Hi Lori,
Any time you have the opportunity to team teach with a seasoned instructor take advantage. There is much to be learned from an experienced instructor.
Patricia Scales
Be prepared with your content.
Be confident on your abilities.
Acknowledge when you make an error, apologize, and demonstrate how you will go about correcting the error and the possible reason why you made it (turnit into a learning experience for yourself and the students).
Leon Guendoo
I'm a new instructor teaching in a new program. I work hard at preparing for class but often feel like I don't have enough time to prepare as thoroughly as I'd prefer. Any suggestions?
Review material prior to lecture or demonstration. Research further into any topic that needs to be intergrated within the lecture. if unsure of student question have them write it down for you and make sure to find the answer and get back to them in a timely manner.
Know your information and never take anything for granted. Always make sure you read the chapters and know your material inside and out.
If you are highly organized, review new material frequently and ask advice of your peers, this will set you in the right direction. Remember, it's all in how you carry and present yourself. If you sound and act like you know what you are talking about, your students will buy into it. You only have to stay one step ahead of them.
As a new instructor myself I made a few mistakes. The next time around I benefited from sitting in on another instructor's class. I was given the opportunity to teach a section of the class, while the other instructor taught the majority. This opportunity eased me into teaching again, and avoided the new instructor syndrome. My feet we wet, I jumped in, in the kiddy side of the pool.
If I have new instructors coming in, and am able to assist them, my first action for their teaching is to give them this opportunity to jump in, safely.
Thank you,
Lori
Sit in an another class. It can help you find ways to deal with some of the common mistakes.
The most important way to avoid mistakes is to be professional. Also, I keep my personal problems out of the classroom. It is also important to laugh at myself when I make errors. I don't make excuses (it lowers the students' respect and sets a bad example). I am as prepared and organized as possible for each class.
I have found that "cracking the whip" does not command respect. Behaving in an adult manner, being clear about my boundaries and expectations, and sticking to them command more respect than anything.
I am not absolutely perfect at these activities, but I do my best at all times, and seem to succeed for the most part.
Hi Adrienne,
I agree! Every class is different. The reason every class is different because each student is different. You never know how a particular lecture will go. As the instructor we have to adjust accordingly. Some classes get it, and other classes don't.
Patricia Scales
I think the best approach is to be flexible. I have taught the same courses to multiple classes at the same institution and also at differing ones. No two classes are ever the same. If I go in with the attitude that I am going to follow my notes to the letter and predict my students responses, I'm probably going to be disappointed. Instead, I try to view class time as a dialogue between myself and my students. Sometimes they don't understand a term or concept and they need more information. Sometimes they pick things up more quickly than expected and you need to extra material to fill the class period well. A sense of humor never hurts either. It helps to remind your students every once in a while that you are human too.
Hi Tracy,
Preparation is key! Always try out what the students will be doing involving hands on.
Patricia Scales
One of the common mistakes would be the tendency to have a special liking for brighter well behaved students, and students from wealthy families. I have found a way of making students realize that in my classroom each and every single one of them is very important to me. Every now and then I find something genuine and positive to say about a particular student, something that may seem like a joke, but it is my way of showing them, that I know who they are and I do want them all to succeed.
i also think that allowing your class know that they aren't the only ones learning and that you the instructor are learning as well is a positive. this make you appear more human and not someone who acts as if you are above them all. you will be much more approachable, your class will feel they can come to you with questins about the subject matter.
I think one way to avoid becoming too friendly with the students is to address them by their last names plus proper title (e.g., Mr. Jones.)
This shows respect, but still maintains a certain distance.
Writing a computer program provides an example of another way instructors can avoid making mistakes. A computer programmer tries to envision ahead of time what kinds of errors might occur in the execution of a program,e.g., input typos, invalid values. The programmer then includes extra code that will give the program something to do when each of these types of errors occurs. Do the same thing in preparing for a course. Try to imagine ahead of time the most likely ways in which things may go awry. Then have extra material, alternative means of presentation, alternative examples, alternative exercises,etc. well enough in mind so that you can switch course smoothly.
I have been teaching for just 2 years, I found out that being perpaired for the class is the most important, not just on the lecture but also demos and labs, When I prepair for a demo I'll do a dry run, then I will do something that maybe the student will do just so I can be ready for the questions that might follow.
Hi Rachelle,
Prepare so that you can have an effective lesson plan. Preparation is key.
Patricia Scales
Hi Daniel,
I agree! I have been in the industry for 23 years, and I still prepare and try different ways of doing things so that I can give my students my very best.
Patricia Scales
Be prepared, even if you have to "ditch" your lesson plan and improvise.
Having been an instructor for about 14 years now I absolutely agree! One of the hardest things for me was getting out of the “Rut†of thinking I’ve been doing this long enough and that my way is somehow a proven method. I think back to when I began as an instructor and remember working on new approaches and delivery methods in an effort to constantly get better at what I do. What a sense of satisfaction at watching my classes improve as I grew as an instructor. We must never quit growing or feel that we don’t have to do the work necessary to evolve.
