Skip to main content

10 Things I Believe About Teaching


  1. A class can be challenging without being hard.
    • Instructors don’t have to make everything as hard as possible.  By making things challenging, but accessible, you’re more likely to win students’ attention and focus.
  2. If you know somebody’s name and look them in the eye, they’ll listen better.
    • Learning a student’s name is a show of respect that they’ll appreciate.  Making the effort to learn about your students strengthens the relationship.
  3. Fun and serious aren’t mutually exclusive.
    • If you’re excited about the topic you teach, it shouldn’t be hard to have fun with this.  Everybody likes to have fun.
  4. Evaluating frequently is better than evaluating at the end.
    • Research shows that smaller comprehensive exams enable students to retain more knowledge than a single final exam.  Keep them engaged with the material by evaluating them regularly.
  5. Students shouldn’t be the only ones being evaluated.
    • Most students won’t tell you outright that you’re doing something wrong or that they don’t like something you’re doing.  Ask them (and it’s best if you can ask them anonymously).
  6. Lectures aren’t the only way students learn.
    • Homework, projects, practice, self-study, student groups, and exams are also great educational tools.  Lecturing is only part of it, and it works better if you support it with other work.
  7. Practice makes perfect.
    • This goes for students as well as instructors.  Keep your students practicing through assignments, and keep practicing and tuning your material, delivery, and approach.
  8. A student doesn't have to get a good grade to learn good things.
    • There are plenty of C students that are just as strong as A students.  Understanding a topic and being able to get a good grade on an assignment or exam are not synonymous.  
  9. Enthusiasm is contagious.
    • If you’re really excited about the topic you’re teaching, your students will be, too.  The bad news is that if you’re not enthusiastic, it’ll rub off on them.
  10. Teaching is selling.
    • You have to get students to buy-in to your teaching process.  If they don’t believe in your product, they’re not going to want it.

watch my videos on youtube follow me on twitter view my pictures on instagram view my profile on linkedin view my google+ profile

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sheetz Sandwich Standoff: El Gringo vs Twisted Swiss

My wife left me alone for dinner tonight so I decided to check out the latest GetGo offerings... but to my great chagrin, they have no promotional subs. My travels led me to the local Sheetz, where I'd be able to keep eating the best gas station sandwiches around. To keep tradition alive, I picked the two most outrageous "Burgerz" on the menu: El Gringo and Twisted Swiss. The ingredient list is promising: Twisted Swiss is the burger with topped with swiss cheese, cole slaw, pickles, bacon, and whatever "Boom Boom Sauce" is on a pretzel bun.  El Gringo is the burger topped with pepper jack cheese, chili, Doritos, and BBQ sauce on a regular old bun. I unwrapped them both and stood back to admire the majesty before me. They're not pretty, but they do look a lot better out of the wrapper than many fast food burgers I've eaten. Twisted Swiss I expected this sandwich to be an awful mess.  It just seemed like a bunch

The Gobbler from Arby's

Stop.  Stop what you're doing and go to Arby's. Right. Now.  Have them make you a Gobbler .  This is not something you'll regret. Go. Eat this thing. Look at that bacon. Go. Arby's has a new sandwich.  It's called "The Gobbler" and as far as I can tell it's two things: a vehicle for their new deep fried turkey, and an attempt at a Thanksgiving themed sandwich.  It's also a third thing: magically delicious. move over Lucky, there's a new holiday mascot on the block Unwrapping: this actually looks like a sandwich.  It looks appetizing.  It looks like something I want to eat.  It doesn't look like the promo photo above, but it doesn't look like someone was flailing around and accidentally smashed up a sandwich, either. sexy Instagram caption goes here First bite: Wow.  I mean, "WOW."  Holy h*ck this is good.  The turkey has a really bold, meaty flavor.  It tastes a lot like turkey sliced fresh from your

A Story of Student Loan Debt

I was paying bills today and it struck me how much easier things are since my wife and I paid off all of our student loans 2 years ago.  I’m simultaneously happy with a system that allows a broke kid like me to go to a decent college, and shocked by the crushing burden of debt that it can create.  The story of my own college debt is convoluted, uninformed, and fraught with my own mistakes and missteps. I grew up in Ohio always thinking I’d be going to OSU. I ended up doing in better on my SAT than anybody expected (myself included), and the University of Dayton offered me a big scholarship. Nevermind that OSU would still have been significantly cheaper. I decided to chase the dollars. It felt great to be offered so much money, though I didn't quite grasp the idea that it was more of a discount than a cash offer. It went fine; I sometimes felt unprepared, but I did OK overall and finished the year with a decent GPA. I had a girlfriend when I started college. The long distance was t