Is it the teachers role to entertain, or just inform? (college, class)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My favorite teachers were the ones who you enjoyed talking to. I a Psych teacher that was a little different, she was into alternative medicine and raiki and would remind us when mercury would be in position. But she knew what she was talking about and had wonderful real life stories that made the class interesting.
I had a french teacher I loved as well, she could laugh at herself, and with us. Like the time she forgot the word spear, in english and french. Nothing like your french teacher saying "long pointy stick" in french.
Keep joking, and telling stories, as long as students are telling you that they are getting the info and not going to far. Some will always complain.
My mentor told me to never assume anything as a teacher. That includes assuming students have internal motivation and the same learning styles. You have to switch things up to interest students as well as allow students to learn using their strength.
My 2 cents: You are there to be stimulating and effective. If you are entertaining (which may amuse some) but not stimulating their ideas or effectively teaching the materials, that may be the reason that some students are responding negatively.
When I teach classes at the local community college in their career adult education program, I have found that the best way to gain the students continuing attention is to be entertaining and fun. I tell some jokes, stories and attempt to be amusing and interesting.
At the end of the class I give all students an evaluation form to rate the class and my teaching. Generally I get good feedback from the students for being entertaining, fun, and a little bit crazy, while still giving them the information they need. They like the fact that I am not the stiff formal teacher they have in some of their other classes.
But some students tell me that they do not like the entertainment part of the class. They say a teacher should be formal, reserved, to the point and aloof. So who is right? Where is the right middle ground?
Is it the teachers role to entertain, or just inform?
You sound like your trying to pick up some chicks.
some students tell me that they do not like the entertainment part of the class. They say a teacher should be formal, reserved, to the point and aloof. So who is right? Where is the right middle ground?
Is it the teachers role to entertain, or just inform?
Is this your first student evaluation? NEWSFLASH: You cannot please everyone; please stop trying.
The opposite of entertain is not inform, it is "bore." Being informative does not require that you are "formal, reserved, to the point and aloof." Being informative requires that you cover the material. Period.
The opposite of "inform" is to fail in the provision of content.
These students who are complaining that you are not reserved, aloof and to the point enough are the same ones who would complain about being bored.
Keep your humor topical. There is no reason that being informative must be boring or distant. If you are spending 20 minutes per hour making jokes about unrelated stuff, then you need to re-examine your lesson plans. If you are spending 20 minutes per hour making class material funny, engaging and (therefore) memorable, good on you.
I once took a class about copyright law. The instructor made the history of copyright law since 1710 engaging and memorable. I didn't absorb it all, but I learned enough to make good decisions that would keep me and my employer out of hot water and I learned where to go to find the fine details if I needed them. That was 10 years ago. If she had been boring, I wouldn't boast about that class now, I'd tell you how much I spent to take that class and what a waste it was.
It is the teacher's role to facilitate learning. If learning is faciliated by something that is entertaining, that's great. If the entertainment factor has no educational value it's a waste.
Good point. But I do believe that classroom shouldn't be all information. We can laugh; we can have fun, and I joke with my fourth graders, especially when I am teaching them a very hard concept. I tell them, how if they pay attention, they will be so grateful when they get to middle school and can do that algorithm better than their classmates--he he he he
When I was in college, there was this one particular class that was required of all English majors (of whom I was one). The teacher ONLY taught the class at 7:30 a.m. We would arrive at class in the morning, bleary-eyed and mostly dead to the world and certainly NOT in a state to learn anything. So for the first 10 minutes or so of each class, the teacher would sacrifice teaching time to have us do something that would wake us up. Sometimes we'd stand there and do jumping jacks or play a short game of Simon-Says -- no kidding! Sometimes she'd show us slide presentations of her most recent trip somewhere. Sometimes she'd just call on a couple students to stand and tell a joke they knew...which ranged from the groan-worthy to the sublimely foul, as you can imagine!
Sometimes that first ten minutes of class had something to do with the material we were studying -- for instance, with respect to the slide presentations of her trips, the pictures usually were of places tied to the literature we were reading -- but sometimes they didn't.
But the point was that by sacrificing a few minutes off the top of every class' instruction, the teacher was able to wake us up and put us in a frame of mind that was more conducive to learning. I really don't know how ALL of this teacher's students reacted. I just knew that I appreciated the stimulation (and the chance to wake up!) and that the class turned out to be one of my favorite ones in college.
It is the teacher's role to facilitate learning. If learning is faciliated by something that is entertaining, that's great. If the entertainment factor has no educational value it's a waste.
I agree with this statement. But in general many students expect their teachers to be entertaining so it is a delicate balancing act.
Teachers are there to motivate by providing opportunities to learn along with assistance in learning. Get that done however you can. Students must do the learning.
The teacher's role is to inform in and engaging manner. The goal should be to make the class interesting, not fun.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
