Formulating a course proposal and finishing the semester!

To culminate my learning in Advanced Interpersonal Teaching and Training I decided to write a course proposal. The assignment guidelines indicate that we cannot write a proposal about a class we have taught however, since this was my first semester teaching Comm 101 and I took all of my course materials - syllabus, assignments, tests etc. - from the Comm 101 director, Dr. Reeder allowed me to redo/revamp my course based on the teaching philosophy I developed this semester.

It's been an interesting journey this semester, my first in graduate school and my first teaching in my own classroom. While teaching in itself has been a fantastic learning experience, I have learned so much teaching for the first time while also taking this class. Each week in this class we would learn teaching and training strategies and how to apply them in the classroom. And each week I would plan my classes and wonder how I could implement the strategies we learned in my own classes. It's been fun and challenging. Communication lends itself very well to active learning strategies so in the one sense it's been easy to implement some of these ideas in my classes. On the other hand, working with tools that do not necessarily fit with my philosophy has made it a little more challenging. So planning my next semester with this course proposal should be an interesting way to bypass that challenge.

After I graduate I really want to continue on to teach at the college level. I came in with that goal but teaching this semester and taking this class, and other graduate classes, has really cemented that goal in my mind. I have loved teaching and learning about teaching and can't wait to apply this stuff in my classroom as I continue to teach. Watch this space!

As a final note, I just want to thank Dr. Reeder for being a wonderful, supportive and inspiring instructor, I have learned so much from you, not just in this class, but in all the classes I've taken from you and I hope that can continue in the future. Thanks also to Kristine, Lacey and Jim. You have all been great classmates and your encouragement and feedback has helped me to learn even more :)

Stories and questions

Stories work. The relevance of stories is compounded by questions.

That is the basic premise for why to use stories and questions in the classroom. We were charged with demonstrating two different interpersonal communication concepts through narrative and questions.  I had a hard time coming up with stories to fit my topics at first and I think my classmates' stories were a lot more relevant. The reason I think I struggled though was because the topics for stories were given to me; if I decided to implement a story in my classroom it would be because a specific story stood out for me regarding a concept. I understood the nature of the assignment though so made an effort to come up with some good stories for them :)

I thought Lacey did a fantastic job with her narrative on emotional contagion. She told us the story about her grandfather's funeral and how the emotion of the occasion transfered to everyone around. But, not only did her story tell us about the idea of emotional contagion, it demonstrated it to us as well. As she told us the story, her eyes filled with tears and her voice betrayed the intense sorrow she felt at the event. When she finished her story, not one of us listening had dry eyes, showing us how her emotion became contagious for us.

Then of course, to bring the narrative back to us in the classroom setting and the context, she asked questions to demonstrate and have us connect the story with the concept of emotional contagion.

Looking back at this semester I find that I have used stories and questions without realizing it in my classroom, usually in a more impromptu way as I remember stories that relate to information I'm lecturing about so I can further demonstrate the concepts. As I plan my class for next semester I will look to see where I can incorporate provocative stories to generate discussion and solidify learning concepts.

Wikis and other technologies

To follow from my last post on teaching vs. training I'll take a minute to evaluate the role of technology in the classroom. We used a wiki to create the document on teaching and training, a method with some benefits and some drawbacks.

Since we worked remotely, the four of us used the discussion board part of our wiki to talk about what content we wanted to include. This was somewhat effective in getting our information out there to the others but was not instant and so we sometimes had misunderstandings where people did not see other's replies. It got a little confusing at times!

The way we could edit the document was great since we could edit fonts, colors and backgrounds to make it look exactly how we wanted. However, unlike another format like Google Docs, only one person could save edits at a time and so we accidentally ended up with some miscommunication and some information deleted.

Overall I can see wiki documents being of value to my classroom but I would most likely not use it remotely for groups of more than two students due to the ease of miscommunication. For example, Kristine and I used our Broncomail chat, which is instant, to communicate when we should go in to edit the document a year to alleviate the non-instant nature of the discussion board. If there were just two people it could be easier to bypass these issues.

