Personal Story Sharing
I really liked the idea of this module focusing on personal story sharing as a supplement to instruction. I feel I share a lot of personal stories with my students (I teach career development and customer service) and that I am able to make points while keeping my students interest better when I share something personal. I do find that I sometimes adjust personal stories to make my my points rather than being entirely truthful. However, they better fit the learning objectives after my subtle tweaking.
Hi Cambria,
Good point about the use of personal stories. Students like to hear about situations or examples because they help the students to see application and relevancy to what they are studying.
Gary
I've realize this as well.
I love it when students want to share - it teaches us all.
Hi Maureen,
When this happens it is fun to be an instructor isn't it? This is when learning is happening all over the classroom and for the most part it is self directed.
Gary
I find that sharing personal stories have been an essential tool of teaching for me. Not only does it helps illustrate concepts for the students but it also provides them with insight about me and makes me more relatable to them.
I have seen this as well. When students are able to share all of us learn
Yes,personal story sharing/telling is a good supplement to instruction.I like the "how i did it" stories-practical yet effective as they convey to the students that which is relatable!
I like bringing life experience to class for two reasons, one it will get the students to relate with what the instructor is covering material wise and it may leave room for the students to share a similar experience.
this is key in my class, I always like to share experiences of my carreer with my students as well as they like to share with me theirs. I feel we can learn a lot from each other and its exciting to see how they respond to the stories.
It is known that the narrative far exceeds any remote recall of content. Using stories to deliver content is great strategy.
I use this all the time. I tell my students that I flunked out of three colleges because of my immaturity and bad attitude...now I stand in front of them as a college instructor. The story of my own failure helps put them at ease with any accademic failures they may have faced in the past.
Terry,
Congratulations on overcoming "youth" and now being an instructor that can help others. This is a good example, as you say for your students.
Gary
I also use story telling from my professional background in order to show how the material ties into the workplace outside of school. I find that students tend to get frustrated and bored with
Gen Ed classes easily, and hearing the usefulness of the material in everyday life helps make it seem more palatable.
Kathleen,
It is important to help students to see both the relevancy and application of the content you are offering even when it is not directly in their field. Gen ed classes are there to build a base to help them have successful careers through effective communication, math applications and critical thinking. The more they can understand this the greater their connection to the course will be.
Gary
I agree sharing our personal experience and allowing students to share their personal experience really gets some points across.
I like a personal story that is related to real work situations in the career path of the student.
John,
Students like to hear these stories as they help to make the content that is being taught become real for them. They start to see the value associated with what they are being asked to learn.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
