Good and Bad instructors you've had

[deerwhistle]

Hi guys, after 25 years on the tools and one brief year teaching I'm going back to trade school. This time to teach full-time. Question: Could you boys tell me what you think makes an effective instructor and also the mistakes you've seen. I was pretty fortunate in that my instructors were all pretty good although a couple were outright sadistic. If I can help it the problems you've seen won't be repeated. Appreciate any help.

[coolestacman]

-be organized (material handouts etc.)
-do not try to bluff
-keep the story telling to a minamum, and only tell stories that can be applied to the lesson.
-keep looking for new information.

good luck

[coolestacman]

some where on this site there used to be a thread mistakes a instructor makes.

[dec]

I agree to keep the stories to a minimum, and dont take long breaks. I see that too often at seminars, at what it costs and the time your taking off, your there to learn not take a bunch of breaks. I get a kick out of a lot of teachers just trying to look like they know a lot more then the students..... who cares they are there to learn not be feel that they are infearier to you.I agree with handouts on everything being a lot of guys will fall behind on a lot of things being said being they are too busy trying to copy what you might be showing them on the overhead projector before you put something else up( I hate that). I have always felt that making everyone do what ever you are showing them is better then having them watch someone else do it is better, I think it sinks in way better and promotes more confidence.

[flange]

I once worked with a guy who was very talented. I was an apprentice and worked around him for almost four years. good guy, good heart, honest to a fault, not pushy or arrogant. In addition, he was a night instructor. After finishing my apprenticeship I started taking night classes and eventually wound up in his class. Even knowing him well and trying to help lighten the mood in the class, we just couldnt keep our eyes open. It wasnt that he didnt have a wealth of information it was that he was perfectly monotone and therefore tiresome to us. The point is, inject some energy into your classes, use anecdotes, remember why you are there and enjoy yourself, then the class will too.

[hvacpope]

I had a good instructor, well there was this time when we we're learning about motors and he gave us a cap to look at and pass around the students.....I got a mark in my index , he was a joker! at the end of the week he used to take us to a near by pub and drinks we;re on him, to the end of his life many of us called him or stoped by his house every now and then.

[NormChris]

Originally posted by coolestacman
some where on this site there used to be a thread mistakes a instructor makes.

http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?threadid=24982

[Allen]

Hi Deer,
(feel like I'm talking to my wife)
Don't talk over their heads, use the simple words. The $3 words are fine for people with experience. I agree with everyone else about the war stories.
Good luck,
Allen

[Chomper]

Never brag about how good you are at work.
Never put down a fellow worker. EG. I had to fix so and so's problems.
Always have more to cover than the time allows. You can always finish the following week.
Always be prepared.
If you make a mistake, correct it and move on. No instructor is beyond having a bad evening.

Other than that, enjoy the ride. Students will teach you more about your short comings than you care to know.

[markwolf]

I think the best instructor I had would have been Ed Schriver.He was teaching rses's heat pump course.Ed was a refrigeration guru by all means.It was funny though,I needed a compressor for my personal use & traded him some labor for it.I looked at his job & could not hold the chuckle in.This guy was the best refer guy I have ever met,he was a problem solver for any large industrial application you could think of.The laugh was for his sheet metal work.I told him:Ed you are a refrigeration god but please do not do sheet metal sub it all out!He laughed a bit & got embarresed.I just wish I knew half of what he forgot over the years.

[jackmm1]

Deer

Make eye contact w/your students, this only occurs when your lesson plans and subject matter are short and brief
Make sure you motivate them and keep them interested.
Eye contact from you will let you know who is getting the subject matter and who is not.
Make sure you have POI (Plan of Instruction for the entire course)
Daily Lesson Plans each day and after each lesson what is your objective on that subject matter.
Ex: each student after this lesson will learn…bla…bla…
Again make sure your students are motivated and interested in your subject matter.
Voice control-Raise and lower your voice (get excited over the subject matter)
State your real life experiences. (Give them a war story once in a while)

Example a simple Lesson plan
Simple Refrigeration Cycle
Compressor
Condenser
TXV
Evaporator
Goal of Lesson: End of lesson each student will know the 4 main components of a refrigeration cycle.