Another alternative I think could work for larger groups remotely would be google docs. Although it cannot be edited to be as "pretty" as the wiki, it can have multiple editors at any given time and has an instant chat feature to aid effective communication.

Teaching vs. Training

The title for this class inclues both teaching and training, but I find it easy to interchange those two words, and have done often times in this class. I've also heard the terms used interchangeably in discussions with others. So it was interesting to work on an assignment with my classmates to determine what ways teaching and training are the same and how they differ.

In our assignment we created a document that listed the different concepts, philosophies, etc. of teaching and training and looking at how they overlapped. After our discussion and a few hours working on the document, we came to the conclusion that they are both similar in the sense that they convey information and have a focus on students and but are often different in methods. Our evaluation of this led us to realize that "The drawbacks of each are that they tend to exclude the other. Combining teaching and training makes for the most effective experience."

In my classroom I can see how this plays out. Traditional teaching involves lecture, verbally conveying the information to my students. That alone isn't very good for student retention or understanding, at least in my experience and based on what we have learned in this class. On the other hand, just having my students do exercises without giving them a content basis - training them without a foundation - can also present problems. I find that mini-lectures combined with active learning exercises effectively balances the teaching and training to make sure my students have a good grasp of basic concepts and how they play out in their interactions.

Nonconscious learning

In our readings this week we learned a bit about nonconscious learning - what we learn and our students learn that we are not aware of. I liked a pull quote in the chapter that summed up the idea that there is a big difference "between teaching and learning."

The chapter outlined many different ways that students can perceive certain things about the teaching, class or material that is not spoken aloud as part of the lecture. One thing I found particularly interesting that I mentioned in a previous post is the teacher's appearance. Since the beginning of the semester I have tried to make sure I always dress professionally when I will be teaching either of my classes. While I know this is not important to all teachers, it is important to me mainly because of my age and look - some of my students are the same age or older than me and so by dressing like an instructor and not a student I can be sure to separate myself from them on that level. In general I think it's important to dress for where you want to go and not where you might think you are - while I am only a graduate teaching assistant right now, I want to teach after I graduate and so there is no reason not to start dressing for success now! While I've thought these things, both consciously and unconsciously in the past, it was interesting to read that there is research to back up my thoughts that how a teacher dresses can unconsciously send the students a message and affect how they learn.

The chapter gave various tips for how to make the most of unconscious learning. They fell in line with many of the tips we already learned in books like Train Smart and the Ultimate Training Handbook - for example, active learning, varying the visual field and incorporating stories and examples. The first one is one I find particularly important as it sets the whole tone for everything I do as an instructor in my classroom: "Model a positive attitude and enjoyment of learning." I try to do this in various ways, keeping my statements positive, leaving life problems at the door when I go into the classroom and giving students personal examples about material that has helped or struck me. Showing the students why I care about what I teach is, I think, a great way to get them to care too, or at least get them to think about why they should care. This ties in to a later section of the chapter which talks about suggestion; everything we do and say in a classroom suggests something to the students. So if we can strive to make our suggestions positive and affirming as much as possible, we can increase student learning and potential.

Managing problematic students

Chapter 16 of the Ultimate Training Workshop Handbook outlines various ways to encourage and handle participation in a workshop. The part I was most interested in involves how to deal with problematic participants. There are various problems that I see or think I might run into in my Comm 101 classes.

First Klatt outlines some suggestions for how to deal with students who under-participate. The first way he suggests is one way I already get students involved. I have them discuss what we are talking about with a partner. That puts them in a one-on-one situation where they have to really work on not participating. That way I can then call us back into a group discussion and I can call on people if they don't participate and I know they have talked about the subject somewhat so I hopefully am less likely to be met with a blank stare. Klatt also makes a few other suggestions including polling students - I have tried this and find that many students just don't bother participating in the poll - and giving lots of verbal and nonverbal feedback - which I think can help somewhat as it shows students they will get reinforcement if they do participate. I have used the first strategy a lot in my early Comm 101 class because my students can just sit there sleepy and not participate. I'm glad I now have another idea to incorporate!

