How do you keep a student engaged in the class ?
Instructor must be able to multi task and identify the different kind of learner in the classroom.
I feel that multi-tasking and identifying the differences in learners is important, but my approach is by randomly calling upon a student to either assist me with a task, or simply having them answer questions out loud while we are studying for a review. When students "don't know" when they will be called on next, this keeps them on thier toes, because you can never anticipate when I'll call on you.
Do you receive training to identify different kinds of learners? Do you know of any online resources that could help other instructors?
When you observe how a student best retains information, use it to your advantage. There will be different method with each student, but if you can bring a few together and use them effectively, you not only help them retain the lessions, but you also help those who do not have any idea at all of how to study learn a new method. Plus mixing up the ideas also keeps them interesed. I have also had different students help the student that needs help. Helps them to retain what they have learned and makes them feel good. Also teaches teamwork.
Does your school have training to use different learning modalities and/or the effective use of peers in the classroom?
I strongly beleive that you don't need to spend so much energy and time trying to figure out what learning style your students adapt to, but instead incorporate all the learning styles into your lessons. I bet that you will be able to get all of your students involved that way and they can even all start teaching each other, that makes our jobs alot easier.
Communication ... regular, communication. This is begins through many souces such as feedback on assignments and prompt email replies.
The best way to keep students engaged is to get them involved in class discussion/participation. By asking open ended questions to the students, individually, while teaching or presenting the materials, instructors give students an opportunity to showcase their skills, potentials, and talents. This is also used to booster their self-confident, taking ownership of their work, research, and findings.
I agree with you whole heartedly and you really hit the nail on the head when you stated that you should keep the classes interesting. You’ll find that this changes from class to class. You must be able to analyze a class in the first week or two in order to initiate the best method of approach for that class.
Michael, could you share some examples of the ways a class differs from others and how you adjust your presentation to accommodate these differences?
I absolutely agree with Ernie, on the second day of class we do a learning assesment and have the students identify what they are. After I am aware of what kind of class I'm dealing with I tailor the delivery of the lesson plan to fit that class.
Brian, how do you classify classes and how do you tailor your delivery?
I only have one class, but I can vary it by making it technical, telling stories from the field to help convey the material, drawing diagrams on the dry board, or passing around actual parts for hands on people. I will use which ever suits the class the best.
I teach a hands on class. I watch my students during lectures and demos and ask them many questions to keep them involved. During their production, I walk the room continuously to see if they have questions and to make sure they understand the lesson. I speek to each one of them individually. I myself am very excited about the subject that I teach and I have noticed that it can be contagous.
By identifying differnt types of learners, you need to keep the students focused on what it is they like to do. Multi-tasking is definitely a role when dealing with students, and being very flexible and understanding. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and the student will look up to the instructor no matter what their background is.
I often like to provide social networking sites to keep the students intrigued as to what is going on in the school and with other classmates
How does this work? Are the communications with you or posted to a more public setting? Have you had any trouble with students using these sites to bash the school or specific people at the school?
First day of class assessment is crucial to success. Like in a speech class, you must teach students how to perform an audience analysis. Teacher's must learn who their students are/ level of their students. Find this out by giving a quick assessment related to your subject. This will tell you how to approach the learning environment.
Dorothy, are you suggesting something like a pre-test to establish personal and aggregated base levels of subject knowledge?
Yes, a pre test will give you immediate feedback as to the levels of students in your class.