P.S. Never read your lesson plan, you will lose eye contact and the class..
Note: Which do you prefer, Your are in church the preacher, priest read from the bible and makes no eye contact w/the people, look around and see how many churchgoers are dozing, bored or sleeping. Or go to church and this priest /preacher give a great sermon w/max eye contact and tells you about his personal experiences.

Good Luck on your new career.

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog. - Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)

Enough Said…


[Edited by jackmm1 on 05-25-2005 at 03:34 PM]

[Allen]

Hi Deer,
I think Chomper and JackMM1 are providing the best advice.
Good Luck,
Allen

[double bubble]

Show energy if your into it they will be to . also walk the room go to the back of the class while your talking . Be unpredictable . Pose tough question and then walk out of the room let them work it out . Put them in situations that are not totally comfortable for them like working with someone that they are not used to . Let them know when they make you angry there boss sure will . Hope this helps .

[schmuck]

Be on a personal level with your students. Know your students and what they are into and like or dislike. Try at times to make your lessons relate to them in some way. They really like that and feel to be more a part of the class when they are involved like that. Be open for questions and comments at any time. Dont look down at them. I try to be a "friend" to my students. They really seem to open up more in class when they feel like they are on a personal level with the instructor. Its hard somtimes to maintain a professional level and a personable one all at the same time but if you can manage that it works great. Be the same to all of your students. Dont treat anybody different than the other. I really like for my students to be comfortable with me and the class. When they are comfortable and you have established a personable relationship between you and them then they seem to "want" even more to learn whatever it is that you are presenting them.

[leathernecke5]

A lot of men say that they are not afraid to say it but listen to us talk and you will see what I mean when I say don't be afraid to say "Ya know I'm not sure about that" but let me find out. Lastly I've found over the years of my career in teaching inmates much who are uneducated in the field that any practical lab stuff especially in the beginning was significant i.e. boiling water in a sealed container demonstrating pressure changes/effects as an example. Good Luck Make a Positive Affect

[overnightflight]

I just got through with a bad thach. cost , just about $9000.00. yes I said $9000.00. we heard more stories about grand kids, his wife, the 40 or so jobs he has had in hvac/r, and herd verry little about what we were studding. Thats if you could hear him at all. To me still going to school I would look for some one that can speeak and be heard, and just becaus you think we are listing, put some thing in front of us. a visual aid. And its ok to repeat your self, just take a paus and let the students fill in the blanks. AND NEVER TELL US THAT I HAFT TO TEACH THIS, BUT YOU WILL NEVER NEED TO KNOW THIS IN THE FEILD. You never know that one student may be on his/her way to being an enganer. And for the ones that are not book smart, plenty of hands on. And rember its our job to learn, your job to help us learn. Now only if the teach I had would have asked the same thing I wouldnt need to go back for another 24 weeks.

[madjack]

Walt Kirshman at Bellingham Technical College in Washington State.Had his own company at one time.Had a magazene article on the wall where he was working for Dupont helping to develop a new refrigerent-Freon.Great teacher but no matter how hard i studied i could never get 100% on any test.No one in the class did.Always one would be wrong.Well they were right but you could argue till the cows came home and not sway em.Even though i owe alot to him and became a really good tech-I can't ever forget that.He would holler and stamp his foot and really throw a fit over the boiling point of R-12 even when you had the book right there.I know there is nothing wrong with 99%.I guess you should think about how you want your students to remember you-and never forget the reason you are teaching or the reason the students are there-to turn out better service techs.He did make us try harder-but he would talk down to us and belittle us.Never mix motivation with manipulation.And good luck.

[d big 1]

One thing I have noticed that has put this trade different than all others is the drive that is inside a real HVAC tech/pro. Either you have it or you don't. We had a local industry close and many thought they would make a quick buck downing (opps I mean doing) HVAC work. No heart, no soul, no class involved in their work. All they did was create more work for those love this field. After a few years they went to other professions - mostly landscaping. Don't waist time on those who are not interested even if their scores are high. Look into the eyes of those who get burnt by a hot discharge line when they say "I get it now!" Those will be the ones worth putting time and effort into.
BTW - Is corperal punishment still allowed?