These are some good ways to refocus on the material and I'll keep them in mind as I continue to teach. The thing that I do is refocus on the students, their needs, strengths, weaknesses and processes.
As most of the other responders have said so well, we all need a fresh start from time to time. A quarter, which lasts about three months, is a long time to maintain the focus you started out with and it's one thing to get through the material every day and another to engage wtih the material and your students every day.
The instructor will at times become less focused on the subject due to some repetition in the process and the student will pick up on that and also slow down. In order to regenerate the process;the instructor should review his process and reenergize the content to charge the system so to say.
so things dont get stagnent
It is good to refocus in order to recreate the initial excitement that you have for the field of study. Excitement is contagious in a classroom. Students will become re-engaged in the learning process if they are stimulated.
I have to remind myself of this fairly often, just getting back to the enjoyment of our industry.
Joy ,
So true about the need to introduce new deliveries, content and projects. This keeps instructors interested in the course even when they have taught it many times before.
Gary
There are times, especially after teaching the same subject for so long, that the subject becomes monotonous and redondant. Its important to add fresh ways of teaching the same subject, such as activities, group presentations, in-research, debates, etc. This really helps with refocusing.
I believe refocusing gives me the ability to always operate at a level that benefits my students. This allows everyone to achieve their goals and helps create an atmosphere that should help with retention.
Just like any profession that you undertake and care about, the stresses of that profession will start to add up. It happens all the time in medicine and I hear that it happens in teaching as well. That is the time to take a new course, plan a new type of lesson plan or different way of presenting a lecture. Also, as the course has pointed out, find out from the students what new skills they have learned and are excited about and you can get a boost/new charge out of knowing that you helped them achieve that. For me, that knowledge always gives me a "shot in the arm."
Instructors, too may encounter burn out and lose zeal as the instructional term contiues on. Going through a REFOCUS, reinforces that you are accomplishing something as an instructor. Often what is not working (i.e. poor participation, poor grades) becomes forefront in our (instructors and students) minds. Taking time to redirect to the positive helps resurge everyone involved in the learning process.
It is important for instructors to refocus their efforts, because many times instructors teach the same classes multiple times. Also they can get into a comfort zone and utilize the same lesson plan over and over again. It is important to adjust your lesson plan on a regular basis to prevent repetition. Sometimes you need to adjust your lesson to the energy of the class group and during the class term, always add something new to put a spin on the general flow of the class. This will re-engage the students and give them something new to focus on. As for the instructor, it will help add to the ideas that the students generate which will offer more content for the instructor.
A midcourse evaluation will give the class a little more excitment when trying to regroup or refocus. I think by going over material already learned and showing the class how to build on that with the new material helps the students with putting the information in perspective so they will be able to continue with excitement and more understanding of the new material being taught.
Refocus does provide the enthusiasm or refreshing of the topic. From time to time we need to ask ourselves why do we teach? Each class has different students, so even with the same materials we can continue to create new ways to provide the information; keeping our batteries charged
one work RECOMMITMENT.Every day we face new challenges and sometimes the road is long an winding. Knowing there is a reachable goal to obtain, you must press on recommit to yourself and Suprise before you know it your back at the top!
After teach the same material for an expanse of time, the instructor may become "tired" of the material, lax in presenting new information to the students. This is why, teachers must refocus and ignite the passion again and find new information to present to the class. I try to insert new tidbits into my lectures to share what I recently learned to my students.
This is especially important when you have taught the same information more than once. You need to make it as exciting as possible and so it sounds like it is the first time you are sharing it to the students. Sometimes I have to remind myself I am their to help the students and it is my enthusiasm that carries the class.
Added comment to the previous discussion .....I also provide a wide range of research topics that are problems and issues in students' disciplines, and try to stir them away from simple answers (we discuss this in the first week and brainstorm angles to familiar topics. I also share stories of other students' interesting approaches to the topics they are writing, and ask how they might approach the topic in a different way (keeping in mind not to disrespect their desire to approach a topic in a specific way, but exploring interesting options, especially taking a more local or regional approach to a topic). With this approach, I see more fresher perspectives and interesting slants on the same old topics, and I am less likely to be bored with regurgitated research. I also banned some topics, period!
Hi Gary and all,
Burn-out happens. If we burn out mid-session, it will negatively impact students. If it happens often, we may begin to question our desire to teach and start entertaining the notion of resigning from teaching. For me, that is not an option. Teaching is my passion. There is nothing else I would rather do. The refocus method provides strategies to prevent burnout from occurring, and I have used many of these to help renew my energy and spread that energy to students who are experiencing their own burn-out. The course I teach (and designed) is sequenced in such a way that students work through planning a research paper, writing a proposal, writing a draft, revising/editing the draft, and writing a reflective narrative at the end of the course to share what their writing, revising and editing process as well as challenges they faced.
Before this final process in the sequence, after writing the draft, we spend a week discussing revising and editing but I also ask them to reflect on the skills they have learned and how these skills can be applied in the workplace and how that makes them feel when comparing themselves to the competition for jobs in the workplace now. This perks them up and motivates them to do their best work when finalizing their research projects. They believe "I have learned so much even though I made mistakes along the way, I have learned how to fix them". This helps motivate them to success on their final projects.
Cynthia
Jorge,
Good points. This approach helps instructors to once again value the opportunities they have to help individuals achieve their career goals.
Gary
