Live Experience Real Life Examples from Past Jobs
I love to pull out lessons learned from my past jobs in the video industry. I tend to be a little of a 'digital pack rat' in that I keep a lot of the stuff I worked on over the years, including early drafts and versions.
This stuff is invaluable when creating a lesson plan or a powerpoint guide. By using real world stuff I can show where things went off track, and more importantly, how the problems got solved!
Gerald,
Sharing examples from the field is what brings value to the students. They get to see both application and relevance to what is being taught and how the information they are receiving along with skills being developed and this increases their motivation levels a lot.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree! I think giving examples of your real life experience in the field is so important on many levels. It gives the students a great perspective on how the material they are learning is crucial and relevant to the real work environment. It can also be a great motivator by giving them examples of success.
Myself. They really like when I tell them about all of things that I did wrong and let them know how much better prepaired they will be than I was when they enter the field.
Danny,
Right you are about text books and real life. Talking about the differences really helps the students see relevancy to what they are learning.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I do also.....Their are a lot of instances where "text book rules" dont always necesarily applies to the "real world"
I totally agree. Anytime I have the opportunity to use my own past experiences as a reference I do. Live and learn, I think this helps the students to relate better.
I always try to illustrate teaching points with real life examples from my field. I think there is tremendous value in having instructors that are currently working in the field they are teaching or have had experience in the past.
I remember being in graduate school and working full time. I had courses where the instructors were extremely knowledgable academically, but it was obvious that they did not have much practical experience. They would discuss topics and make statements that I know, from working in the field were great in theory, but not in the real world. It was very frustrating.
Including real life experiences really helps the students relate to me. I break the expectation that an instructor is out of touch and it helps them open up and talk about their experiences.
I encourage the students to share their life experiences with each other. They come to know that each indivdual comes with a skill set that others can draw on as a source of instruction.
Ivy Joy,
They really like these types of stories and examples, don't they?
Gary
I use my past experiences to motivate my students.
Anthony,
I do to. I think they are very valuable in helping students to see relevancy and application to what they are being taught.
Gary
I always use life experience knowledge examples from my past to motivate my students.
