Unfortunately, I had to miss the Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium and Stephen Dubner (really looking forward to learning what you all learned last Saturday) but as a result, had the opportunity to attend a Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence seminar on teaching by Deena Levy and Chas Brua and gain ten tips for teaching excellence.
I was pleasantly surprised by the overlap between their material and our current course syllabus from tips on building rapport, establishing strong links between objectives, lesson material, and evaluations, being an active teacher and staying organized.Here are three big takeaways I plan to use moving forward and I think would benefit all of you.
1. Learning is a process that takes us from unconscious competence (novices) to unconscious competence (supreme experts). Right now, we likely fall in the middle (AKA the sweet spot) in the conscious incompetence (we know what we don't know) or the conscious competence (we remember what it was like to learn the material but we know the material). We are on the brink of becoming experts in our fields and yet just on the other side of remembering how hard it was to get here. As a result, we can guide teaching like supreme experts generally cannot.
2. Building rapport and creating a positive classroom atmosphere can make all the difference in the world to you as a teacher and to your students. This means smiling, learning students' names, allowing for spontaneity, being conversational, breaking up presentations, being positive, using clear communication, and creating a sense that you and the students' are a team. Learning is a never-ending journey and you as the teacher will continue to learn.3. On that note, acknowledge that it is ok if you don't know something, and you can still teach something you don't actually know. Be honest with yourself in both your teaching and your learning.
I'm looking forward to applying the ten tips Deena and Chas provided and following up on some of the reading material they suggested. First up on my reading list--How Learning Works and How to Teach What You Don't Actually Know. If you're interested in learning more, let's touch base and get a conversation going!
Steph Herbstritt is a graduate student in the Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department at Penn State studying the synergies between water quality, farm profitability, and sustainable energy.
Steph,
ReplyDeleteHonestly is always the best policy. The only unacceptable approach is not actively seek help when we identify shortcomings in our capacity to help students!
Thanks! We missed you on Saturday!
Hi Steph!
ReplyDeleteI think that is awesome that the skills we recognized as being important for our careers during our first class session are the same skills being taught and acknowledged by others. It was interesting that you noted the unconscious incompetence - while we are focusing our studies and research efforts at a significantly high caliber, it is important to be able to communicate that information to a broader audience.
It sounds like this seminar was a great opportunity for you to attend!
Mike
I wish all educators understood the importance of classroom rapport. It makes such a difference when a student feels that he/she is important and appreciated. I honestly believe that cultivating this type of relationship with your students makes them want to pay attention and to be more actively involved in daily classroom conversation. Like my Dad always says--it doesn't cost anything to be kind! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Steph! We missed you at TLT but thanks for sharing this great info. As a first year MS student, I often find myself in the conscious incompetence. While mentoring a group of senior students this first year, I was afraid of not having all the information they needed. But as long as I "knew what I didn't knew" I could at least ask the right questions to guide them. Hopefully we can reach that supreme expert level one day :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Steph, these are very useful tips and also thanks for the book recommendations, will check them out! And definitely agree with Shelley, creating a positive and safe space for the students is the key!
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