Hi Susan,
I've been teaching since 1989, and I have made my share of mistakes as well. When I first started teaching I would sugar coat things with students. I do not sugar coat things anymore. I am very straight forward with students; I tell them like it is. I am helping the students more by not sugar coating things.
Patricia
Hi Mary,
If you know what to teach and how to teach it due to teaching the same course a million times, you can create some great supplemental activities. Be creative and think out of the box.
Patricia
Hello Scott,
As a 21-year veteran in the profession, I still prepare. I've seen a lot of experienced instructors walk into the room unprepared because of their experience, and they have damage their reputation. Preparation is key!
Patricia
Hi Vanessa,
I've learned over the years to utilize your students for various things. Students are great resources. I can tell you want to do well, you put a lot of time into preparing for class.
Patricia
Patricia,
One of the courses I teach advocates this technique for everything. If you can go there in your mind beforehand, when you actually go there in real life you will succeed because your mind believes you have already done it. It is the same principle of airline simulators for pilots allowing them to practice emergency situations (think CAptain "Sully" and the US Airways jet in the Hudson River) so if an wemergency actually does happen, they are prepared for it.
John
Hi Pamela,
What is important from a mistake is the lesson learned from it. You emphasized some excellent points.
Patricia
Hello John,
Again, more great points. I tell my new instructors never mention you are a new instructor. Whenever it is mentioned that you one is a new instructor, this gives students amunition to use against the instructor.
Patricia
Hi John,
You sound like you are always prepared. What a great idea, not to only have additional work, but to have at least two classes worth of work.
Patricia
I would also add that "Prepare-prepare-prepare" is the best way to go. I always bring at least two classes worth of material to each class, just in case things go more quickly than I anticipate.
I have also learned to have a group of short exercises or activities I keep in my pocket just incase there are a few minutes of "dead time" before break or the end of class.
I think one of the best ways is to assign a mentor or experienced instructor to walk through classroom situations with a new instructor. We try to pair new and experienced instructors for just this reason.
The most common mistake I see is a new instructor telling the class "This is the first time I have taught" and then, as was stated, students feel they are not getting an experienced individual. I advise new instructors to say "I have so many years experience " in the field.
Hi Julie,
Absolutely! I am a 21-year veteran in the profession. I would not dear walk into a class without doing a problem, test, quiz, etc. As the instructor, you should no the unclear points (fix them) as well as challening portion of any assignment because you should have already done them. Although, I have know some intructors to go into class without having done problems, quizzes, tests, assignments, etc.
Patricia
Hi Diane,
Preparation is key. We emphasize to our students to be prepared, therefore we must practice what we preach.
Patricia
I think the best way to avoid common mistakes is to be prepared when you go into the class.
Put yourself in your student's place when planning your classes. If you would be bored - they will be bored. If you would have trouble sitting still and paying attention to the planned lecture, they will too. So try to plan some other method of delivery that will get the point across but keep the students engaged. Also, you should take every test and do every exercise before presenting it in class so you can see if any questions are unclear or confusing.
Prepare, prepare, prepare. I have been a teacher for a long time, But, the class I am currently teaching is new ground for me. It takes me between 10 - 15 hours to prepare for a 2 hour lecture. I still encounter glitches, snags with the projector and computer in the room for example. I have enlisted the help from students who are the computer experts in my class to help me with this.
Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Many people before me in the thread have said it, but there really is no substitute for preparedness. Except maybe experience (which is just cumulative preparedness over time).
However, as someone else said up thread, honesty is important as well. Yes, you should present yourself and your course material with authority (or, worst case scenario, just the appearance thereof); but you should also be honest about not knowing the answers to the occasional question...provided you promise to find the answer, and then make good on that promise.
Being well prepared for a class will allow more flexibility in dealing with unexpected situations. If you are not worrying about what you are going to teach, you can focus on how you are going to teach it and adapt to different situations.
Teaching since 1994 I have certainly made my share of common instructor mistakes one of which was getting off subject when a student would have a question that did not pertain to the subject matter. At the beginning I would try to be supportive of that student's question and try to answer in a respectful way. I had to change things a little by stating at the beginning of class to be sure their questions during time of lecture and discussion stays focused on the subject due to the amount of information needed to cover during the quarter. Students usually stayed focused and kept with the subject. When someone did not I would say "I appreciate the question and will be happy to answer it after the lecture and discussion so we stay on track. After lecture and discussion I will go back to that student and ask them the question again and try to answer the best I can in a reasonable amount of time.
Reviewed material carefully. Being prepared and knowledgable about the material to be presented. Having actual examples to pull material together and make relevant to the student. Encouraging students to ask questions and voice thoughts and concerns. When and if I make a mistake I freely admit it and use it as a learning opportunity for the future. I've often told my students that I know everyone is going to make a mistake sometime in their future, and all I could ever ask for is for them to admit the mistake, learn from it, and take responsibilty for it. I place the emphasis on the learning from it aspect. I think it is important for their self respect to know that people are forgiving of mistakes, and only what to see them improve in the future and not make the same mistake again.
Hi Tyson,
The best thing about this simple implementation is that you will have an audit trail to refer to so that you can determine how far you've come.
Patricia
