Learning from the Best
When you were in school, who was your best teacher? What did they do that made it easy for you to learn?
My best teacher was Mr. V my high school psychology and philosophy teacher. He made the course material so interesting by relating it to real world experiences that you wouldn't find in the text. He also walked around class and interacted with each student individually as often as he could. He made us feel like we were a family rather than talking at us like most of my other teachers.
Beth, once I started teaching, I sat down and write a letter to one of my best teachers to thank her. She was surprised and grateful. Maybe Mr V would appreciate a note of thanks too.
Michele Deck
My best teachers were always the teachers that had a hands-on approach. They would involve the students, have concrete models, allow the students to interact with each other, move around the room, get involved in the learning process. There is nothing more unmotivating than listening to a dry lecture and trying to absorb the data.
Laurel, I agree that dry lectures make learning less successful for most learners. Variety and interactivity is more successful.
Michele Deck
The teacher that I learned the most from was an Anatomy teacher in college. She taught all different ways, incorporating different techniques such as slides, mneumonics, questions about material covered in class and "homework" assignments. Also, when she was going over some of the material by drawing on a white board, she would use different colors for different items and explain how they would be associated with the items.
Michelle, what an inspiration your teacher must have been. She gave you a great example of good teaching.
Michele Deck
One of my most memorable learning expereinces was just a few years ago, at a CE course I took for dental radiographers recertification. The instructor categorized every topic into stations for various hands on activities, and color coded the written handouts to match the station (which had a matching color indicator near the area) The course, which is sometimes known to be a bit dry in content was actually helpful and rivoting. Students moved easily through the clinic. I learned some much at that course, and had heard the content many many times.
Lisa, I hope this instructors example to you will inspire you to use stations yourself.
Michele Deck
I like this idea of color coded stations and would like to give it a try on some of my hands on IV labs.
Virginia , I'm sure teaching in the lab offers you many opportunities to use some new ideas.
Michele Deck
My dental hygiene insructor never gave up on me and would tell the whys because I now know I am jabber.
Believe it or not, learning happens for me when instructors have 2 traits: humor and a non-personal agenda. Faculty who bring personal issues into the classroom (themselves mentally distracted) might as well pack up and go home. Just as students have a responsibility to show up in "student mode", so do the faculty. Does this make sense?
Gayle, it makes perfect sense to me. Many instructors do not realize that "pushing the automatic play button" when they teach in class is ineffective. Learners know when we are mentally disconnected.
Michele Deck
I loved teachers with a good sense of humor. Tell me something funny about a fact and I would not forget it.
Also love organization. Hate it when a teacher stammers and doesn't know what they are talking about.
For me it was the teachers who you could tell were passionate about what they were teaching. Seeing someone in the know who is truly vested in the material they are teaching makes me want to learn from them. If the teacher doesn't even care for the material, why should the student?...
Shirley, it is easy to tell when a teacher does not know the content. Humor is a great tool for a teacher's skill list.
Michele Deck
Gordon, I agree that passion for a topic is infectious. If there is some topic I do not love, I try to find a way to teach it that I do love. It helps to balance out content in a long class session.
Michele Deck
My favorite was my Anatomy and Physiology teacher. He taught us a very simple way to remember the 12 cranial nerves in the right order. It's an acronym of which I still use in my classroom up to this day.
This is a no-brainer question..... Hands down it was my Entomology Instructor in college.... Dr. Gibson. He was awesome. No one ever missed his classes because he was such a hoot to listen to... you couldn't take notes because you would miss something! But you didn't have to take notes because you learned from his lectures! He was very animated, passionate, and always had live or preserved specimens that you could hold and study to cement the lecture in your mind. He also was an avid believer in field trips... take the learning outside, afterall that's where the bugs were!
