I give real life examples of how the content can and will be applied in the work environment. I also emphasize that it will make your job easier the more versed you are on the material.
Hi Monica,
Awesome idea! Students love knowing how the course is going to help them in their career.
Patricia Scales
I usually will have evidence-based statistics to show how this course is directly related to their career choice. I will then allow them to elaborate about how they think it will affect them in their careers.
Hi Nicole,
Simulation is a great way to generate excitement from students. Students love it when they are given an assignment based on the way to handle a situation in the workforce.
Patricia Scales
Hi Dustin,
Students get excited when they find out how learning relates to something else.
Patricia Scales
I like to use "On the Job' assignments creating a real life situation for students to tackle. Many students are anxious to enter the workforce and apply what they have learned; this type of assignment allows students to simulate that experience.
I have found the same thing both in a teaching environment as well as being taught. I have found that if you relate the topics at hand with specific goals or outcomes related to the people in the class they are more attentive and accepting of the information.
This can be achieved by utilizing a varitey of learning strategies.
Hi GERAR,
You just have to reiterate to your students that you are ALWAYS there to help them.
Patricia Scales
Yes, I get to calm the students nerves down in regards of their fear for the course material. Nevertheless, it is hard to make hard course material seem easy; since there are students that make more sense of the information than others. What would be a good approach?
I am a cosmetology instructor. I like to give the students my tips and ways I like to do things. It gives them excitement and helps them realize there isn't just one way to do things. It makes them want to keep trying and learning more so they can get that experience.
Hi Kim,
Students enjoy hearing our experiences as they apply to the course.
Patricia Scales
Hi John,
I concur! Students can tell if you genuinely love what you do and your excitement for the course. If you are a fake, students will have no respect for you.
Patricia Scales
I like to give examples of how my knowledge of the subject matter they are going to learn has helped me with my own clients.
First and formost: let them see my excitement/passion for the subject matter. The students will know if it's real or if it's fake/processed. Without going on a tangent about my zeal for the material, but allowing the class to see that zeal and the application of what they will be learning, they "buy in" without me having to coerse them.
Also,around the classroom having illustrations/pictures/multimedia that invite learning and stir excitement about the subject matter is very effective. Without being a distraction, having a room that "sets the table" for learning makes the students comfortable and gets them feeling like "this is the place where it's ok have FUN in learning".
Hi Michael,
You do a fantastic job to bring about excitement for your students. Students like to know how they are going to benefit from the course.
Patricia Scales
Hi Alice,
I like you! I love it when you use yourself as a role model for students. You are certainly someone your students can look up to. Everyone is not going to like you, but remember you are in the profession to change lives not for them to like you.
Patricia Scales
I express enthusiasm for the value of the course content. I describe for the students the practical value of the course content for them personally and professionally. I put them into pairs/teams to work on an assignment which illustrates the value of the course content for them. (i.e. working through a personal or professional issue - a relationship problem or a workplace dilemma.) Throughout the course, my presentation engages the students, asking lots of questions and eliciting meaningful feedback.
I like to start with a success story from my career or a funny story from my own school days. Then I tell the story of ONCE UPON A TIME which a story about myself being raised in the hills of PA with no indoor plumbing, cable TV, or a phone until I was 8. And now I live on the beach in FL with a Jaguar in my driveway and mostly because of the profession they are embarking on.
I have a passion for medicine and I like to pass it on to students, in addition, I have an acting background and I like having an audience, so the medium I work in is great for that. I have had a few students over the years who just didn't like me, but I have many more who respected and enjoyed my classes.
I firmly believe that the passion of the teacher goes a long way in conveying the excitement of the course.
Hi Christine,
It is always a plus when the instructor is excited about the subject. The instructor sets the tone for the class. When the instructor is excited it is a lot easier to get the students excited.
Patricia Scales
