Hi Connie,
You make a good point that all of us educators need to remember. It is the first and only time our students will experience what we are sharing with them that day. We need to be excited, prepared and motivated when we meet the class. It is easy to get in the rut and not stay on top of our game each time. So through strong personal effort and introduction of new activities in our courses we can help maintain the freshness that is needed.
Gary
As an instructor you need to keep the students excited and enthusiastic about the course contents and what they are learning. You need to crank it up and refocus your energy to keep the students engaged.
Just like students and employees instructors may find themselves in a rut. This may mean they are not as effective as they once were or could be. By taking time to REFOCUS they can maximize and refine their abilities to become better.
We tend to become numb and comfortable with what we do and we need to continue to change and learn new ways to keep our students interested and learning. By refocusing we become more effective in teaching and helping our students in the classroom.
i agree that todays students need fresh information deleveries to keep them intrested.
It's simply too easy to fall into a routine and be less engaged with/excited about the content of the class. We want our students to take time and refocus, so we need to be the role models and work by example.
It has always been my dream to teach. Yet I find myself sometimes just going through the motions. I realize that I need to remember how important each and every class is and how important it is that I value each and every student. Hopefully taking courses, like this one, will help me refocus and continue to be a productive instructor.
Instuctors start sounding like a recording when they teach the same courses over and over. Students will notice because an instructor starts to be less excited about the material. The instructor tends to become less encouraging, allow students to focus on other things, and class becomes boring. After a while I start my planning over. I put away the items and notes I have been using for the same class and start from scratch. This allows me to come up with new ideas or ways to explain concepts. I don't even look back at my old lesson plans unless there was a specific lab or activity that was just great. In general this process forces me to replan, rethink, and try harder to go think outside the box.
REFOCUS should be continuous throughout the course. Remember the class presents itself a new challenge each week based on prior learning. Therefore, REFOCUS is adapting to change not only for yourself but the students as well because each student has different skill sets and learn at different paces from the learning material.
In application of this idea, I feel that instructors can fall into ruts where everything seems to be very similar from week to week. This can lead to a decrease of novel stimuli to the instructor, which then can reflect a decreased enthusiasm in teaching. I enjoyed reading about some of the methods i.e. the 3x5 card or the introduction of novel games/stimuli/activities to a class to help re-encourage enthusiasm in teaching and learning. I teach in the online environment, where similarity of structure from unit to unit is a critical factor. I feel that introducing novel stimuli can create confusion among the students in what is expected. I am wondering if anyone has ideas on how to introduce novel stimuli into an online environment that definitely needs a high degree of similar structure from week to week. I would really like to incorporate new and novel techniques to refocus the students toward the middle of the quarter, but I'm not sure what would be the most effective to incorporate in this environment.
I find adding little stories or personal experience a really good tool to keep interest. It also gets me fired up when I see their reactions to the extra information.
Just like any other activity, if you do it often enough the same way each time, the activity becomes more of a burden then the excitement it should be! Teaching is no different. When you teach the same class each and every term you need to keep the excitement and value within the class as students can sense whether or not you really "care" or are just going through the motions.
Hi Alan,
Thank you for your comments about how to ramp back up and help move the students forward in their learning when they start to wear down. That's why the deep breath and hanging on is so important because the other half of the course is going to occur whether we the instructors or students are excited or not. So let's make it a exciting second half.
Gary
Contrary to popular belief, Instructors are people too. Yes, this may come as a surprise to our students, but we can get bored, or need to be revitalized also.
I found that following Mid-terms we as Instructors need to regroup as well as the students. This generally calls for a "change of pace" for a day or two. We can accomplish this by doing something totally out of the ordinary like have a "pitch in" in the Student Lounge for your class. Or, forget the normal class activities and do a field trip, watch a movie in class, videos, etc. pertaining to your topic. This is a good time for guest speaker.
Regardless, of what you do specifically, the purpose is to do something different for a couple of class periods. You will benefit as well as the students can unwind. Then before you get started again, evaluate where you are as a class and have the students renew why they are in school, your class, and what their major is,etc. Now that everybody knows where they are and why we can continue. You also explain the relevance of why we will be studying next few topics and how they apply to their career choice in the real world.
Everybody take a deep breath and hang on cause here we go!
Information needs to be current and relate to where students are today. Since I teach adults, it is critical to merge what is being taught to what is being done in the workplace.
From personal classroom experience, when I introduce a topic and if I am generating absolutely no enthusiasm for the subject area, my students respond negatively to that subject and their mastery over the subject decreases; however, when I enthusiastically introduce a subject that is otherwise horribly dull, then student curiosity is piqued and their engaged and waiting for the reason for the enthusiasm - an in the meantime, they're learning the subject matter.
When an instructor loses "focus," the students quickly follow, resulting in students feeling discouraged and wondering why they're in school again. That's a student retention nightmare.
If instructors are not excited about what they are teaching, it will be hard for students to be excited about what they are learning.
I think that by refocusing, an instructor adds more energy and enthusiasm in the class and the subject which seemed bored one day before suddenly becomes appealing and interesting. I teach medical office assistant program and to recharge myself and my students, I do role plays involving every student which is also a hand-on learning.
Hi Richard,
Great advice for us all to follow. We need to be on the look out for new material and exciting ways we can engage our students. This way we will remain fresh in our delivery and dedication.
Gary
If you teach the same subject several times each quarter and teach the same subject each quarter, it is easy to start going into "autopilot" mode. This lack of excitement is easily picked up by the students and they also lose interest. You must continue to seek out current material to supplement the course material to prevent the "autopilot" syndrome.
