Hello Jennifer,
I stress the same concept in my class, "organization. I make it known to my students, if you want to get an "A", you must be extremely organized. Oganization is a trickle down effect from the instructor to the student. We as educators must be organized as well.
Patricia
You can avoid common instructor mistakes by staying focus on providing a student centered learning environment. You can ask yourself is this conversation related to the students chosen field? Also being prepared and organized for every class session. Create a daily system or routine to help keep you organized. When students have an organized instructor their students tend to be organized with their learning. I have a system of how I present and prepare my students for instruction. When they leave my class they tend to continue on their own with the same routine. I also stress to them the key to success in my class is organization.
Hi Don,
You have it! I have been training new instructors for years, and they always want to make it known they are new. Being a new instructor will not cause the student to have any leniency, if any thing, telling the students they are new, causes more of a problem because the students will begin immediately to look for deficiencies. Telling the students they are new causes more harm than good.
Patricia
I sometimes train new instructors that just came out of industry but have no teaching experince. No matter how many time I tell them not to let on that it is the first time they have taught they still spill the beans right at the beginning of class. The student eventially figure out the new guy, no need to tell them.
Hi Douglas,
You've got it. We are instructors. We are not perfect. From time to time, we may make mistakes. The best thing to do is to own up to your mistakes and move forward, instead of trying to think of excuses. Students will have more respect for you, when you take responsibility for your actions. Preparation will help minimize mistakes, but making a mistake is bound to happen. Students realize we are human as well.
Patricia
Owning up to mistakes adds up to respect.
Hi Marie,
I have been teaching for 19 years, and I too have made some mistakes along the way, but I've learned from each mistake. We are human, we are going to make mistakes.
I normally, reiterate my credentials to students that are having me for the first time. I also speak of my credentials at orientation. After those two occurrences, I generally do not mention my credentials, unless I am asked by a student.
It is nothing like having fun while learning.
Absolutely, in the classroom, it is not about you, it is all about the student. The students need to see us as perfect beings. They honestly do not care about our problems because in their eyes we do not have problems.
Students do not want to be read to. They can read the materials themselves. Present the material, don't read it.
A lesson can become real borain with only lecture. Include some visuals, hands-on, games, etc.
Encouragement from the instructors is key for a lot of students' success.
You're so right, document everything good or bad, just in case you need to refer to it.
Always use every mistake as a life learning lesson.
Patricia
I have been teaching for 30 years and have made a lot on instructor mistakes. I learned from them all.
Talking about yourself is ok as long as you are establishing your credentials. But not all at once. Students do not want to hear all career stories on the first day. Let them ask questions about your qualifications. As long as it does not get personal, answer them.
Not having fun in class is a mistake. Using games, toys, competitions etc. works as well with adults and children. Makes learning more fun.
Not knowing the material by heart. Do not read to students. Be excited, talk to them, make constant eye contact and by all means move around.
Keep lecture time to a mimimum. Lecture and demonstrate and involve student participatin when at all possible.
Set your students up for success not failure.
Let them know what they have to do to make the grade. Let them know what they can do if they fall behind. If students have hope they can overcome a failure or bad grade they will try harder. Offer all the encouragement you can.
Keep accurate records of student work. Make sure you document your interactions with a student.
Positive or negative interaction need to be documented especially if there is a complaint or behavior problem. If there is a problem in the future you can pull the advisory and see what both parties agreed to.
Students do not want to hear your problems. They want to see you as healthy, happy and glad to see them and are interested in there problems. Students don't care if you have to much work to do. They want you available to them.
It is not a personal thing, but we need to remember how students view their instructors and what they want from us. When we do make mistakes, learn from it and move on.
Marie
Hi Mike,
What lead of another instructor do you normally follow to avoid common instructor mistakes? I have found that sometimes it's best to set your own standards even higher than that of another instructor's standards.
Patricia
The best solution for me when it comes to avoiding common mistakes is to follow the lead of another instructor.
Hi Glenda,
I solely agree with you, class preparation is extremely important to help avoid commonly made instructor mistakes. Students can tell very quickly when an instructor is unprepared. Unpreparedness will cause an instructor to lose credibility. We are all human, and from time to time, we as instructors may make mistakes. Own up to your mistakes and move forward. Students will have greater respect for you, if you take responsibility for your actions. I like the idea of you having the students do research to find the answer as well. I use this tactic with my students also.
Patricia
As an instructor I have found being prepared is the best way to avoid mistakes. When a student asks a question I don't know the answer to I admit I don't know the answer and will look it up and get back to them with it but I also have the student do some research to find the answer.
Glenda
Hello Anne,
The things you are striving for should be what all instructors should strive for--WAY TO GO!!! A student picks up immediately when you are unprepared. Also, it is always good to "fess up" when you mess up. We are instructors, and we are far from being perferct. When I don't know an answer, I simply say I don't know, but I will find out, and the next day before I begin the lesson, I give the response to the question I was unable to answer previously.
Patricia
I strive to prepare, prepare, prepare, prepare, strive to get to my classroom at least 10 minutes before class and stive to KEEP MY LECTURES FRESH AND UPDATED! I don't 're-invent the wheel' by having all new material each time I teach my Design Fundamentals classes or Sketching for Interior Design but I keep building upon my knowledge and thus the students' knowledge by reading and doing new PowerPoints and showing them examples of artwork from classes done the previous semester. For the last two years I don't think any student could say that I lack in preparedness or giving them their homework back on time. I also 'fess up' if I don't know the answer to a question and sometimes do a 'Google' search on the computer in front of the classroom. I don't act embarras-sed or defensive if I don't know an answer.
Hello Tammy,
I am a 19-year seasoned instructor, and I always review my lesson. I do not care if the review is only for five minutes; I could have taught the course 100 times. It just makes me feel better and really prepared about what I will be presenting.
Patricia
Take the time to refresh myself on the material before every phase even when I have went through it more than one time.
Hello Jennifer,
Absolutely, life's focus should be on learning from our mistakes as well as other people's mistakes. No one's perfect, and we all make mistakes. There is nothing like a lesson learned from making a mistake.
Patricia
I think we should focus more on learning from our mistakes. It would be much better (in a perfect world) if we could always learn from others' mistakes, but if we can't do that, the best we can do is overcome our own. I'm usually the first to notice when I've made a mistake.
Hi Hildie,
It is always smart to plan ahead. Students can quickly determine when an instructor is just winging things. An instructor can lose credibility when he or she does not plan properly. Even the most knowledgeable instructor needs to plan accordingly.
Patricia
By taking a class simular to this one and planning a head of time. Do not wait until the day before or the day of the class meeting thinking tht you can wing it. You may have the knowledge but if you do not plan you may cover all your experience in the first two hours of class. Then what will you do with the rest of the quarter?
