Hi Richard,
You make a good point about stepping back and looking with fresh eyes at your students. We, as instructors have to do this to remain fresh and excited about our work, Well said.
Gary
it is essential for instructors to occasionally take a step back and refocus their attentions. As with anyother type of work we as instructors tend to get into a rut alomst to the point of autopilot. Taking the time to reevaluate and refocus our attentions allows us to remain fresh and responsive to the students.
I have now been teaching for almost four years. I have recognized that at certain intervals, probably due to my own expectations, I do get in a state that forces me to reevaluate my self, pat my self in the back for what I feel I have given to my students. However, I can't help it but most of the time this occurs, it is because I couldn't get through a few students. So, the process restarts. And so far, I come out of it with a greater understanding and skills.
Hi Gary, due to repetion its important for us the instructers to reenergise ourselves so we can stay positive, thus provodeing a model of being positive to our students and review our past successes to energise ourselves. At least thats how I see it
Mugsy
It's important for me so that I stay true to myself and in turn feel good about how I'm teaching the students. Also important is the outcome with the students, do they really learn and do I keep their interest through out the class. By refocusing and staying true to your profession makes me more effective.
If we do not we then can be boring, non inspiring as we are lacking the energy needed to stimulate the class.
Sometimes as instructors we loose forcus, motivation, or get discouraged at the apperance of lack of learning or student understanding. We need to to "refocus" in order to maintain enthuiasm
right you are tom, at the co. i work for, the general consenses was, that the companies we were sending our students to work at were our customers.
although i will admit that it is very important to send a quality pruduct (student) to the workplace, the fact still remains that the student ultimately pays the price and spends the time to learn a new career!
so with that being said, the student deserves
everything you mentioned in your forum, and more if at all possible.
he or she is my most important customer
As a class goes throught the learning stages their goals change and the need to refocus is as important to the students as it is to the Instructor. We as educators must be flexable and know day to day what changes we need to make to meet our goals for the students.
I find doing the same class over and over again can cause me to not put as much emphasis on important parts of the class. I find that teaching another class then going back to the original one gets me back "going again" Our classes are 3 weeks in length and doing a different one does it for me.
sometimes we have to remember what we are teaching is new for the students
Hi Jeffrey,
Good strategy. You have to have their attention before you can teach them anything. By using a variety of techniques you can get them to focus on what is going to happen that day, even if it is very early.
Gary
I like to spend the first few minutes of class in open discussion. my class starts very early and it works as a good "wake up" exercise as well as helping us to refocus.
Sometimes we tend to get stuck in a rut. I will use the students questions to help me regain my focus on the topic at hand.
Refocus is a wonderful way for you to keep yourself in line with your teaching methods.
We should all refocus and assess our abilities on a regular basis to ensure that we are being the best that we can be.
I totally agree. Teaching at a Vocational/ Technical school I teach in three week cycles, so it can get repetitive. I keep my focus by using different aproaches every cycle so I can find the most effective teachng styles.
We as instructors sometimes get into a set routine. We sometimes forget that different students have different needs and learn at different paces. Be refocusing, we can regain that perspective we need to have to be more flexible to change, open to new and different ideas, and just change it up a little.
It also gives us time to get caught up with the ever-changing subject we teach. Technology is constantly changing and so should we.
I find it is a good pick-me-up especially when the end of the class draws near. I almost always get the feeling that the student didn't get enough from the course and there is little time left to get more tasks accomplished. If I take a moment to reflect on what has been done, I typically realize that a lot has been accomplished in a short time and feel better about the situation.
My course is only three weeks long and I find it necessary to refocus towards the end of each week. Because my students are distracted by everyday life of an 18-20 year old on there own I feel it important to reaffirm why they are in school and what they will get out of it upon graduation.
showing a student that they realy did acuire a new skill will give them more confedence
