Introverts in the Classroom

One of the big parts of my discussion forum and course I am taking is about introversion vs extroversion and how to deal with these types of personalities.

It has been very topical.for me since I have started my latest class.  I naively set out to push my class towards studying in a group for 6 hours a week to review for their test.

Wow was there ever a pushback!  I took some students aside who i could see were immediately uncomfortable with the idea and the common theme they gave me was that they didnt like working in groups.  One student was adamant that he didnt want to study gave me 30 minutes worth of reasons why he didnt want to do it.  And he made some good points.

The lesson I learned from this was that I need to learn to grow my activities and lesson plans with introverts in mind.

Since I have in class activities and lessons for review as an option, group out of class study groups as an option, and if you want to study alone you can do that too.

Coffee is on!

In my constant effort to make my classroom is comfortable and as happy a place as possible I decided to start a coffee pool. The idea is that I bought the coffee on myself and that all the students would bring in a can of coffee sugar and some coffee whitener to get us through the seven weeks that the course is put on. When I suggested the coffee whitener some of the students immediately looked off put by the idea and suggested proper cream. I inform them we don't have a refrigerator to put the cream into and I don't have one and I don't have the money to buy one. One of the students immediately piped up and said that he had one in his garage that he wasn't using and he was more than happy to bring it in and give it to the class. So now we have fresh coffee in the morning made and ready to go. This is a really simple and easy way to make the class a place that people are happy to come in and participate in on a daily basis and not feel like it's a place that they have to go but a place that they want to go.

Let the Games Begin!

I've been constantly looking for good new ways to create study aids and have time for review before testing.  I have read reviewing material before test can greatly improve retention for students.

I instruct a class of 16 students 6 hours a day for 7 week classes and here is what I have found so far.

6 HOURS IS TOO MUCH SCHOOL.lots of breaks and activities only goes to far. I have made time during the day for study groups or study strategies.  A chance for students to get up and leave and do their own thing.  Monitoring the productivity of this is my next step.

REVIEW GAMES ARE FUN FOR ADULTS.  Each week I divide the class into 4 groups of 4 and I have them make at least 5 flash cards each from the weeks material. I take the cards on thursday and make Flip quiz boards and actual board games to play for review on Friday.  Its a good way to have fun and pit the students against each other in competition.  Adults take their school too serously sometimes and games are a good way to lighten things up.

FLASH CARDS RULE!!!!  I have a ton of flash cards that my classes have made.  My current class is awesome and they all took a stack of cards to type into Quizlet.  Now all millwright students can have access to review flash cards on their smart phone or computer anywhere.  Look up Millwrights BCIT on quizlet to see what we have done.

More come on revamping my classroom setting.  (I bought a coffee urn :)

Off and running

Day one of my first level 4 class was today... I'm regally excited about the group and although there were a lot of hiccups., I think things got off to a good start. Today was a lot of dealing with anxiety about writing the intro provincial exam in 7 weeks... I got everyone signed into a class Google plus page and had them research tonight to find an article that they liked about study strategies that they think will work for them. They will be posting the findings on Google plus tonight... Tomorrow we will be reviewing everyone's articles and hammering out a study schedule and strategy for how to get through the next 7 weeks the best way.

We will be incorporating many strategies such as study groups, flash cards tests and mind mapping. Regardless I am pushing for this project to be student lead.. The motivation is there due to the magnitude of the test... I am going to lay low and make sure it happens smoothly.

Motivation

What about our motivation as instructors?? Why is all the focus on our students. What about us... Sure we feel motivated now, but what keeps us accountable. What will be our source of motivation moving forward?

One of the most troubling stories I have heard, is of an instructor who once taught at my college... He went to another college and just lost all motivation... I had one of his students after him and the stories that I heard were scary at best. What kinds of things are we as instructors putting in place to measure out own motivation. Our own active learning?

It's nice to think that if I lose my passion I will move on, but life changes... Who will hold us accountable? I can't even floss on a regular basis...how do I know if I lose my motivation?  If it happens, what will I do because of it?

Post your comments... Students and pidp'ers alike... I want to know what you think.