I find students become more interested as I give feel life examples of things I experience as it relates to the subject at hand.
Peaches,
Students love to hear stories from their instructors about the field. These stories help to make the content real and gives it value.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
As a Dental Hygienist with experience in the dental field; this is my first semester to teach. I plan on transitioning my clinical experience into a positive teaching environment. I hope to bring my enthusiasm and passion of dentistry into the dental clinic to help excite and motivate my students to have the same love for not only the dental aspects of the field but to also have a compassionate heart,a positive attitude,and a professional demeanor towards each patient they come in contact with. I hope to help each student set a personal goal to expand their knowledge on topics and ongoing technology changes in our field.
Over the years I have utilized the same practices to educate and motivate each patient in my chair. I hope to use these same methods to motivate and excite each student to want to come into the clinic and learn new techniques and topics daily.
I believe that when you enter the classroom you must be prepared to be what you teach. It is critical that you are excited and ready to motivate the students about the subject and how it will relate to what they will be doing with it in the future.
Lisa Johnstone
Amanda,
From the description of how you have worked with your patients I am sure you are going to be able to transition your passion and enthusiasm to your students. Welcome to teaching and I wish you much success!
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Lisa,
I agree. Our passion for our field and our enthusiasm for teaching spreads throughout the class. If we do not have both then a feeling of dis-interest will spread throughout the class as well. Excitement is catching, think flash mob for learning!
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I definitely believe that bringing back the graduates that are now employed in their field of study makes a great impact on the new student's employment outlook. I have the graduate speak about their experiences and it has become a welcomed addition to the lecture.
I like to invite new students into the clinic to complete clinical observations. This allows the new students to see what will be required of them in the months to come and it gets them very excited about the profession.
Stacy,
I think this is such a motivator for students. They get to see the value of the content they are being taught and how it will be applied to their careers.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Joslyn,
I think this is a very good idea because they get to see their futures in that setting. This should motivate them to get their work done and courses completed so they can get to clinic and start sharing their expertise.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Choosing to teach subjects that I am passionate and interested in will help motivate my students.Showing life expamles of what is being taught will help the students to be excited.
Mariesol,
Having passion for your field is such an important part of successful teaching. The other is enthusiasm for sharing your content. Combine the two and you have a winner for everyone.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
A few things that I do to help motivate the students are: give a few statistics about the course. For example, the starting rate of pay in the field that I am teaching. Lately, we've been adding critical thinking issues pertaining to the chapter we're discussing. Since I teach in the medical profession, I've brought in video's on youtube. I also ask the students to design powerpoints which I find has motivated them also.
Carrie,
I think this type of information is very important for students to have because so many of them select a field and do not know the realities associated with it such as starting pay, hours or even the context of the work they will be doing. The more you can share this right up front the more they will understand why they are being taught what they are and how they can be successful in the field if they will put forth the effort.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Enthusiasm and passion is so very important in the learning process. Every class should be a new journey down the learning road! Demonstrating relevance of subject matter helps keep interest. Also, challenging students to be prepared for discussion allows them to formulate their own questions and feel more empowered about their education.
Margaret,
You used my favorite words when it comes to teaching. If we have passion about our field and are enthusiastic about teaching it while showing the relevance of why they are learning it you have a winning formula for success.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I also agree that passion and excitement helps motivate students. I think getting them excited about reaching their goals and continued encouragement also can be motivating.
Joyce,
So true and so important. We need to bring both the classroom each time we teach. To do less is to short change our students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Illustrate real life examples from your professional experience to engage your students and demonstrate the use of the class room material
Mary,
Students love examples and stories from the field. They help make the content come alive and relevant.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
