learning the subject.
In most any creative production industry, it's "burn out." High work loads, stress, missed expectations, and about 1000 other little things have turned productivity and enthusiasm to proverbial mush.
The same thing applies here. If an instructor does not "REFOCUS," then their enthusiasm drops, their productivity or effectiveness becomes less than average, and they become prone to mistakes. And seeing as how the instructor is a model for the students, if they falter in these areas, inevitably, so will the students.
I agree. Sometimes I also review what we have covered the previous day which can also help the students focus before I start the objectives for the day.
Refocusing enables us to rediscover the passion we have for our field and bring that sense of passion back into the classroom. This passion is for many of us the reason we started teaching and why we are so successful.
It is a "centering". We need to remeber and remind ourselves where we are where we are going and where we came from.
Hi Samuel,
Right you are about wearing down during the course. This is why it is so important not to let teaching become routine but recharge and refocus so the material and approach remains fresh.
Gary
Often the pressures of instruction, student management issues, administrative concerns,and life itself can tend to wear me down about mid-course. If I refocus it is like recharging my tired batteries and inject new life and enthusiasim in my instruction. The result is improvement in student learning and retention
To understand their students better; To make sure the students are in understanding of what is going on; to make sure they (teachers)do pay attention to all the students; to focus on every single student equally! Every single student must feel he/she is important and that the professor/teacher/... values him/her as an individual and as a student.
I have found that after a while it is easy to fall into a routine and get lazy, which in turn can hurt a students education. It is our responsiblity to self-evaluate from time to time and make sure we are providing the best possible teaching/learning opportunities we can for these students. They are the reason we are here and they should come first.
Personal growth and development is critical to successful teaching. It is like any other professional endeavor, you must have the information (which is always changing) the energy, passion, drive, and psychological balance to meet professional demands.
I tend to think that we, as instructors, must REFOCUS at the beginning of each course we teach whether it be for the first time or the hundreth time. What we must remember is that it is the FIRST and probably ONLY time the student will get the material.
I always find that treating the students as equals and acknowledging their skills in class makes them feel accepted and geared up.
If you are not excited and enthused about the course your students won't be either, recognizing the slump signs will enable you to extricate yourself out of the slide you are in and regroup for the duration of the course.
Instructors, just like students, get bogged down in the day-to-day problems & struggles of life, so by using the REFOCUS strategy, we can focus & re-engergize ourselves & our efforts and goals so that we do not lose our students. By refocusing ourselves, we are better able to help our students get through the course and deal with any "slumps" that happen along the way.
Hi Natalie,
Great points. Your comments about being student centered are right on. Sometimes this is lost in the rush to get everything done. We need to stop and refocus ourselves and remember the reason we are teachers, students.
Gary
Each class bring its own energy, background experiences and learning desires. By taking the time to refocus you are also reviewing the needs and wants of this customer group. Too often instructor see themselves as a package good that the student have to accept, rather than the custom designed product that needs to change to meet the particular of the group that is currently in the class room. Remembering that the student body is the target market and we have to reshape the product mix to meet thier interests and needs is crucial.
Hi Sara,
You make a number of very good points about how we as instructors can keep our excitement up about what we are teaching and our students. We can't afford to get into a rut when it comes to our teaching. Thanks.
Gary
Just like everything else in our lives when you repeatedly do things time and time again it becomes just another mundane chore. Unfortunately work is right up on the top of the list for a lot of people.
However, when your job is to be a motivator, an instructor as well as a role model it is very important that the feeling of mundane does not show thru. Students pick up on it very quickly.
By recharging your batteries or REFOCUS if you will, it will change up the same old same old.
So by taking the time to reccognize, empower, focus, objectivize, commit, unburden and surprise it will pull you out of the dumps and make you a much more effective communicator for your students.
Hi Joshula,
That is the exciting part of being a teacher, the constant change. By making change a part of the course the students remain excited and the instructor is challenged to remain fresh in his or her delivery.
Gary
I believe, after an instructor has been teaching for a while, they need to step back and make sure the original intent of the lesson is still being taught.
Often times being very familiar with the subject matter, gets an instructor all caught up with the tecnique rather than the content.
Refocusing lets you reevaluate your true original intent .
