Hi pmedicann!
Alot of the commentary and suggestions you offer arcboy make sense, and while you probably may seem amazed to believe this but, most of the instructors here use the method of applying the lectures into the lab time and more than on one occasion!!! More like ALL THE TIME!!!
In defense of arcboy, he's just starting out and he's not going to listen to only one of us and decide that this is the only methodology to use in this situation... He's going to take a little from each, and every one of us, and through trial and error, constantly modify his curriculum until he sees what works for his students and his own style of teaching -PERIOD!!! it sounds like whos' been giving out the lecture here???
Besides, you're not the only one here who's been teaching as many years because, I know I've got you beat by at least 6 years - not that it matters much as far as time is concerned but, if you or anyone else that has taught welding technology for any significant amount of time has the audacity to say to me or any of my peers that you've never had any mistakes made on your behalf using the wide variety of audio/visual aids, or methodologies, then that person needs to get off of their high horse, and stop talking trash because that's all it is!!! If that is not what you're trying to say then please accept my apology. ;)
In this business, reputation counts, so if your school has a good one then you're teaching well...
How do you know this??? By constantly being involved with the industry leaders of your community, and any of the surrounding ones also because, soon enough the students after graduating will represent the school by the preparedness they got from the instructors who molded them into becoming "ENTRY LEVEL WELDERS", not welders with experience like some folks want to believe should be coming out of community or technical colleges these days!!!
Look, none of us can say for sure what type of administrative structure arcboy may have to put up with but, to assume (You know what happens when we start to think like that!) people will not be looking over his shoulder is outright ludicrous!!! Maybe that happens in some neck of the woods but, that does'nt mean it's universal!!! Besides this is his first teaching job outside of his own school!!! You're darn tooting that they will be monitoring him more so than someone that's been there for awhile and so will the senior instructor because, administration will use that person to find out whether or not they made the right choice!!! Heck! That's a no - brainer!!!
Arcboy seems to have a good head on his shoulder, and that we can agree on but, only he can eventually develop a teaching style that will work for him so that the students do comprehend both theoretically and practically the subject matter being taught!!! Btw, just about every curriculum I've taught has had a built in amount of extra time incorporated into it so as to leave it to use at the teacher's discretion... Why?
Because I wrote the curriculum - that's why!!!
If I've got a class of twenty students that have six of them falling behind real fast after two weeks not because of attendance but because, the subject matter is'nt that interesting, then it's my methodology in monitoring the students progress that's at fault here... If it's attendance, then I'll let them know in no uncertain terms that if they do'nt straighten out and fly right, they're not going to pass - period!!!
They usually get the message because they will sign a pledge to straighten up!!!
That's another form of upholding the school's reputation because, if one let's the students get away with tardiness and excessive absence, then the quality of students as far as their dependability is concerned, will always be in question by the potential employers that need welders!!! Not only that, placement will have a hard time getting these students one foot in the door of potential jobs for them because nowadays, they most definitely ask to see their attendance records for both tardiness and absences besides how well they did in the subjet matter.
Okay so how do you get the students to become totally committed to the concept that they need to dedicate themselves to get rid of any bad habits that they may of had beforehand, and to really get them involved in the learning process???
1) You make them sign a contract with you as the instructor totally independant of any other papers they may have signed off beforehand!!!
2) You give students that may be lacking in absorbing the subject matter to have the opportunity to stay after class for an extra 45 minutes for more individualized instruction because, not every student learns the same way, and to classify them into groups or categories alone is not enough!!! Why??? Because there are subgroups and hybrid groups that are not always present within every student body that makes up each course!!! In other words, every class has a different set of characters!!!
3) Make the learning environment conducive, pleasant, fun but also, no nonsense!!! Make darn sure that you treat each and every student with respect because once you lose that -you're finished - KAPUTSKY!!! Show them by example that you care about them, that you'll go the extra mile for them if they deserve it!!! Also let them know how safe they are when they're in class. Let them know that you're flexible to a degree but, not someone to be taken advantage of!!!
4) Let them know that if they're struggling with the subject matter, to let you know right away so that you can work with them to help them out and reinforce the concept that you'll go out of your way to help them succeed so long as they show close to the same amount of effort to strive for success!!! It's got to be understood that it's a two way street in the learning process - ALWAYS!!!
5) Do'nt test the crap out of them!!! Why??? Because it increases their stress level, their anxiety level, their tendency to think that they'll fail!!! Test them where it counts!!! When the topics are covered and through question and answer, they exhibit a level of confidence in the subject matter... Once they see that they can succeed, they'll put more effort into succeeding again and they'll have to because you let them know in advance that the next test will have a higher degree of difficulty!!!
6) Alway encourage your students!!! NEVER let them know that you lost faith in them because they look up to you like either a father figure or an uncle or big brother that's there to let them know if they fail the first time, you're still backing them up 100%, that you wo'nt give up on them unlike the many before you that has in the past!!!
There's more but, I ve got to stop now because I find myself getting tired and needing to lay down...
Friday was Chemo day so I'm really tired!!! Gotta get ready for the week ahead!!!
To sum it up, Teaching is not an easy profession, nor is it a job!!! You either have to totally immerse yourself in it or you'll find yourself losing interest in very short order!!! The demands are great from your personal time but then again, so are the rewards!!! I'm not talking monetary, I'm talking about leaving a legacy amongst the students that you teach over the years, and how they come back to find you, and tell you how much it meant to them that you never gave up on their eventual success!!! That's Priceless!!! :) :) ;)
Bottom line is to teach them with flexibility so as to cover the core curriculum within you own discretion so long as you have cooperation amongst the students because on the flip side, you may end up having a student who expects those two hours of lecture as written in the schedule so, it's up to you as the instructor to convince the student to go along with what you think is necessary to succeed -CAPISH??? ;) ;) ;)
Respectfully,
Henry