The following are things I found useful in this week’s reading:
- Do not teach to disruptive students. I often focus in on the one student that is not paying attention in my class. It takes a lot of energy to try to engage the student who doesn’t care to be involved in the class. This energy is then taken away from the students that are actively participating. I found this idea useful because it will help me prioritize my energy and efforts. I need to teach to those that want to learn and understand that I can’t reach every student all of the time.
- It is important to focus one or two major goals for each session. Daily goals allow an instructor is to put lessons into perspective and keep them on task. It can also give students a way to gauge their understanding of the content. I found this useful because it will help ensure students are gaining the proper information from a lesson. I often find myself reflecting on what my students have learned after class is finished. By setting a goal, the students and I can have a shared understanding of what needs to be accomplished in a given session.
- The section on lesson formats gave me a different perspective on how to plan my classes. I often have discussion questions or activities to gauge how well students understand the material. I also feel it breaks up the monotony during days with heavy lecture. The text suggested varying formats, not only to keep things lively, but to accommodate different learning styles and get students accustomed to learning in different ways. I found this information useful because it provides me with a different outlook on activities and discussion. Using various formats not only teaches students the material, but it also trains them in visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning.
Many things that were useful in this week’s readings can be implemented into my field. For example:
- Disruptive students are a part of many classes. They are not always obnoxious or loud, as the book stated, but they can be distant and unwilling to engage in learning. This practice will help me give my full attention to those who want to learn. By not focusing on teaching a disruptive student, I can give those who are engaged all of my energy. As the text suggested, most of the class is aware of disruptive students. Hopefully many of them can ignore those not willing to participate if I refuse to give them all of my attention.
- In planning the week’s lesson, I can start with one or two goals I wish to accomplish in each session. I can use the goals to guide my lesson plans, rather than reflecting on what the students learned when the class is dismissed. I can also announce the goals to the students when class begins to help them understand my intention with the lesson. This practice will help me stay on task and ensure I am providing students with the most relevant information. It will also give students an idea of what the purpose of the content is.
- When planning lessons, I can implement daily activities and discussion to ensure I am reaching visual and kinesthetic learners. Discussion questions and activities should be well thought out to encompass the material that auditory learners gained from my lecture. Planning various lesson formats, that correlate with my daily lecture, will help me to engage students will all learning styles.
The following are techniques, theories, or suggestions that I want to incorporate in my own teaching:
- Start the lesson by going over bureaucratic details. I frequently make announcements at the beginning of class, but I don’t often ask for questions about reading or assignments until class is nearly over. The text mentioned that students are often getting materials packed up and wanting to leave at the end of a session. This may often result in questions not being asked or concerns going unsaid. I want to begin class by going over questions or concerns that students have. It may even be something I can incorporate into my lecture or spend more time on in the future.
- Making sure class starts on time is important. Occasionally, I have some students coming into my class late. I usually feel that I need to update them on what they have missed or wait until they arrive. I want to incorporate this because it is important to utilize all of the allotted time for the class. If I give the impression that being late is acceptable, it will be unfair to those students that arrive on time. It is not only a poor message to wait for a late student, but it takes away from time that others could be learning.
- Inviting a public speaker to my class is something that I have been thinking about for some time. Since I instruct a course on public speaking, it seems relevant to invite a prominent speaker in the community that could share their expertise with my students. I plan to follow the steps the text provided so I can incorporate a guest effectively, not only for the students but for the speaker as well. It is important to have students write questions ahead of time to ensure that they are prepared and participating.
Additional Resources
Find your learning style
Many of you may already know your preferred learning style, but this is interesting when thinking of learning from a teacher’s perspective.
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