About me
Louis Eguaras
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Thanks Chef! I think with the Navy careers we both experienced we were able to work hard and play hard at the same time with a smile! I was fortunate enough to have worked with Master Chiefs that had great sense of humors, cracked a whip on me when needed and showed me how to work hard and be serious.
~Louis
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My biggest challenge when I teach a new class 'Conversational Spanish' is to keep the Spanish speakers engaged. I found that by giving them team building roles and leadership roles in the classroom, they are able to focus on non-spanish speakers that do need help.
Since I speak a little Italian, I also teach the Spanish speakers some Italian as it is very close to Spanish and they can relate.
~Louis
Discussion Comment
In my Conversational Spanish class for culinary arts students, I take the Spanish speakers and have them lead a group of non-Spanish speakers and go through exercises on the workbook. I often will switch out the 'leads' so that students can listen to different accents of Spanish speakers in the classroom. We discuss words and phrases that you will hear in the kitchen (minus the cursing and bad words of course). Students find it informative and fun when I do exercises like this because it also helps them with their Spanish plus get to know the people in their group.… >>>
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I always like to keep on moving in class as I lecture when not using a PowerPoint presentation. The students keep their eyes on me and their attention as well. In the beginning of class, I give all students the ability (using a rubber spider, which is passed along), to call on another student for discussions by engaging that student into the discussion and this helps with the flow as well. So constant movement in the classroom is necessary as many feel that 'academics' is a place where they can fall asleep and relax outside of the lab environment.
~Louis
Discussion Comment
For quizzes and finals, I go over this the very first thing during the day... A) It becomes a refresher and B) It make be asked again in the final so they should get the idea or concept. The students like the feedback because they feel that they know what they need to student more next and what to concentrate on for the next quiz.
~Louis
Discussion Comment
On the first day of class, I have about 5 questions on the board to gauge where the students are coming from regarding the subject matter. Usually I will get a sense what the class knows or does not know. What other methods of pretests would you suggest?
~Louis
Discussion Comment
My instructional style, many who teach with me know this, is presented with a sense of humor but at the same time, make you think? I like to engage my students and ask questions that will make them laugh first then think at the same time. Laughter produces the blood to move faster through the brain and wakes people up and I then engage them with insightful questions. I find that students are receptive to this and therefor do not find my class boring. ;-)
~Louis
Discussion Comment
When I make a mistake, I point it out and make it a learning moment... whether it is making hollandaise or beurre blanc, I always say "Okay, this is how "NOT TO" make the sauce!" Usually I will get some laughter but then I go into what made the sauce break or why the heat was too hot, etc. What you need to do is show that you must understand how to fix the problem and not give up. I make that the learning outcome. How to fix the problem is what we are trying to teach the students as… >>>
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When students come in with attitudes, I address this right away by having a general discussion without pointing fingers. As instructors, we have developed a keen sense of hearing and can pretty much gauge the mood in the classroom. I start the discussion and offer up any suggestions of why the attitude and explain why they feel the way they feel. Usually the attitude stems from plain laziness or lack of understanding of the subject matter. For instance, a research paper is due and many students do not like writing papers so of course they will be disgruntled and complain.… >>>
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When I see a student struggling with attendance or having "life" challenges, I bring up the "80%" rule. Many have different variations of the "80%" rule. To me, success is 80% showing up - whether it is at work, classroom, etc. and the other 20% is a combination of hard work, attitude and luck. We all have bad days but by showing up, you say that you are not a quitter... by showing up, you are stating that you are ready to handle whatever challenges face you. I go into this during the first day of class as it will… >>>
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