Gary Meers, Ed.D.

-Hi Gloria, You have captured the essence of why we are teachers. Our “customers” are asking a “service” of us and that is to help them acquire the skills and expertise to enter into and succeed in their chosen career field. You are right about letting all of the “paperwork” interfere with our teaching sometimes. REFOCUS means just that. We need to take stock as to where we are and how we can move forward to improve out professional expertise. I try to implement a new strategy each phase I teach for two reasons, one it helps keep me fresh… >>>

Hi Gary, Your instructional style needs to include an attitude of helpfulness in relation to the basic knowledge that is required for your course. You mentioned that the biggest problem is that students don't have the basic knowledge required for success in your course. Granted you should not offer a total remediation course to get your students up to skill level, but you can offer basic information at the beginning of your course to assist them in assessing how much they know about the area. This form of instructional style will help you to develop rapport with your students and… >>>

Hi Jason, You are on the right track in developing your instructional style. In many cases instructors use their learning style as their instructional style resulting in confusion on the part of many students. By developing an instructional style that is a combination of your personality, good instruction, and modeling from previous instructors you will develop into an instructor of merit. I would suggest that you use or develop a course evaluation format that gives you the feedback you really want from your students. Many course evaluation forms are so general that they don't give more than a broad picture… >>>

Hi Joseph, You are on the right track for refining your teaching style. By looking to educators in you past you have opened up an opportunity to select best from them and to drop what was not effective instruction. This model puts you ahead in the refinement of your style. In using class feedback to help you in your professional development I would suggest using a system or method that really focuses in on what you want to learning about your teaching style. Many instructor evaluations are so general that they really don't give any feedback that is useable. I… >>>

Hi Thomas, When approaching the educational environment you need to place yourself in the role of the student and see the setting from their point of view. You are right that any kind of distraction can impede learning. The problem is that we often overlook the distractions that students notice. Then the little become big issues. A quick walk through prior to class is always a good idea to get a feel for the setting that day, even though you may have taught in that classroom or lab for many years. In addition this walk through allows you to straighten… >>>

Hi Steve, You have a clear picture of what it takes to be an instructor of merit. By continually keeping your finger on the pulse of your students you can catch many of the problems within the classroom before they really start to impact the learning community. By picking up on those students that are not asking questions you will be trying to find out what their needs are and how you can best address them. Teaching is much like a giant jigsaw puzzle. The only problem is just about the time you have the puzzle put together, the pieces… >>>

Hi Thomas, Sorry for the delay in getting back to you but I have been on extended travel the past two weeks and now back in my office and ready to communicate with students once again. Your response about instructional style is an excellent one. You are doing all of the right things to insure that you are meeting student needs. The points you make about individual student help, seeing yourself as a student, and learning from other instructors are all ways in which you can formulate a concrete instructional style for yourself. With your self improvement plan to keep… >>>