No Pain Just success
Creating atmosphere where the students have power of choice and the option to freely and effectively voice their choices is great wasy to success.
Leigh, interesting point and one that is shared by many of your peers across the country. First thing to remember is teaching is not easy, it is not intended to be easy and I do not see this changing anytime soon. If anyone in the teaching profession finds their job easy they are probably not focusing enough on learning outcomes of their students. That said it is not to say that we as educators do not love what we do because I certainly would not change professions for anything. Through struggle and strain comes commitment, sacrifice, dedication, and a feeling of a job well done with students go on to be successful. Not just anyone can do this job as is evident with the number of students that fail or do not finish what they begin. If we can be better as instructors we will see better results from our students. This topic is somewhat controversial because we have some in our industry that want to put the blame on the student. The data however suggests that where you find innovative and dedicated instructors you find successful students and it does not matter how impoverished or broken of a community you service, we see success everywhere we find quality educators. Keep up the great work and fight the fight, your students are worth every ounce of perspiration.
James Jackson
This title spoke to me. I am currently teaching to different classes. The first class is with a small group of 7 students that our coming close to finishing their degree. The second class is a larger class of 23 and fairly new to the degree program. I have taught the smaller group before and also had many side conversations with them as a group and individually about the school and other classes they have taken. With the smaller group you get a lot of complaining as well as feedback on their perception of the school, its processes and the course work. They are never shy to voice their opinion. Some would say they are "painful" to deal with. I have had these feelings before but have always tried to put myself in their shoes and be poistive while listening to them. I have many a time pushed through the pain to keep focus on the goal of their success and my role as an instructor, advisor, and career mentor. I feel as though if you allow them to have the power to make decisions on the learning process they are engaged in the classroom. So in my case maybe the pain is good to have on my part because it helps remind me of what they have encountered through their expereinces and then allows me to focus on their success.
Jon-Paul, very interesting. Could be a great case study to share with the lower level classes to show them what they should aspire to achieve. Could be a new motivational tactic to get other classrooms to accelerate a bit faster.
James Jackson
I am currently teaching a group of advanced stuidents which gives me the latitude to be more constructivist in my delivery methods. We start each day with a discussion that is either generated by them or by contemporary media that is related to the subject matter. After a few weeks the students take the reigns for the class opening and drive the discussions.
Pamela, what are some of the ways you create atmosphere to empower your students? Thanks for anything you can share.
James Jackson
