A few weeks ago, the goods folks at McGraw-Hill were kind enough to ask me to do a one-hour webinar titled “Tips for Becoming a Better Teacher.” We assumed that a portion of the audience would be accounting professors since I am an accounting professor and the 15th edition of the Advanced Accounting textbook that I coauthor is coming out in January. Nevertheless, we wanted the webinar to be of interest to anyone who teaches in college whether they teach biology, psychology, accounting, or everything in between.
For someone like myself who has taught a long time, it is an interesting challenge to consider what advice you would give to a person wanting to become a better teacher. What is really important? What actually can work? After a long debate with myself, here is some of the advice that I chose to provide in this webinar.
--Every teacher should start out by acknowledging just how essentially important education is for each individual and for our society as a whole. Investing the time and energy needed for success is much easier if you realize how important your role as a teacher is. Every day, we have the opportunity to change lives for the better. We need to take that role seriously.
--I like to begin each class throughout the semester with a mental vision of the “perfect class” at the end of the semester. In other words, what type of class environment am I trying to create? What should the last day of class look like? What should the last day feel like? If you don’t know that, then a class is just a random event without any guiding structure.
--Use technology but use it well and don’t feel a need to use all of the possible technology. I think every teacher should keep track of the available technology and make use of what feels good to you. Nevertheless, there is no necessity to make use of every new bell and whistle that comes out. Think about your classes and be selective. What technology can help you meet your goals? For example, I think making videos is a great strategy for me and one that I use often. Students today have grown up in the YouTube generation. I like to take advantage of that.
--Help students focus on their class preparation. Nothing improves a class more than having students arrive each day with an adequate amount of preparation. Don’t be casual when it comes to preparation --- make that a real priority. My experience is that virtually all students underprepare for class. Change that and things will immediately get better.
--Help students focus on reviewing and organizing the new material right after every class. Knowledge seeps out of the brain very quickly if techniques are not applied to help solidify what has been learned. Have assignments set up to be done immediately after coverage to make the understanding both clear and permanent.
--The better you test, the better the students will learn. Spend serious time thinking about your testing process. Make sure that your test questions are very well written. In my mind, every test question should be (a) fair, (b) challenging, and (c) stress critical thinking. Students learning is often affected by what they see on a test. Don’t teach a student to think and then test them on memorization.
--Determine what percentage of the talking you want to do in class. In my classes, I try to avoid doing more than half of the talking. That is not easy. That means that I have to figure out how to get the students to do the other half of the talking. That is a tough challenge, but one that can turn a passive class into an engaged class.
--Realize that students cannot read your mind so work on developing good communication techniques. I use emails. I use a lot of emails. I keep them short and to the point. This allows me to inform students of what I need from them and why. If I can get that message across, most students seem willing to put forth a better effort. That’s a good start.
--We all tell ourselves stories about our jobs, our students, and our classes. It is easy for those stories to be negative. "Conditions are bad." "Students are lazy." "Students have not been taught how to learn." If you want to be a better teacher, work very hard on telling yourself better stories. "Most of the students were well prepared today." "We had a great discussion in class." "The students appear to be figuring out what I want from them." I cannot possibly tell you how important I think those internal stories are for becoming a better teacher. Listen to yourself and make sure your stories will lead to a stronger and better version of you.
If you would like to watch the actual webinar, here is the URL. I hope it helps you make key steps as you seek to become a better teacher and eventually a great teacher.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h1NfHprZrE&t=341s
