Teach what they really need to know
I find that many of the students in my class (intro to computers) grow bored very quickly if I follow the book verbatim. To alleviate this issue we discuss how and why this is done rather than 'this is what you do" Your thoughts?
Teresa, what have you been doing to keep up to date with what's going on in the field?
I have been a medical assistant instructor for five years and I find that incorporating my life experiences as a health care provider helps the students understand my lectures better. I also give them different projects that always pertain to what they are learning to keep them engaged in my class.
Our students spend about 80% of their class time in the lab so their lab grade is the majority of their grade. Our text based assessments end up being lab assessments in a round about kind of way. I try to use the lab more to emphasize the importance of the text and not the other way around. Most of my students are more of the hands on type so it works out better for them in the long run. I use the lab to try to get them more interested in the text rather than making it something they have to do for a grade. I hope I understood your question correctly.
Rick, sounds like you've find a very functional way to lead students to the text. Do you have text based assessments as well as lab based?
I teach a mostly hands on trade(welding). A persone can't really learn how to weld out of a text book. However, there is information in those texts that my students need to know regardless. I relate the text to the lab and sprinkle in some personal experience to keep them interested. That emphasizes the "why this is done" at the same time as the "this is what you do."
Good point, Janet. Students are eager to learn about what to expect on the job. Tales of the trail are an important part of the learning experience if not done to excess.
I teach from the book but I also share my experiences as a dental assistant....
I notice my students tend to react to my experiences as a dental assistant. They perk up when I am dicussing my good and bad experiences in the dental office. Students want to know what to expect when they finish their classroom training.
Stephanie, how do you simulate annoying customers and schedule problems?
Loren Kroh
Daniel, how do balance sharing your journey without making it seem likes "tales of the trail"?
Loren Kroh
I agree. I run my classroom just like a realworld salon. I want my students to have the experience of what it is like while still in the classroom. That way when they are ready to leave me and the classroom they will know exactly what is expected of them by the employer.
I try to let the student know what it's really like in the real world of the proffession they are choosing.I try to get them to have realistic expectations.I let them know how important it is to build a firm foundation and how the school can and will help them to do just that.Moreover, I try to share my own journey as I moved up in my chosen field.
I also like to incorporate personal experience & how it relates to what I am teaching. Any experience good or bad, will get the students attention. It is a good teaching tool
That comment must have made you feel good, Joyce. Teaching is an art that must be practiced.
Loren Kroh
I teach what is outlined in the course syllabus. It is really the delivery of the subject being taught. You have to teach using real world situations and hands on to make the subject interesting. help the students understand the importance of the subject being taught. I had a student tell me as they were turning in a test thanks for actually teaching instead of just having us to read from a book.
Joyce Brown
victoria, do you have any suggestions - things that you've had success introducing into your class?
I think that if you want to add a little bit of change to your class you should deffinatly try new things for the class, even games as a discussion, or field trips.
the history is taught in the beginning class and the philosophy is taught daily because without understanding the reasons that you are massaging muscles, Action of the muscles must be understood to improve the action of the muscles.
joel, how frequently is the history and philosophy of why and what you teach reviewed?
As a chef instructor there is history and philosophy as to why we teach what we teach and then there is how the students must understand how to apply that to the real world through real world lecture and demo.
