Dear Newbie, =)
Welcome to the exciting world of teaching! This will be a chance for you not only to impart
yourself to others but also to learn more about yourself and your fields of specialization. Do not be afraid to commit mistakes, to ask
others for help, and to share your knowledge and experience with colleagues.
Teaching effectively is not synonymous to merely covering
all of the topics in your course outline during your lectures. It is also not about students being able to
memorize materials. Rather, teaching
effectively means that students acquire something that they can use or
appreciate. Think also in terms of
what they will need to be successful in the workforce. I particularly like sharing newspaper
articles to show real-life instances of our topics in class. When you give examples during your lectures,
give those that your students can related to--and not necessarily the ones in
textbooks that are more suited for those in North America or Europe.
Students learn in different ways, so the way that you
learn may not necessarily be the same way that your students learn. For example, seeing a demonstration may
suffice for some students, but others may need to be working with their
hands. In addition, some students might
be able to understand from reading, but others may need to hear words or to
associate things with pictures. Furthermore,
some students will study on their own while others may need some prodding. In short, a teaching strategy that works with
or an activity that is liked by a group of students might have different
results with other groups. Be
sensitive also to possible differences between you and your students because of
culture, gender and age.
You cannot possibly cover everything during all of your
class periods, so you would have to inculcate in them the desire and ability to
be lifelong learners. Besides, in
many fields such as IT, the knowledge and skills they would learn can easily
become obsolete in a few years. Many of
the students these days are digital natives, so consider how you can use the
latest technologies as tools, but not as ends in themselves. For instance, be creative in employing Web
2.0 (blogs, wikis, social networking, etc.) and in iPad/iPhone applications.
As the old saying goes, “no man is an island”. Students will invariably have to interact
with other people, whether in work, family or social settings. In other words, students must also develop
teamwork and communication skills. As they can also learn from one another,
try collaborative learning.
Assessments must be fair and must match your learning
objectives. Whether you are giving
exams, projects, research papers or other assessments, the contents must have a
purpose other than being a source of marks that you can enter into the grade book. Use assessments for learning,
especially by giving timely feedback on what they did wrong or
inadequately. Also, have clearly
defined marking criteria or rubrics, so that grading assessments would not
be entirely subjective.
Lastly, be open-minded, flexible, and able to learn new
things. You will reap what you had
sown, so diligence and hard work in teaching would pay off.
Wishing you and your students all the best…
Oscar
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