Jacqueline, good point about discussing student concerns with other instructors. Anytime the learning process can be a collaborative process within a grouping of faculty members, the students really benefit overall.
Regards,
James Jackson
One of the techniques that I have utilized is actually giving my students a survey as pertaining to questions such as
a) what did you enjoy most about the class that made you want to learn more?
b) as a student what is your vision of a great classroom?
c) what could the instructor improve upon to enable you to experience the learning process?
d) what was your dislikes about your learning in the classroom?
this questionnaire has been useful for me because it gives me feedback in a written form that would, I think, generally be vague if it was talked out. I can refer back to those surveys to really think about what I need to do to keep the engagement.
I have done a few videos of myself teaching which gives me an idea of my style and how the students are reacting to it. I think that this is a powerful tool to actually witness how you can change into a "guide" style of classroom management.
I would like to try to improve my management style by actually portraying the 4 different styles and seeing what the reactions will be. This "hands on" will give me a first hand look experience and deduce for myself what will work best (techniques) for my style.
At the beginning go over class rules and regulations. Team up with a teacher buddy to discuss prior student concerns and problems.
Virginia, there is nothing wrong with your students taking notes. The focus here is providing multiple paths to learning. I have taken time in the early part of a new group of students to discuss study habits and how to take good notes. For some the writing down of materials helps them to focus while for others taking notes is a distraction from the lesson. I would provide handouts but also recommend to those students that liked taking notes to put the information down in their own words. This is exceptionally helpful with students that struggle a bit with comprehension. If they struggle in class and need additional assistance, I ask them to bring in their notes so we can discuss what they were writing down and then provide tips on how to take better notes. Remember, provide multiple paths to learning and more of your students will be successful.
Regards,
James Jackson
Andrea, I really like your methodology. Seems like a solid process and one that will provide some great results. I would also include inviting others to observe your classroom and provide feedback. You can also record your classes and have trusted peer or supervisor review the session with you or review independently and provide you with feedback.
Regards,
James Jackson
Christopher, great post and thanks for sharing your experiences with having an observer in your classrooms. The real trick here is to find someone who will be honest and that you can give total trust. Having a friend provide an observation that will only tell you how great you are may not provide the feedback you need. I would always build relationships with those instructors that achieved the results I wanted and asked them to provide me with feedback.
Regards,
James Jackson
Lisa, sounds like you have a great game plan. You should consider creating a blog to share your experiences with other instructors. Writing about your classroom experiences can be of great value to you and to others. Of course you have to be very careful about privacy issues and student confidentiality but you can also provide a great deal of information and retain total anonymity for your school and your students. I would look forward to reading such a blog.
Regards,
James Jackson
Kathy, I record my classes from time to time and I have been teaching for over 15 years. You will always find something that you would like to improve. I have also recorded my classrooms when introducing new materials and it has provided me great insight as to what is working in the class and where I may need something more engaging. Watching student reactions on a recording is very different from monitoring your classroom during a teaching session.
Regards,
James Jackson
I have been an instructor for only two years and i like the idea of taping one of my classes. It would help me really see how i teach .
We do that with every new class and yes i think it does help.
I have my rules clearly stated and i give them out to all my student. I am makin more time for class communication to make them feel more involved.
I try to watch students reactions, are their eyes getting glazed over or looking all around. At that time I will bring in some type of visual, it can be an article or picture or other type of visual related to subject. Often I will do this every half hour of lecture. It only takes a few minutes and I find that when I get back to lecture, they are more forcused from just having those few minutes of relaxation. If a lecture is one that I know will be more difficult to keep attention, I may take those few minutes and read a few things from a trivia book. These improvements in classroom management has seemed to make class a little more enjoyable, a class they won't mind going to knowing ahead of time that they won't be taking notes the whole time.