The next problem goes in the opposite direction, how to deal with students who over-participate - those dominating students who think that everything they have to say is the most important thing (I'm sure every teacher sees them at some point and I have one very boring one in one of my classes!). Again, just getting the students into a one-on-one situation here can help and then the student will have a chance to get their point out there. I can also be assured that everyone will have at least something to say so I can call on other students who are not speaking up because one student is dominating. Klatt also says just giving that student recognition can be enough since that is all they might be seeking. Another way to deal with the student might be to ask closed-ended questions - although I don't think this is something I want to do often because I like to foster discussion with open-ended questions - and simply asking other students to join in can be helpful.

Finally, managing when participants are overly agressive is another issue Klatt outlines some potential solutions to. Giving the person attention and showing their point is made can be helpful in making sure they know they are heard - writing down their point on the board or repeating it back to them. The author suggests using humor carefully or being direct and asking the student to reserve their judgment for the moment. I have used the latter strategy in my classes. Specifically, I have one student who likes to play "devil's advocate" and question a lot of things that I am talking about. Sometimes I just have to ask them to reserve their comments to the end of my lecture and I'll give time for questions then. Usually they just forget or boil it down to one comment so it has proved somewhat effective so far.

How effective is online learning?

Kristine and I attended a workshop last week and I just realized that I forgot to blog about it at the time. Hopefully I'll remember enough to write about but I suppose it will allow me a retrospective look and I'll just write about the things that were most important :)

The workshop was a Learning Lunch put on by the Center for Teaching. Titled "Changing text, changing brains: Conversations about literacy, genre and neuroscience and what this means for student writing." The group of professors and instructors present talked about the rise of online tools in teaching - specifically for reading and writing - and the general rise of internet and technologically mediated communication, and how this is changing the way students learn.

One thing they mentioned that I have heard before is the "F pattern" of reading on a webpage. This research doesn't specifically apply to academic work, it apparently is for any type of online resource. But basically it says that people are most likely to read in this pattern - look at the computer screen and imagine the vertical line of the letter F running all the way down the left side of the page. Then fill in the rest of the letter across the screen. That is the most common area that is read by people in general in an online format. This might be helpful for me when assigning students work they will read or complete online. I'll have to make sure the most important and pertinent information is in that F to be sure they are more likely to read it.

One thing I questions the professors about that I have noticed in my classes was the way students use "text speak" in their papers and whether this is a more recent change; since I have only been teaching college students this semester for the first time I have no frame of reference when I see a student leave I uncapitalized or other such things that are now common, because quick texting with no thought for grammatical correctness becomes more commonplace. Many of the teachers present were nodding in agreement as I explained what I observed about students writing in this way and many spoke up saying it was something they see an increasing problem. However, one made the valid comment that students will always make mistakes and not proofread so this is not really that different to mistakes they made in the past.

One recommendation from an English instructor was understanding that students can be a lot more distracted by all their technology these days and accepting that so we can address it. She suggests making a deal with students that they can have a two minute technology break to check their texts, Facebook or email, if they will make every effort to pay attention for the rest of class. I'm not sure how well that would work because it seems like students might be more distracted after the break thinking about what they looked at in the break. She also said a drawback is older students who don't care about the technology and don't want the break. However, that said, I think it might be worth a try to see if it is an effective strategy - she obviously likes it since she uses it in her classes. I'll have to consider if this is something I will include in my classes for next semester, I'm still not totally convinced.

Evaluating after a workshop

With our group workshops fast approaching, one of the things we have to think about is how we will be evaluated after we teach our group of students. Appendix E in the Ultimate Training Workshop Handbook gives various examples of evaluations and I can see how many of them could be beneficial. They range from purely quantitative evaluations, where partipants rate how satisfied they are on a numerical scale, to those on the qualitative end where students answer open ended questions.

