Sunday, August 17, 2003
GOOD INSTRUCTOR VS. BAD INSTRUCTOR
Remember back in school when you were getting your course outlines and trying to see what classes you were in and if your friends had the same classes or not and what teachers you got? Some teachers had a good reputation and others a bad one. And usually your older brother or sister could tell you whether or not that teacher was any good and their opinion was usually right you found. What made a teacher good, in fact make the whole coarse so appealing, fun and enjoyable? In contrast to that monotone teacher with that deadbeat voice in that commercial for I forget what, cookies or potato chips or something going on about "our solar system" at the chalkboard.
When you ask someone what their favorite subjects are, they usually are the ones with the highest grade on their report card. It's true that people have their strengths and weaknesses in different subjects, but a teacher can make all the difference in the world to how enjoyable that class will be and live up to their reputation as a good teacher. What are some of the characteristics making this teacher good vs. characteristics making a teacher pretty lousy?
The most important characteristic to being a good teacher is the teacher truly cares about his/her students, and truly wants them to learn what he/she is teaching. This teacher enjoys his occupation and has no regrets that this is what he is doing with his life. And therefore can impart to the students the value he personally feels towards his message or training he is imparting and can speak enthusiastically and be inspiring. The students can sense his heart and if he is putting 100% and more of himself behind the instruction.
In contrast the lousy instructor may know his material inside out but inside he is thinking " these lousy kids are not really paying attention and this class will be as boring as hell as last term's students and I cant wait for the end of the day to get home and have a beer on the sofa and just give me my stinkin' paycheck" attitude. The teacher is lost in himself at the chalkboard and the students live up to his lousy expectations and spend the term goofing off and complaining to each other and feeling so disconnected to the material being discussed.
To take this a little farther, imagine yourself learning to drive again for the first time. Your instructor is beside you in the car. This is where good instruction really counts. People's lives are on the line. This instructor has alot of power over your future driving privileges unless you got alot of people on the sidelines spending time with you giving you instruction. If this guy is your only link to you getting your license, than you are completely under his spell. This guy is like god to you. His opinion matters. He can make or break you. He can make you feel nervous. Make you feel stupid. Accuse you of making mistakes that he himself is guilty of for giving you poor instruction and getting you all wriled up and flustered.
A good instructor gets INVOLVED. And this is because he truly cares about your learning, as mentioned earlier. For example: A good driving instructor will get out of the car. Take you around the car with him. Use touch in appropriate ways. Talk using the appropriate tone. Have you relay the message back to him to convey that you are getting this information correctly. He will adjust and go at your personal pace and speak at your personal level not assuming anything. He will prepare you in advance for upcoming obstacles so you are not completely over your head with something completely foreign to you. In other words, he will teach you as if you were his own son or daughter, mother or father-with love. You wont feel pressured. You wont feel that you are not allowed to make mistakes or just simply be yourself. Be you. Because that s who you are. Someone special. Someone deserving to be loved. Someone with the capability to learn this and learn it so damn well you will be able to instruct others BECAUSE you have a good instructor.
I learned the value of good instructor during my training to be a nurse assistant. I went to college in sep 95 not knowing a clue what I was in for signing up as a "health care aide". What a surprise I was in for. After being accepted for the coarse we had a prep class where we got a few highlights of the coarse. For the first time I was informed of my duty of wiping elderly people's behinds in a nursing home and some other stuff. I thought I was going to be sick and started to reconsider the whole thing for that alone. I’m really glad I went through with the coarse. But good instruction. I'm getting sidetracked here. The first half of the 16-week coarse was completely bookwork. Studying anatomy and physiology and prep for care procedures in the nursing home. I was nervous as hell when the practical part came. This is where the good instruction showed through. And our teachers were really good. They were the best. Really. But I forgot to mention: we had this training in this room full of beds. And we had to practice giving bedpans to each other, which was really hilarious. We were learning the principles of good body mechanics and pretending we had different disabilities and how to maneuver each other safely. There was alot of body contact, to say the least. But it was good contact and our class really bonded and I believe we shared something special. But I guess every class feels that way. But still you want to believe that your class really had something special. Anyways we were learning how to give bed baths and there were only 3 guys in the class including myself and so one of the guys volunteered (not me) to be given a sample bed bath (with his clothes on) by the teacher. So he gets in the bed and we're all crowded around and as a good instructor the teacher goes through each step one by one. Getting the supplies all together, washing your hands etc. So she is pretending to give this guy a bath and he starts to get aroused and gets the biggest erection, and I felt so sorry for the teacher but she really kept her composure and just kept on going. No one said anything too loud and some of the girls turned away, but we got through the morning okay.
So what I was trying to say is that a good teacher will get involved. And by using appropriate tone and touch and with upbuilding comments and going at your pace you will learn and enjoy learning and probably make a really good friend at the same time. Don't ever believe that you are stupid or can't learn a certain subject because a lousy instructor verbally shot you down or was incapable in adapting to your personal needs. If you believe the wrong person you will miss out on learning alot of new skills and broadening your horizons. You truly have no limits.
To those who have submitted replies to my article entitled "morality", I am going to let a week or two pass before I reply to them. I’m interested in all different points of view.
