Professional Development
Courses & Resources
Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

About me

I am an Education Advisor/Consultant for MaxKnowledge. I write courses that assist in the professional development of career college instructors. These courses range in content from the introductory level to advanced instructional development. I started my teaching career as an instructional technology teacher on the high school level, completed graduate school and then moved into higher education. I spent many years in the area of teacher training at the University of Nebraska. While at the University of Nebraska I stared working with career college instructors to improve their instructional delivery skills. As a result of these experiences I have been a consultant to career colleges throughout the United States and a number of foreign countries.

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Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Discussion Comment
REFOCUS...
Hi Matthew, Everyone likes some type of new or innovative introduction of information. Your use of a “gee wiz” item at the end of the course is a good idea. How do you develop your “gee wiz” items? What are some components that you look for to make sure the topic is a “gee wiz” one? Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Discussion Comment
Becoming aware of retention strategies...
Hi Arlene, Good idea. Any feedback instructors can receive helps them to be better instructors if they take the evaluations as being an opportunity for growth. Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Discussion Comment
Learning Environment

Hi Melissa, The key to having both control and excitement is respect. If you present yourself as an organized and dedicated instructor that cares about students you will have both. The control comes with how you start and structure the class. This way the students know what is expected of them. The excitement comes with the activities, games, lectures, etc. that you prepare for your students. They know they will have a paced, organized class waiting for them that is informative, relevant, and engaging. By having this form of instructional preparation teaching then becomes much easier. Gary Hope this answers… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Discussion Comment
Motivation techniques...
Hi Carmen, You are doing a great job of redirecting a situation that could be difficult for the student into one that has a positive. Anytime we can learn from out mistakes without hurting anyone it is a success. I would bet the students will think long and hard before they create a color combination that creates pink hair again, unless of course that is what the customer wants. Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Discussion Comment
Motivation techniques...

Hi Sarah, Everyone likes to be praised for what they are doing. A class exercise you might want to try, that my students really enjoy is the following. Divide the class up into groups of approx. 4-5 students. Have two students deliver 1-2 minutes speeches on some topic within your area. I have a rubber tub up in the front of the class and each group can select items from the tub to create a reward for the students. In the tub I have pop cans, construction paper, gold stars, ribbons, felt markers, etc. Each group has to come up… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Discussion Comment
REFOCUS...
Hi Sarah, When you start teaching on “autopilot” you have lost your edge in terms of professional development. Your point is well made. I have found that through REFOCUS methods I develop additional energy needed to teach courses I have taught many times over the years. I don't want to become bored with the classes nor their content. Each time I teach the courses I look for different ways I can offer the materials, group the students, etc. Do you have any examples of what you do when you practice the REFOCUS method? Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Discussion Comment
Instructional Style
Hi Carol, You shared a number of excellent strategies for professional improvement. I commend you for your efforts. By being willing to learn, observe, and change you are continually improving your instruction as well as your results. I know your students benefit from willingness to grow as a professional educator. Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Discussion Comment
Setting Expectations

Hi Carol, Great job on making clear the expectations of your course. This way there can be no misunderstanding on the part of the students, even though as you know there will still be misunderstandings of one form or another. It seems some students never listen and then claim they were never told. This is one of the joys of being an instructor. The use of the wall chart and the visual display helps as well. Great idea. It seems that students need to be reminded numerous times about what the course requirements really are. You are using several ways… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Discussion Comment
Becoming aware of retention strategies...
Hi Sarah, Good idea about how to keep your students engaged in the evaluation process. As educators we need to strive to improve and any feedback we can get to assist us should be appreciated. Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Discussion Comment
Becoming aware of retention strategies...

Hi Kim, Something else you might want to try in terms of instructional improvement is to have your students comment on the various assignments and activities that you present throughout the course. I use 3x5 cards and have the students write anonymous comments about the assignment or activity we just completed. This is really helpful to me when I introduce a new assignment or activity that I'm not sure about since I have never used it before. Two things occur by using this, it allows you to make changes and/or corrections immediately and it serves to validate that what you… >>>

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