Although I can see the benefit of the former, I think for our workshop, Jim and I will likely chose the latter. Since it is our first workshop, it would be good to get personal feedback in the form of written answers so that we can improve for our individual trainings. However, the questions will need to be worded simply since English is not the first language for any of our participants and they will most likely need longer than the average group to respond since they will take more time to formulate their ideas in English.

The basics of paragraphs

We read a short essay on Purdue about paragraphs that seems common sense but, reading it, it's amazing how much people violate the simple rules relating to paragraphs, myself included :)

Basically, the main thought is that each separate thought should have a separate paragraph. This is clear when you look at rudimentary APA style rules too; each rule about citations restarts again with each new paragraph.

One of the interesting things I noticed as I read the article was the similarities to the ideas I am teaching my Comm 101 students about how to organize their speeches to maintain clarity. They have to have each idea separated into a point with transitions or signposts (the exact same language) to move between each idea. numerous scantily.

These are mainly just ideas to keep in mind as we're writing so I'll continue to think about them.

Self-defense - the epitome of active learning

Kristine, Lacey and I attended a self-defense workshop this evening and I was very impressed with the instruction in the class. I swear the teacher must have read Train Smart because she incorporated a great many of the ideas!

She began by creating a safe environment for all the students, which is obviously important in a class of this nature. We all sat around on the floor in front of her and she sat on the floor in front of us. She gave a mini-lecture, organized into the three main points to remember about self defense and why it is important. It was good to set the stage for what we would be doing and to show us why the skills we would learn would be useful. Given the fact that it is a sensitive subject she also framed the topic for us with positive language. She said instead of creating paranoia with the things that could happen to us, she wanted us to think in terms of preparedness.

She then had us all stand in a large circle with herself at the head but still as part of the circle. She then went through various maneuvers that we could use to defend ourself. She would verbally tell us, then show us the move and then have us do it ourself three times in a row to practice. She then had us practice one at a time on a dummy.

She then transitioned into more complex moves. With a similar tactic she would verbally explain the move then demonstrate. However, she would show us two or three moves at a time then have us practice them with a partner.

Finally the teacher briefly reviewed what we had been over and randomly shouted out moves for us to do to see how well we remembered. She then had us do another few moves on the dummy to round out the class.

Overall I came away really feeling like I learned something, even though the class was only a little longer than an hour.  The instructor used very clear instruction each time we were supposed to do something ourselves so no one was left standing around confused. She did a great job using mini lectures to get the information across and allowing us to practically apply the info so we could retain it better.

Visual options

I'll preface this post by saying that Chapter 8 of The Ultimate Training Workshop Handbook that focuses on visuals seems a little dated to me. Looking over the examples Klatt gives of possible visual aids, I am amazed that the book even includes an option for a VCR!

Those reservations aside, I do think that many of the visuals he explains can be helpful. Most of the visuals I use in my classroom however are all incorporated into the computer system. I like to use both PowerPoint and video clips in my classes to vary the visuals and give good examples that students can relate to - this falls under Klatt's categories of TV and computers. Also, as Klatt points out, with computers it's important to plan prep time to make sure you can work the system and your information is compatible. One thing I learned in my Comm 101 class yesterday morning was that it's always important to have a back up plan when you are using technology. The power went out in my classroom and students that were going to use the computer to go along with speeches were unable to do so. That experience reminded me that I need to be aware of my lesson plans that involve technology and allow for every eventuality!

In our workshop training, Jim and I plan to utilize the computer system to present a PowerPoint to back up our presentation; since many of the participants struggle with English, we thought it would be helpful to reiterate main points in text behind us as we speak. Hopefully we will be able to arrive early for the presentation or check the room before hand to make sure any compatibility issues will be solved ahead of time.

Other types of visuals, such as a flip chart or whiteboard, may be helpful when brainstorming ideas with a class or writing points out for clarification. For our workshop either of these may be helpful to reiterate points as we talk or to aid in answering questions.

Thinking about adult learners

In the Ultimate Training Workshop Handbook, Klatt looks in Chapter 2 at the process of learning and habits. Specifically, I found interesting the section where he talked about adult learners and how they differ from traditional child learners.

