A good teacher is a reflective teacher and when you take time to step back and evaluate what has and has not been working, you can only become better.
Thomas,
Great to hear how you are going to expand your efforts in instructional delivery and student interaction. I wish you much continued teaching success.
Gary
Benetta,
I like to do this as well. This effort helps to build my excitement once again because I get to teach new material, even if it is the same course. This really reflects in my enthusiasm.
Gary
There are times when we need to REFOCUS, is when we become stagnet with a class from teaching the same class over and over again, you as the instructor becomes bored and the studnets will pick up on your attitude and your and once they know your feelings about the class they will then turn things around and use it against the instructor.
Refocus:
To remember the passion I once had and try to regain that attitude has worked for me. Identifying how things were and the enjoyment of such, creates an atmoshphere that I want to recover. It has and does work really well.
Wow! I had forgotten that I need to refocus on my delivery, and the student's real reason for being in my class. Sometimes it becomes blurry when you are teaching, and it seems that you aren't getting through to the student. I realize by going through this module, that I need to make sure that I refocus on just why the student is taking my course, and find ways to pull them back into the learning process. There are some great suggestions in this module, and I intend to use them today!
Everyone can us a refreshing, fresh material or resources. I like to research new materials and give a class that I've tought 3 or 4 times a face lift. This keeps me from experiencing burn out and losing interest in my own class.
It is best to do this in order to keep and maintain the students interest.
I think taking a course like this can help refocus. While I truly enjoy teaching, reading these strategies is a great reminder of ideas. There are also new ideas that I am excited to try. I am trying to think of a good surprise for students as we are in the middle of the term.
It is challenging to go in day after day and try to excite students who are determined NOT to get excited. It takes work to stay excited yourself in that environment.
SO u dont loose interst in teaching the course to students that aren't doing well in the course.
Paul,
I like your example of being in the woods. It sure doesn't take long to get lost in woods if you don't keep yourself oriented and this applies to learning as well. Yes, we do need to stop now and then and make sure we know where we are and that everybody knows where we are going next.
Gary
instructors also can become bored just like the students, the teacher should be enthuthisatic when ever possible when teaching,it helps to keep the intrest of the students.The teacher also need to aply self awareness when teaching.
The amount of information that has been covered can be a tremendous amount and simply requires a assessment of where the class started and where it needs to go next. Common sense, similar to navigating in the woods with a compass. You have to do periodic map checks to make sure you are on track.
The amount of information that has been covered can be a tremendous amount and simply requires a assessment of where the class started and where it needs to go next. It is common sense, similar to navigating in the woods with a compass. You have to do periodic map checks to make sure you are on track.
Kara,
It is common for all new instructors to feel this way so don't worry about it. Look for ways to expand your expertise, enjoy your students and always keep in mind that you are impacting lives. These thoughts will keep you coming back to the classroom time after time and before you know it you will feel like an expert.
Gary
As a new instructor I feel that I'm learning along with my students. It's hard to feel accomplished when there's so much more I need to improve.
Instructors are human, so they are not immune to getting burned out, just as they students might. However, the instructors have the power and responsibility to recognize this change and take action to make the class exciting and effective again.
It is easy to become complacent when you fall into a habit or pattern. Sometimes you need to refresh in order to be the most productive you can be.
I do this all the time. It is easy to get carried to a new path as I overcome obsticles and deal with different personality/learning types. After I look back at what happened and identify the detour, I can refocus my path to where it is supposed to be and make solutions to those problems ahead of time. This becomes a learning process and actually reinforces the "path" over time.
