Comment on Natasha Ramirez's post:
Natasha,
I am struggling with the same issue. The very thought of "what ifs" are one of my major barriers that I am purposefully practicing to avoid.
Don't be a buddy to my students, and be organized!
expecting you out of people isnt reality giving them the tools to be better is my job.
Comment on pete mata's post: Remembering names is critical, you can call them out when trouble happens is very powerful.
As I am my own worst critic I am aware that planning and preparing are two key components for me. I had the opportunity to teach my first clinicals yesterday and it was quite interesting and left me feeling okay about my ability to do this. I may not have taught before however I am really good at asking questions if I am unsure about something, and I found that if I talked to my students as adults it worked out better. They are after all adults and more importantly they for the most part are already working in the medical field to some degree or another.
Always come prepared, organized, and confident that you know what your are doing. It is okay that a professor makes a mistake. Own it.
Unexpected things happen, learn how to approach each one.
Make sure you stay in teacher/instructor mode is important so students do not think they are your friend and that lines can be crossed. It is important to stay professional and not to cross professional lines.
Looking back after teaching my very first semester I did make a lot of mistakes, yet I have learned a lot after taking notes and learning how to be better organized. I just finished my first lecture of my second semester lecture and it went so much better and I received positive feedback by overpreparing and making a list of all of the objectives I needed to cover.
Being over prepared can help alleviate not having enough material. Come to class organized and ready to teach. Be professional in both appearance and delivery of lessons and assignments.
I am getting to teach my first class in a couple weeks and Ill be sure to avoid some of the mistakes that firs time instructors make. I will not let the students know that this is my first class until the end of the course so they can give me proper feedback. My course has feedback sheets for every lesson and I plan on teach a few lessons for the 3 week class so ill be able to apply that feedback and change how i teach for the next class in March.
Learning to become an instructor that cares for the students and their success.
I have to admit as an instructor I do worry about things that actually never happen. I think I tend to give too much information at one time and need to decrease the scoops of information I serve at one time.
This module has helped me take a better look at how my students may view me. It also reminded me that it's ok to learn from my mistakes and move forward to be a better teacher. In the same way, I need to create an environment in which students know it's ok to take risks and make mistakes.
I remember my first year in college I took a Chemistry class. The professor started by asking us to look around. By the withdrawal date half of the class would not be there. Those that finish the class, half would fail. He was correct, but what a way to start a class. I would never start that way.
It cant be stressed enough, overpreparing. That first 50 minute lecture you have planned will go by in 15 minutes.
Being prepared for your class is very important- not only for you as an instructor but also the students.
Be humble and laugh it off. Then, learn from it.
Be willing to make mistakes.
There is no such thing as a perfect instructor. A strategy for avoiding repeating some of the above mistakes is to make notes about how a lecture, demonstration, or activity worked for you. With the pressure of preparing for the next class and student demands it is easy to forget how the class went. Make a few notes in the margin of your lesson-planning notebook.
Take notes of your lectures, avoid repeating same mistakes.