Hi James,
Having been an instructor for a little over 2 years I am still fairly new at it and am constantly trying to improve classroom management. Some techniques I have used to improve my classroom management are: discussing situations that may arise with my mentor and seeing how she has handled similar situations in the past. Then I will apply or modify her suggestions to my particular situation. For example, a student in my skills lab became easily bored and "off task" as she had already performed many of the skills in a previous class. We felt she needed additional work to keep her challenged. So in a one-on-one session I 'checked off' her technique on a skill and then gave her the assignment of being a "team leader" and assisting other students in practicing the same skill. This kept her challenged and busy and "on-task" for the entire session.
Another thing I do after lecture: I will mentally review how each segment of class went and when I discover areas that could have run more smoothly I ask myself: "Is this because of how I presented the material?" and, "could I have presented the material in a way that was more engaging for the students?" Each class I teach is repeated every 4 months, so I will add the ideas to my lecture notes and try to incorporate different ways of presenting the material the next time. Then I re-evaluate it the same way again the next time.
I asked several peer instructors to sit on some of my classes and provide constructive feedback from both an instructor's and a student's perspective. This helped me understand a lot more about the adult students and their situations while trying to take the class. This also allowed me to get some great feedback on how to improve my management techniques in the classroom.
Recently I have focused on using the "I" language. I didn't realize I wasn't doing this until I discussed it with a co worker. I also make a point to say my students names, even if we're just passing in the halls.
I am going to pay special attention to preserving the dignity of each student when handling future disruptions. Fortunately this hasn't been necessary yet.
In an effort to be a guide, I am trying to involve my students in more discussions, and specifically ask their opinions about lecture content, study habits, or anything else that could help a tentative adult learner become involved.
Laurel, great post. Setting the stage day one of a new group of students is really key to a successful class. It is also a great resource for later then you can remind some of the students of what was covered on the first day. Really makes it easier to have them recall the rules when they may tend to "forget" from time to time.
Regards,
James Jackson
I remember the very first time that I started teaching, I wanted to be the students buddy man did they walked all over me. I change that approach right away. I now find that there are times when I need to be a little controlling , but being a guide is the best style to use. On the very first day of class instead of rushing through the syllabus and all the other things I need to pass on to the students I take the time to let the student know my expectations and to listen to theres. This helps the students to get to know me and I to know them.
While I try to be the guide, I often found myself shifting to the controller style for the more difficult or time-pressed lessons.
After viewing the presentation, I found that I do a lot of the things discussed but never framed them in the context of the lesson...good job on that!
To the question, I review the overall course critiques and ask each student to offer their thoughts through an anonymous critique of the lessons and the course. I also started asking if they had suggestions as a group (non-attribution). The result of these led me to force myself to slow down and practice patience. I've really starting involving the students much more in the discussions through active questioning followed by a pause. This creates more of a dialogue between the students and me. I also carefully explain the desired outcomes up front as I never realized that some did not understand that prior to the lesson.
In the end, by listening and trying to be more of a guide on the side, the lessons have been more successful and achieved their end state much better!
Peter, I really like your comment about the importance and the power of silence. I have used this technique as well and it is incredibly effective. A simple look and a little silence can be a very powerful tool within an instructor's bag of tricks.
Thanks for sharing.
James Jackson
I make a lot of lists, both for me and for the students. The list of objectives is number one, and that goes on the whiteboard and stays in front of me. But also, for myself, I have lists of reminders like "speak up," "give at break at ___" or "show video here." These things help me to get everything done that I need to do, and they help me to get back on track if I get distracted by a disruption.
The best thing I have done when I have students talking is just stop and stare at them for a second and then the get it and stop right away. I have had students apologize to me or the whole class at times, and sincerely mean it.
The improvements I could make would be to have the confidence and courage to always call someone out when they are sleeping, talking, or otherwise not paying attention. Sometimes I let it go and just think, "Well, it's their loss." But I see now that it becomes MY loss, my failure, if they miss things in lecture and don't do well because of it.
This was a really great, informative class!
