Motivating Your Students
Challenge your students. Challenge them to learn, grow, and ask questions. Be enthusiastic and they will be motivated about your abilities and knowledge of the subject at hand. Keep them yearning for more information, keep things fresh and different, change your techniques from time to time to accomodate the various learning styles of your students.
I also do the same. I use stories, both good and bad, because I want them to understand that the field they have chosen is REAL.
Hi Andrea,
The key to staying on task when you are sharing your career experiences is to keep bringing the discussion back to the key parts you want to make sure to cover as you share your experiences. Think of your experiences as being the trunk of a tree. You can let the students run out on a branch or two but keep bringing them back to the trunk so you can get your message across.
I have found that using case studies really help the students to understand the "Why do I need to know this? question. I have developed a number of case studies that cover all types of concepts and applications that the students ask about. As we work through these case studies they can see and discuss how the information they are is relevant and has application.
Gary
most of the students look at challenges as a great way to learn and not just make do with he curriculum. Enthusiasm is also a great motivator.
most students want to be just like or better than their instructor.
When you are sharing your experiences during class, how do you help remain on-topic and on-task? I find that while my students seem to appreciate my narrative, we can easily be taken off-track. I am sure part of that is my being new at teaching, but any tips on this would be great!
I also often get a lot of "why do I need to know this" type of questions and can see the frustration in my students when they have trouble connecting the dots. Any ideas or ways to help them see the big picture are appreciated as well!
I share alot of positve and negative experiences about our field to keep students interedted and excited for thing to come
Hi Tina,
Sharing this knowledge helps to validate your credentials as an educator and representative of your field. This really helps to start the development of respect with your students as well.
Gary
I agree, tell your students the experience and knowledge that you have as an instructor and with enthusiasm and energy and that will keep them motivated
