Motivation

How to motivate.... hmmm.... if I had a solid gold answer for that I think I would be a millionaire. I don't think there's any right answer. However, the good news is I think there are many possible answers for many different situations. 

Take for example, students can motivate an instructor to do well in class. Also, an instructor can motivate students. But what really motivates people is when the content is relevant to them. I find this to be true in my life. I want to know why I am learning something and how it is going to be useful in my life. If I like this then other people must, as well. So as an instructor I want to be motivational by providing relevance to the content of the lecture. 

I also want emphasize the importance of knowing how we motivate. We as instructors actually teach more than we realize. Our nonverbal gestures speak louder than our actual lecture. As an instructor I need to remember this. I need to be able to keep the energy alive so that the environment is primed for learning. 

Throughout the entire readings for motivation I kept thinking back to our control. We only can control ourselves. So if this is the case then I can enable myself to be as motivating as possible. To do this I need to be aware of my nonverbals and make sure the content is relevant to the students. By doing so I am keeping in control of myself and motivating myself to continue as an instructor. Hopefully, I will also be able to influence others in the process and motivate them to do their best. 

Unruly Students

There are many different students in all classes, and the funny thing is you never know what you're going to get! In any situation there is only one thing you can control, and that's yourself. You can control what is coming out of your mouth, the actions you do, the behavior you exhibit, the way you teach the class and the way you plan for the class. But overall, those are the only things you can control as a teacher - YOU.

Unfortunately, we cannot control our students. If there's anything I have learned from teaching three years ballet it's that control is never in my hands. I must always control myself and stay calm. By doing this I am able to influence my students and they follow me with ease (most of the time). But the same goes for older students and adult students: we cannot control them, we can only influence them.

There are many ways we can present the content we are lecturing about and each way is going to represent something different to each student. They all have their own perceptions and attitudes towards the material, the other students, the classroom, and myself as the instructor. But what I can do is allow myself to remain calm and in control of my own thoughts, actions and behavior so that I am better equipped to handle any off comment or behavior.

When thinking about this longer I keep going back to the thought that every moment is a teaching opportunity. Even if the content goes off course for a brief moment the way the instructor brings it back is a teaching moment for the students of how to direct conversation. Or even if a student is disruptive - well there are plenty of teaching moments then! But in essence we are creating an environment of learning no matter what we do. If a student is disruptive we can dismiss the student, ask them a question, ignore them and so on, but with each act we are instructing the class on how to handle that situation.

I suppose the biggest thought to take from here is to stay calm and in control of myself so that I can influence others, and also to be prepared to teach no matter what is going on because every moment is a teaching opportunity.

Challenge - Control myself / Influence students. Every moment is a teaching moment.

Technology in the classroom

Technology - could be just about anything. But when I think about technology I mainly focus on modern day technology such as computers, smart boards, projectors, the internet and so on. But since there are many other forms of technology, such as pen and paper, scissors, colors, chalkboard, whiteboard and so on there are plenty of ways to incorporate technology into the classroom.

As a kid remember always enjoying being able to write on the chalkboard. I felt as though I had something important to do and that I was involved in the lesson. If I can remember that from when I was in grade school then it must have some sort of significant value to it. So in order to get students involved and participating within a training or classroom I, as the instructor, but incorporate technology (like the chalkboard).

There are many different ways in which I could do this. Many students from class demonstrated the positive effects of clickers. Clickers provide an instructor the ability to poll the class to initiate discussion. I like this idea because it gives the students a sense of privacy to participate. Their name isn't on the board, and they aren't the one raising their own hand, they are simply clicking a button. I think this allows them to feel safe to participate because if they get it wrong who will know? Then from there discussion can arise and teaching moments can happen.

I also like the idea of using the internet as a way to involve students from all around the U.S. or the globe. Maybe not even students but guest speakers. When a speaker enters the classroom they usually have something else to bring to the table. So if a teacher could have several different guest speakers come in virtually through skype or whatever it may be the students may have a more broad look on the subject.

On top of modern technology I think using the good old fashion technology of pens, paper and colors is great. When there are tactile objects creativity can flow. As a trainer I will not only use modern technology but also the ones we consider old or not even technology any more.

I want to suggest the importance of using different types of technology for different lessons. For example, the clickers, skype and colors aren't always going to work for every lesson. So for each lesson I prepare I must decide on what will bring about the most discussion, what will work with the content and what will benefit the class.

