Teaching Styles

Only one person sat in on any classes so we did not have a lot of observations for discussion. A few things we did discuss...

• Playing music before class can help humanize the instructor and also help signal the start of class if it's a large classroom.
• Starting class by posting an "Agenda" isn't necessary but can be helpful.
• If you're lecturing, especially if you stand on a short stage be careful not to look over the tops of students' heads. This makes the instructor seem distant and unengaged.
• If you use Powerpoint invest in a wireless remote to advance the slides. Otherwise you are tethered to the podium which makes you seem distant.
• "Jake, can you sum up what I just said in two or three sentences?" This is a good tactic for any lecture. Does not have to be used just to point out a student who isn't paying attention it can be a good opportunity to check understanding of students who are paying attention.
• If you step away from the board and start "talking" to class rather than lecturing the class might not know if you're still teaching and they should still be taking notes. "Talking" is good but make sure the class knows what's going on.
• In a 1.5 hour lecture it's a good idea to break the lecture into pieces. An easy way to do this is by telling a short story, telling a joke, doing anything different for a minute or two. Breaking up class doesn't have to mean taking a formal break. Gleeson and Fink are good at breaking up lectures.
• A Powerpoint slide with a well chosen image or video clip can be a good way to introduce the topic and give students some kind of "trigger" for the topic even if you don't plan to use Powerpoint for the rest of class.
• Pause for a few seconds before answering a student's question. This makes sure you understand what the student is really asking, gives the other students a chance to think about the question before hearing the response and helps students see that if you ask them a question they don't have to answer immediately, it's ok to stop and think.
• Sitting with the class and talking to someone before class starts is a good way to guage student understanding. Gleeson will often do this in his Plan II class.
• Often instructors will inadvertently use the same subgroup of the class to gauge student understanding every time. Have to be very careful to continually ask different students questions and talk informally with different students to get a feel for the class's overall understanding.