Hitting the doldrums
In my advising of students I can already see where I am not giving as much attention as I did at the beginning. When certain questions or issues become routine I have not kept up my enthusiasm for the individual student´s situation. I need to refocus and treat each situation as unique and each student as different even when the issues seem to be the same.
I teach Computer Networking and sometimes topics we teach are repeated every term. Students who are hearing this for the second, third, or even fourth time tend to become disengaged.
When I get tired of teaching a topic, I use the "train the trainer" approach. Give the student a project and let them show you what they did...or let them do a presentation on a topic. It can give you a mini-break from teaching, and I find that I always learn something new myself in the process.
I agree, the instructor needs to remember that, as you mentioned, these students are hearing it for the first time , so you need to engage and excite them as much as you did the classes before.
Brian,
This is important because the students are hearing the content for the first time so they need to feel that it is fresh and exciting to their instructor even if it has taught by that individual many times over.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
If I feel I'm becoming mired in the same old recitation of information, or simply running through the same course for what seems to be the umpteenth time, I give the information in a different way, instead of staying with the tried and true script. In short I tell them what I'm telling them, just in a different way.
