Surprise
Tell a story and more important your story of work experiences in the field.
I have found that telling students stories about work captures their attention. It is a strategy I use to regain their focus. I try to relate every story with the content I am teaching today. It gives the lesson value as they realize the importance of what I am teaching them in relation to what they eventually will be doing. I also find that story time gives a little change of pace to my normal teaching routine as it allows for input and discussion.
I think telling a story about life experinces opens yourself up to your students and gives them an opportunity to know and trust you
I believe that telling stories for the most part will enhance student understanding. It also makes you a person that others can relate to. It is more areas of understanding not only in ones brain, but it also proves to be entertaining at times as well. The instructors I enjoyed often told us "real world" applications of the material that was being covered.
Laszlo,
Yes they do and this is why these stories are so interesting as well as beneficial to the learning process. Keep up the sharing!
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
My best references come from the 25+ years of opportunities I've shared. Without these "hands on" work experiences I would not have the same valuable stories to share. Students love to hear how "we do it" in the real world.
Gustavo,
Students as you know really like these kinds of activities because adults are just taller children. They like to learning to be fun and engaging.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree. Also coming out with new games or surprises in class, generates a fun environment where students get more engaged in the learning process.
Kathryn,
Stories really increase engagement for students. They help to make the content real and this is important in a subject area like English. Keep sharing those stories and examples, they are effective.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I like telling stories to have students relate to the material. English is a hard topic to relate to students sometimes. However, we use it everyday! It is important to show, on the first day, that we use English in emails, texts, blogs, etc. and that we should care about presenting ourselves effectively.
Carolyn,
Yes, they do. They always perk up when such a story is shared. These story increase the value of the content being taught as well as showing relevance and application of the material.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Students love to hear Instructor real-life "war stories" of life in their newly-chosen field. It gives them perspective on how to handle situations, and know they will experience many different situations and how best to deal with them. It offers comfort.
Susan,
I think you are really going to enjoy the results you get when you do this activity. It is a lot of fun and really gets the students involved.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I really like the idea of "crisis situation" where student have to work together using their new skills. I'm going to give this a try!
I do this also so to show the students the relevance of the information I am presenting to them.
Chris,
Your students are fortunate in that the real life experiences you are sharing with them are current. You live it and then teach it. You are able to give your students both content and realistic examples that I know increase their engagement. Your last sentence says it all in terms of how you are increasing the value of the course content to and for your students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Since I teach criminal Justice and currently am a police officer, I can easily use a "real world experience" to relate the topic we are discussing to how it operates outside the classroom. I try not to use "war stories" but confine myself to use examples that stress the current topic. When I use my own experiences within the topic, I believe it brings home how important the topic is and can be to the students.
LeAnn,
Yes, they do because through the stories they get the picture of what they are going to be encountering when they graduate. Also, these stories are great motivators because the get the students excited about what they are learning.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I tell stories of my experiences in the professional world daily - relative to class content. Students retain lessons taught based on personal real-world experiences, many times over case studies.
Elizabeth,
This will be an interesting approach because it will have the students thinking about the material from a different perspective. Will be interested in hearing how it works out for you.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
