Being an Effective Instructor ?
I often ask myself what traits do you have that allow you to be successful at what you do. I am a Dead Poets-Drill Seargant style instructor. Now how does this either A help or B hinder the learning of my students. Very easy you have to know what style to use on what day and hour and even minute that the students are in your classroom. By combining the 2 styles I have become effective at what I do most students respond well but then again it is a subject that I LOVE wow that must be the key to why i can do it so well. I actually like what I teach and why I am teaching it and for the most part who I am teaching it to. As said in the course look in the mirror and ask yourself would i want this person teaching me about this subject. I have and my answer is yes. Now then you ask well what do my colleagues think about me i have found most respect my knowledge of the subjects that i teach so I now have their support and backup with the students. This is a big plus as you never know when you will need that friend to lend a hand but do the same for others. Enough of my rantings back to the lesson at hand.
I am the Drill sargent first Dead poet second instructor. First you must understand what it takes to do the job correctly. Second I am involved because the job is rewarding. When I can get the students to gather round and listen to why I do this and the experiances I had in the field that made it all worth while thenthe day is good.
Hi James:
Great! Possessing and expressing poassion in the classroom can be quite inspitring to the students. They'll pick up on your enthusiasm - it's contagious!
Regards, Barry
I am a mixture of socratic and learn by doing.
I use the prepared lesson plans and power points as a basis for my hands on instruction. Most of our students are learn by doing people so I get them into lab as much as possible. When they get stuck, I will answer their questions and then ask is this similar to anything you have done in past classes? This teaches them to use the knowledge they have and apply it to similar projects. I know I am successful because my students always report they learned a lot(ESI's)
and their self confidence takes a jump.
Hi James:
Good job!. Hands on training or applications reinforces the theorical aspects of proficiencies and contributes to competency - as you have experienced.
Regards, Barry
After reading through this course , I find I am using both Zen-Style and Learn by Doing. As a Game Production instructor dealing mostly with the artistic design for characters, environment and so on, I see myself 80% Learn by Doing and 20% Zen-Style.
I have seen students with no drawing capabilities actually finish the class thanking me for helping them even get a basic grasp of some structured drawing skills. (Games are very visual productions).
I lecture, followed by exercises based on what we just talked about. Then over the 10 weeks each new skill culminates to a final project which covers all aspects we had already done.
Hi Leslie:
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing (I liked learning that games and drawing are related).
Regards, Barry
