Hi Shonna,
I love guest speakers too, and I have witnessed that students love them as well! Guest speakers give everyone a gleam of hope.
Patricia
I believe that bringing in a guest speaker to share their insights and there journey with the student will truly help them see that here is light at the end of the tunnel and that they aren't always the only ones that have thought they should quit along the way. I love guest speaker and their ability to bring such joy, excitement and light into a classroom.
I agree, I find that when I am able to bring in a guest speaker, the students are really infatuated with the idea of them being in their career. I remember being in school 12 years ago and looking at our amazing guest speaker saying to myself "I really want to be like him" " I want to be a teacher of Massage someday and become a guest speaker" and here I am 12 years later, a teacher and a guest speaker for many occasions.
Hi Kara,
In your example students were exicted about the possibility of literally gaining something out of the experience. What was in it for them was that someone who was an expert would evaluate their document. Students are more enthused about a guest speaker that is pertinent to their situation.
As I am relatively new to this experience I have not utilized a guest speaker but currently making a list of those I believe can help the student become successful both in their drive to succeed as well as their future aspirations.
Velma
A guest may be able to inspire students in ways their regular instructor can't. A different voice, different perspective, and different way of relating.
Guest speakers I believe can be very invaluable to the class as well as those students ready to quit. As humans we tend to believe we are the only ones experiencing or have ever experienced our individual problems. We sometimes appear quite surprised and then become encouraged when we learn that others have experienced the very same situation we may be experiencing.
A guest speaker will provide that reality check for the student that someone else may have experienced a similar situation. Students may become encouraged to know that if that other individual made it through the difficulty and were successful, then they too have some hope of success.
Guest speakers also provide credible evidence to the students that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The guest speakers represent the goal they are trying to reach. If the guest speaker also shares the same message or reinforce the information the instructor shared, it provides credibility that maybe the student should take the information seriously and work toward success.
Guest speakers share their failures and personal life story. They also share how they turn failure into success. The speaker may be the one that encourage the student to stay in school.
Guest speakers are great, but you should preview their presantation before the day of the event.
I think that it is a great idea to have guest speakers. Not only do the guest speakers provide great first hand information and excitement for te students to get out into the workforce but having a guest speaker also is a change of pace for the class. It gives the course a chance to take a break from traditional teaching. A good time to bring in a guest speaker would be mid term. At this time the students are getting anxious for the course to be over and having a guest speaker helps get the students excited again about their main goal for being in the class in the first place.
Guest speakers who work in the field of study generate new excitement in the student to reach their goals. The students see a "success story" standing before them.
Guest speakers are wonderful resources. HAving a guest speaker provide stress managment techniques or even possible ways to deal with challenges can be worth their weight in gold. Having a guest speaker from the students chosen career field can provide a needed motivational boost. Having a working graduate come in and talk about their challenges during school and now their successes as a graduate can be motivational as well.
Having a guest speaker can help motivate students about no quiting school. Often by relaying real life experiences and showing what an education can do for them. Also it can help to show that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, a job that can be obtained.
A guest speaker bring reality to the dreamer.
I am bringing a guest speaker into my class tat has far greater eperience inthe subject matter being taught than I do. This will enhance my students learning experience, giving them a greater knowledge and understanding of the material than I could and also increases my knowledge, therefore making me a better instructor.
Jesse Walker
Hi Brandon,
Students like and need a new buzz to help keep them motivated. Excitement keeps them coming back.
Patricia
If a guest speaker was one of the students who was overwhelmed when she/he first started college the under achiever will relate with the speaker. If the speaker tells of how close just plain quitting the course seemed the only option, then tells of a mentor who stepped in and helped them, the quitter will relate. We all relate with people who have experianced problems that we thought we were alone in.
Success stories are so facinating. Especially if the person who has succeeded was just "like us".
Good question, A guest speaker can give a differnt angle and often diffinet insight to the subject. Student can hear from a field technician often getting a more current feel for the chosen study. This often creates a new "buzz".
Guest speakers can be lifesavers. We just had a paralegal student who graduated a few terms ago come by and speak with the new paralegal students. This student, a single mom with lots of challenges, had actually had a breakdown and cried in my office her first term, convinced that the work was too hard and she wouldn't "get" it. Granted, the program is hard, but it was great to have this student, now successfully employed in a law office, talk to our students about her feelings and how she overcame them, and that they would "get it" too and be successful if they just hung in there, did their work, and applied themselves. It was wonderful to see her inspire these students to not get discouraged and to be confident in their decision to come back to school.
Having a guest speaker is very useful for the class. I have found in the past that it helps to have someone come in that has a past that is very similar to most of my students.
It helps them to realize their potential, even, from where they are, if someone that used to be just like them is now successful.
Hi Miriam,
Students become really excited whenever they can apply theory to real life or on the job.
Patricia
