In preparation for teaching a three day workshop on classroom management in New York City, I asked my students, "What advice would you give to college professors so that they can be more effective teachers?"
Some of their responses?
Make class interesting. Mark
Be prepared for students to be unwilling to give input. Make class interaction and participation mandatory. Dana
Don’t let your class tell you how to grade or let them talk you into lowering standards. I’ve seen this happen way too often and it takes value away from the class. Kelly
Keep personal opinions out of classes such as politics and history. Use real world examples. Be relaxed and easy to talk to. Don’t feel threatened by students. Sarah
Don’t read to your students-we can read. Use real life examples, it makes it more clear and real to us. We remember these more than random sentences from the book. Amy
Take control of the class from day one, but don’t hesitate to get to know your students. Help us help ourselves be successful. Brad
Involve the class and make it clear how the subject is important to the students. Assignments must clearly reflect the material and doing these really assist learning the material. Tests should have applied knowledge questions. Mary
Be enthusiastic and confident. Don’t show fear. Derek
If you see that a student is performing poorly (i.e. bad grades on tests, papers), try to bring them into your office for help. Brett
Give timely feedback on presentations and tests. Pat
Pretend you’re in the class with them and together you will fight to understand the material. Otherwise you will be equated with the material (evil and difficult). Joel
If you are a young and new teacher, realize that we are looking to you for education, not for you to be hip, cool, and our friend. Friendly and approachable is good but there is also a line where respect from the students lies. Jim
Have you ever asked your students what they think makes for good teaching?
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