Challenge - Use different technology on each lesson.

Life's Kitchen

AWESOME! I loved this experience.

Life's Kitchen provided me with such a new outlook on teaching. In the college scene we are in class for many different reasons (because we want to, because our parents are forcing us, because it's better than finding a job, because it's the next them to do, and so), but in Life's Kitchen the students are there because they want to be there! So when we arrived we understood they were ready to learn.

Now this does not mean that there weren't a few who were a little stand off-ish, because there were. But it does mean that they wanted to hear what we had to say. The few who were a little cautious about participating at the beginning slowly began to feel comfortable. I think this happened when Kristine and I would act out the skit or activity before they had to, as well as when Kristine would give them positive feedback.

The time truly flew by. I knew realized how fast an hour can disappear. So one area we could definitely work on is time management. When there's a lot to cover we need to make sure we stay on schedule. But overall it seemed as though we stayed on the topics that needed covered the most for the longest period of time, which I think helped the students out because we answered their questions right then and there instead of at the end. But to help stay on time in the future I would position myself to where I could see the clock. I sat with my back turned to the clock on the wall, so every time I wanted to check the time I had to turn my attention around. I didn't like to do that because I wanted to stay focused within the group and not alter my attention.

Overall, I think we did a nice job of creating a safe environment, and allowing knowledge to flow. If we go back to teach there I would revise our evaluation forms to a ranking scale instead of a write out. They didn't quite like writing anything down (due to spelling, grammar, etc), so I would change that. Also, I would change the way we did our personal contracts. I would maybe have them write a key word down instead of a sentence.

Challenge - Follow the time & have a time piece in front of me.

Self Defense Workshop

Use your voice! Don't be afraid to say no! Stand up for yourself!

All of these advice pieces were given at the self defense workshop I attended. I found this training to be quite empowering. It gave me confidence to know what to do in a stressful situation, as well as practice and safety to employ the defense tools in front of the class.

The instructor was a Boise Police Officer. She has done many workshops and has been on the force for quite a while. Since she was an officer I felt as though she knew what she was doing and talking about. And because she was a woman I felt as though she understood where each one of ladies in the class were coming from.

Another reason why I really liked this training was the fact that she said she is teaching us tools. She is not saying that we should use them every time and every time they will work. She is simply giving us the ability to be confident in stressful situations. Also, she made it quite clear that when a person comes in contact with an attacker do whatever it takes to get away. Don't hesitate to think about how the proper way is to get away - just do it! She also gave a personal story in which she did this herself. As a participant I felt very comfortable knowing that.

This made me think of classes or trainings I would teach. More than likely they will be communication related. From this self defense workshop I recognized how useful having 'tools' is, just like in communication. No matter how many times I teach conflict management or effective communication it doesn't mean that it will work perfectly each time a student uses it. However, it does mean they have tools in which to pull from in any situation in which they may need them. I think I can get so stuck on "this is how I should do it every time" or "this is the way YOU should do it", but really that's not the case. As in instructor of communication I am enabling them to communicate better by pulling from their toolbox.

Challenge - Give them tools.

BYP Event

I spent an evening with the members of BYP (Boise Young Professionals). They had a guest speaker come in to talk about success. Throughout his speech he gave many stories and equations of what to do and what not to do. He was an older gentleman so he had an endearing demeanor to him, and he spoke kindly. From the start of his speech I was engaged.

What I found most useful out of his presentation was the way he told stories to get his point across. It reminded me of TrainSmart. When he made a point he gave an example through a real life experience of his, most of which were quite humorous.

Throughout his presentation he grounded most of his thoughts and explanations through experience. I think this is great in essence because he has lived through it and has come out the other side of life. However, I still found it lacking. I don't know if it's because I'm in academics right now, and so I am more prone to research or scholarly debate on any given subject, or if his presentation was truly lacking because of limited research. Either way I felt as though that part could have been improved upon.

Thinking broadly, as well as context of how I am going to take this experience into my training, teachings and speaking opportunities, I am now realizing how there must be a balance between experience and expertise as well as research and academics. I think the best instructors and speakers are the ones who can cover both, and do it in a way that strikes the audience. I want to be like that. I want to give fun reasons, stories, equations and so on to illustrate my point, and probably most of these will come from my real life experiences. But I also want the credible and academic side to be highlighted. It seems as though when research can back up what you're saying you have more to say.

My challenge to myself - find an equal balance between research and experience.