Discussion Comment

I think teaching is a bit like acting. It's really important to have confidence in the classroom and sometimes you have to "fake it until you make it." I think it helps to think of it in terms of putting on a persona. Who are you when you teach? Ask yourself "Who do I want to be when I teach" and then be that.

Stephanie Roth

Discussion Comment

You can't overemphasize this!

This is such a critical piece of the successful running of a course. You can assume students know what to expect, especially if they've been at the school for awhile, or you teach more than one class and you've had those students before. But I find it is always better to take the time at the beginning of every class to set clear expectations, go over the syllabus and school policies, and establish clear boundaries. And, it's always better to be a little harder/stricter at the beginning because you can ease up later as opposed to being soft at the… >>>

Stephanie Roth

Discussion Comment

Handouts are great!

I work at a massage therapy school and there are not always a lot of books available to choose from as potential texts considering some of our course content can be a little esoteric. We often use handouts (from trade magazines, websites, etc) to supplement our teaching. In fact, some of our courses are built around handouts, manuals, and charts and don't even have a required text. Handouts are an important addition to our courseware!

Stephanie Roth

Discussion Comment

Audit if you can!

I work at a massage therapy school and their policy is to audit the class they want you to teach before you teach it. (They try to have several instructors in reserve who can all teach the same class in case someone gets sick or if multiples of the same class are being offered.) I think this is such a helpful tool.