Soft skill + Classroom attitude
A great class is a motivated Instructor and an Interested class.
John,
True. How do we get both? Or are we just lucky when that happens?
Philip Campbell
If the instructor is very motivated happy to come to work enjoy is teaching the rest will follow.
I agree,if the instructor likes what he or she is teaching,and has a passion for the subject,it seems easy to get the class motivated also.On the other hand if the instructor is not happy about what they do, the class will see this also.
with today's students, sometimes, being pasionate about your work, is not enough. Engaging them by being totally involved in the slassroom, whether it is listening, being open minded, friendly, positive, helpful is almost a requirement...
Marilyn,
All of these are important qualities. Thanks for sharing.
Philip Campbell
It has something to do with process versus content.
Content is static, factual, linear and described in terms of content objectives and competencies. In technical courses, content is pretty cut and dried. Process is the procedures used to convey content to students in an efficient pedagogical manner. It is in this latter case that soft-skills are critical to success. A problem in many classes is that the instructor has mastered content, but has not achieved similar mastery in terms of process. A happy class, a successful class is generally guided by an instructor who has mastered both content and process, one who has both a developed EQ and IQ.
You do need a great motivated instuctor, but you may not always have an interested class. It takes soft skills with the great motivation to get all students intested.
Joyce,
This is true. Let's face it. Some classes are not the easiest to teach. It is the instructor that makes the class great.
Philip Campbell
I have noticed over the years of teaching, that when I in a good mood and things are going well I have great response from my students. I know that if my lesson plan and attitude are both in place I’ll have a great class. I also realize that as an instructor my responsibility is to touch each student and make each day in my class a great one for them.
Many people had mentioned that if the instructor loves what they do and have a positive attitude, then the rest will follow. I am inclined to agree with this. When an instructor is happy doing thier job, it shows to the class and they will respond to it. We had an instructor that was not happy in their job and although they never verbally expressed this to the class, it showed in every thing that they did. The class was not fooled for one minute.
This is true, and a truly motivating instructor can keep students interested.
Sometimes a motivated instructor is not enough if the students do not initially find the class interesting. I teach a sociology class a school designed for medical professionals. This presents a challenge at the beginning of each term to encourage the students to think in a social science manner rather than a hard science manner. I can accomplish this by making sure I bring in examples from real life that relate to the discussion topic AND relates to the topics they're interested in with their main course of study.
