Hi Steve,
Confidence matters! Students can quickly tell if you doubt your abilities. Once students determine that you are not confident, they lose all respect for you.
Patricia
I believe you can avoid them by preparing well prior to class. Often, instructor mistakes come from a lack of preparation, with plenty of time to review what you are going to teach. Experience will help to alleviate mistakes made from inexperience, but I have had "experienced" instructors make mistakes, especially the one about sharing too much personal information. Remembering that you are a professional in your field is also important, and that you model professional behavior.
In the first class students take at our college, Personal Development, I ask students if they have ever had negative things said to them by a teacher and how it made them feel. It absolutely stuns and saddens me to hear what has been said to them by supposed professional educators...and I have always resolved never to repeat those mistakes or those words. By remembering that they deserve respect and encouragement, and a well-prepared instructor, many mistakes can be avoided, and the student can have a much richer learning experience.
I think the biggest way to avoid the common instructor mistakes is to have confidence in yourself. Most of us have what it takes to facilitate the technical material to the students, yet not everyone i work with is confident in that ability.
If you ask the one who have trouble infront of a class to teach you the same thing they are trying to teach the class, the seem perfectly able to do so to a peer. It is just a confidence issue that needs to be overcome. The confidence to stand in front of a group of strangers that may not like you, but be able to teach them anyway.
Hi Rick,
That's right, I do not care how intelligent you are, you still do not know it all. Utilize your resources and find answers to unknown questions.
Patricia
Be aware of commonly made instructor mistakes. Monitor yourself on a daily basis to reflect on how you are doing. Always be ready to laugh! It reduces tension, shows others that is is okay to make a mistake, and makes for a more enjoyable class. You can still be professional, make mistakes, enjoy your workplace, and be productive when you approach each new day as a learning opportunity. Avoid concentrating so hard on being perfect that you can't enjoy what you are doing. This will only lead to more frustration, embarrassment, and mistakes. Breathe, be confident, be prepared, and be ready to laugh at least once per class period. I have been teaching for 32 years and still get the "new instructor jitters." Thank goodness! If I didn't, I fear I might get complacent in my approach to teaching.
I believe my some of my strengths are in not commmitting most of the common mistakes, but I am well aware that the one I need to most avoid is not being prepared for lecture or with materials for class, as the others I have conciously and unconciously been training for. I believe most instructors, including myself, should never underestimate the preparation one should take.
I teach primarily students preparing for healthcare fields. I definitely get asked questions that I do not know the answer to, and I tell them I will find out, or have them do some research to find the answer. Either way is fine, because even doctors consult their peers and texts at times. There is no way to know everything.
Hello Arlene.
Absolutely! I just finished teaching College Algebra. I had placed a problem up on the board with an error (accidental). WHen the student corrected my error I commended her for finding and correting where I had went wrong.
The other students seemed afraid to respond. Yet I gave the example that in the real world a superviosr may be incorrect but we must be willing to point at the error and approach to expalin why or where the error is.
Errors help to gain experience!
Hi Faith,
Try prewriting your thoughts so that full words can be utilized. Our students need to see proper writing as much as possible due to all the texting that is being done.
Patricia
I've always had a problem with wanting to be "liked" by my students and I also share a lot of stories from personal and professional experience that apply to lessons and make them more real. This can lead to students sensing a bond that does not really exist, so I am careful to maintain professional distance. However, with one student we have found so much in common being the same age, having kids, and other experiences that both of us feel a pull toward developing a friendship. However, it is also difficult as we have discussed because of the line we are afraid of crossing. (We are both married females by the way.) She completed the courses I teach but is still a student at the college. We would like to get together for lunch or dinner, but I am concerned about whether this would be ethical as an instructor. If this were a nurse/patient scenario as I have experienced previously, I see it as completely unprofessional and am uncertain as to why I'm considering this differently from a teacher perspective. I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions.
That is a good idea - I tend to get carried away with ideas and don't concentrate on writing - I took stenography in high school so my writing is not always full words. Thanks, Faith
Hi Faith,
You may want to try prewriting your notes so that you will have something to go from. As an instructor we should use basic writing skills to be an example for our students and not use text writing skills in the classroom.
Patricia
I have not spent much time at the chalk board, my instruction to date has been mostly as training presentations face-to-face with small groups. When I am standing up front at a white board, chalk board or need to use something to write on - I normally have a hard time concentrating on my spelling while presenting - like I am texting a message rather than spelling. I have to be up front with this so it hopefully is not too destracting to students. My thoughts are faster than my writing so it is easier for me to appoint someone else to write as I talk or record thoughts from the group for me. Now that students are texting - I wonder if my writing will be less annoying...
Hi Sandy,
Well said! As educators, we too are very far from perfect. Students would rather you own up to your mistake instead of trying to cover up your mistakes. Students have more respect for you whenever you have admitted your mistakes. Mistakes are bound to happen, confess, learn, and move on.
Patricia
Hi Doug,
I agree! I learned a lot about teaching in general, simply through trial and error.
I am not so sure that there is a way to avoid making mistakes. After all, that is how we learn. What is most important is realizing that a mistake was made and to own up to it--not try to cover it up. I use humor and my "human-ness" to acknowledge my error(s) and then model the correction. A common mistake is that some instructors believe they simply cannot be vulnerable and cannot be seen as anything less than an expert. As a result, they often make a mistake bigger by trying justify the wrong information that they originally shared. This NEVER works! First of all, the students see right through it and secondly, they begin to doubt your expertise. They turn away from listening, participating and learning to focusing on trying to catch you in another error.
The lesson to learn is to be human and be real in every single teaching moment. No one is perfect! If we were, there would be no need for educators.
Dr. sandy Gecewicz
Somtimes the best learning experience is through mistakes. It may more sesnse to see how not to do something first instead of just know this is right and everything else is wrong.
I let the students know that I am there to assist them and help them learn the material. I show respect to all students. In my 20 years of teaching I have made many errors, some during class. I just make a joke and laugh with the class. I let them know even instructors are human.
I have learned to have a good relationship with the students, that is honest and fair.
Hi Kim,
I always tell my new instructors, the students do not know you are a first timer unless you share that with them. Being a first timer is irrelevant to share with students...show them how knowledgeable, professional, caring, prepared, and organized you are. These characteristics exemplified will cause your students to respect you.
Patricia
I wish I had this module before teaching my first class. I made many of the common mistakes, I got lucky and had a class that didn't take advantage of that. One is admitting that I was very new to being an instructor. I do have many years experience in teaching one on one. I like the suggestion to advise on experience and leave out the part about being a first timer.
