You Are How You Teach

Fostering a Positive Academic Environment

Be the example

• Instructors must be able to hold themselves accountable and hold themselves to an even greater standard than that of what they demand from their students.

• Effort is contagious• Show humility

Show that you believe

• Being excited about what your profession/career has to offer will make sharing it with your students that much more enjoyable.

• If your students see that you excited then they will apply that same excitement to their academic experience.

Make people laugh

• Instructors have to be able to humanize themselves. Showing that you are willing to express clean humor may allow students to open up to you.

Communicate everything

• Make sure that all students are aware of their current academic status. Don't ever put a student in position to fail by not informing them of where they stand academically.

• Communication creates a positive experience for the student resulting in a overall positive culture.

Be proactive

• Do not wait until the last minute to try and correct a mistake. Coach your students on techniques beforehand to allow for proper feedback based on future performance.

• Students will accept feedback in a much more positive tone if they have been coached properly before rather than assuming their known abilities.

Try something new

• Do not be afraid to try something new. Encourage your students to do the same.

• Failure is part of the process that allows you to continue to optimize your success.

• Try not to encourage students to “think outside the box” but to “think abstractly vs. concretely”

Use your assets

• Remember that you are your greatest resource as well as your fellow instructors.

• Use them for new ideas and techniques.• Strive to “always be in a learning mode”

Love what you do

• Do not allow work to ever become routine

Commit to yourself

• Commit to improving yourself and your student each day;– Socially– Mentally– Intellectually– Emotionally– Spiritually– Environmentally– Physically

Invest in yourself

• Invest in the time to increase your personal and academic value.

• Strive for and seek professional growth opportunities.

What is a great teacher?

• There are many things that determine what a great teacher is however, the sign of a great teacher is when;

“You can teach someone a subject or skill and that person can in turn teach that same subject or skill to someone else just as proficient as you taught it to them”• That is the sign of a great teacher!