Jamie
Remember back in school when you were getting your course outlines and trying to see what classes you were in and if your friends had the same classes or not and what teachers you got? Some teachers had a good reputation and others a bad one. And usually your older brother or sister could tell you whether or not that teacher was any good and their opinion was usually right you found. What made a teacher good, in fact make the whole coarse so appealing, fun and enjoyable? In contrast to that monotone teacher with that deadbeat voice in that commercial for I forget what, cookies or potato chips or something going on about "our solar system" at the chalkboard.
When you ask someone what their favorite subjects are, they usually are the ones with the highest grade on their report card. It's true that people have their strengths and weaknesses in different subjects, but a teacher can make all the difference in the world to how enjoyable that class will be and live up to their reputation as a good teacher. What are some of the characteristics making this teacher good vs. characteristics making a teacher pretty lousy?
The most important characteristic to being a good teacher is the teacher truly cares about his/her students, and truly wants them to learn what he/she is teaching. This teacher enjoys his occupation and has no regrets that this is what he is doing with his life. And therefore can impart to the students the value he personally feels towards his message or training he is imparting and can speak enthusiastically and be inspiring. The students can sense his heart and if he is putting 100% and more of himself behind the instruction.
In contrast the lousy instructor may know his material inside out but inside he is thinking " these lousy kids are not really paying attention and this class will be as boring as hell as last term's students and I cant wait for the end of the day to get home and have a beer on the sofa and just give me my stinkin' paycheck" attitude. The teacher is lost in himself at the chalkboard and the students live up to his lousy expectations and spend the term goofing off and complaining to each other and feeling so disconnected to the material being discussed.
To take this a little farther, imagine yourself learning to drive again for the first time. Your instructor is beside you in the car. This is where good instruction really counts. People's lives are on the line. This instructor has alot of power over your future driving privileges unless you got alot of people on the sidelines spending time with you giving you instruction. If this guy is your only link to you getting your license, than you are completely under his spell. This guy is like god to you. His opinion matters. He can make or break you. He can make you feel nervous. Make you feel stupid. Accuse you of making mistakes that he himself is guilty of for giving you poor instruction and getting you all wriled up and flustered.
A good instructor gets INVOLVED. And this is because he truly cares about your learning, as mentioned earlier. For example: A good driving instructor will get out of the car. Take you around the car with him. Use touch in appropriate ways. Talk using the appropriate tone. Have you relay the message back to him to convey that you are getting this information correctly. He will adjust and go at your personal pace and speak at your personal level not assuming anything. He will prepare you in advance for upcoming obstacles so you are not completely over your head with something completely foreign to you. In other words, he will teach you as if you were his own son or daughter, mother or father-with love. You wont feel pressured. You wont feel that you are not allowed to make mistakes or just simply be yourself. Be you. Because that s who you are. Someone special. Someone deserving to be loved. Someone with the capability to learn this and learn it so damn well you will be able to instruct others BECAUSE you have a good instructor.
I learned the value of good instructor during my training to be a nurse assistant. I went to college in sep 95 not knowing a clue what I was in for signing up as a "health care aide". What a surprise I was in for. After being accepted for the coarse we had a prep class where we got a few highlights of the coarse. For the first time I was informed of my duty of wiping elderly people's behinds in a nursing home and some other stuff. I thought I was going to be sick and started to reconsider the whole thing for that alone. I’m really glad I went through with the coarse. But good instruction. I'm getting sidetracked here. The first half of the 16-week coarse was completely bookwork. Studying anatomy and physiology and prep for care procedures in the nursing home. I was nervous as hell when the practical part came. This is where the good instruction showed through. And our teachers were really good. They were the best. Really. But I forgot to mention: we had this training in this room full of beds. And we had to practice giving bedpans to each other, which was really hilarious. We were learning the principles of good body mechanics and pretending we had different disabilities and how to maneuver each other safely. There was alot of body contact, to say the least. But it was good contact and our class really bonded and I believe we shared something special. But I guess every class feels that way. But still you want to believe that your class really had something special. Anyways we were learning how to give bed baths and there were only 3 guys in the class including myself and so one of the guys volunteered (not me) to be given a sample bed bath (with his clothes on) by the teacher. So he gets in the bed and we're all crowded around and as a good instructor the teacher goes through each step one by one. Getting the supplies all together, washing your hands etc. So she is pretending to give this guy a bath and he starts to get aroused and gets the biggest erection, and I felt so sorry for the teacher but she really kept her composure and just kept on going. No one said anything too loud and some of the girls turned away, but we got through the morning okay.
So what I was trying to say is that a good teacher will get involved. And by using appropriate tone and touch and with upbuilding comments and going at your pace you will learn and enjoy learning and probably make a really good friend at the same time. Don't ever believe that you are stupid or can't learn a certain subject because a lousy instructor verbally shot you down or was incapable in adapting to your personal needs. If you believe the wrong person you will miss out on learning alot of new skills and broadening your horizons. You truly have no limits.
To those who have submitted replies to my article entitled "morality", I am going to let a week or two pass before I reply to them. I’m interested in all different points of view.
Jamie