Since adults are older and have more experience, they bring that with them to a class or a workshop. I have seen this myself this semester in my Comm 101 class as students will often be able to attribute concepts to personal examples because they have experience in a certain area. Klatt mentions that it's important to allow adult leaners to adapt what you are teaching them into what they already know, so as a teacher I must be aware of the experience level my students bring into the classroom.

Klatt also notes how adults are often looking for real life problems and solutions rather than academic ideas. While this translates well to a workshop, for me in an academic setting teaching at Boise State I feel like this may not always be the case. However, from personal experience and based on the text, it seems that, even in an academic setting, as adults we look for ways to apply our knowledge. The more I can show my students how their knowledge applies to their world, the more likely they are to engage with the content I'm teaching them.

Adult learners also prefer to direct themselves instead of an instructor telling them every single thing to do. In my classroom I can see how it is beneficial to give students broad directions but let them take their activities and discussions in a way that they feel like can learn something. Of course, since my classes are mostly freshmen, sometimes a little more direction is needed to stay on task and I have to be aware of the situation to make sure they have a good balance of freedom and direction.

Working in teams - a few strategies

Friday I attended a workshop put on by the Center for Teaching and Learning here at Boise State that focused on how to use small groups effectively in the classroom. The CTL brought in an outside lecturer to present the workshop, Larry Michaelsen. Larry has worked since the 1980s on his idea of "Team Based Learning" which encompasses how to use small group, or team, work to the best advantage of the instructor.

Right off the bat I liked how Larry began the workshop. He greeted each participant at the door and handed out a short questionnaire for those present to begin filling out while waiting for everyone to arrive. After a short introduction he used the questionnaire answers to divide the class into groups. To get a mix of views in each group we tallied up scores of our thoughts on the effectiveness of small group teaching and then made a long line around the room in order of our scores. He them numbered off down the line to split us up and get diverse groups.

Larry's premise for effective small group teaching centers on his idea of teams. He recommends setting up groups at the beginning of the semester and then keeping those same groups throughout the class to foster a team atmosphere. I had not considered until that point how effective this could be and is definitely something I would consider implementing in my Comm 101 classes next semester as, during the first half of the semester, we do a lot of group work and activities.

One way to have effective work in small groups is to ensure the students read content before class. Since most students do not read the text before class, Larry recommends letting students know there will be a short quiz on the content at the beginning of class. He then has the students retake the quiz within their team to collaborate on the answers. In almost 100 percent of cases, the students do better when they take the quiz together. He used a unique concept for the group tests with scratch off test sheets so students could see right away if they were correct and could continue to answer questions for less points until they got the right answer.

This exercise made sure students were prepared to work in groups and had covered content before hand so then class discussion could commence.

Larry also gave some pertinent examples about ways to use groups in class, involving us as workshop participants. He gave the participants three group project scenarios to discuss in their groups and then had us hold up a number to indicate our group decision. This then sparked a larger class discussion on the issue.

The key issues to focus on when designing good group assignments, according to Larry, are:

• Significant problem - making sure the assignment is relevant to the students lives
• Same problem - having groups discuss the same problem as other groups
• Specific choice - use concepts to make a specific choice
• Simultaneous report - groups should report their information at the same time.

I'll end this post with an equation that sums up Larry's idea about how to learn effectively in groups:

Individual Work x Small Group Discussion x Total Class Discussion = Impact on Learning

Training preparation

We delved further into The ULTIMATE Training Workshop Handbook this week (I capitalize ultimate just because the book is so freaking huge!) with a focus on chapters six and seven to help plan for our upcoming training projects.

Jim and I have a few weeks in which to plan a 1-2 hour workshop for an audience of our choice. We're going to be teaching/training refuges who come to Boise with basic cultural and speaking skills to aid in their social life and interviewing here in the U.S. The first point from the book that jumped out at me was "Keep Participants Involved and Active." Now, this is something we've really hammered home with our reading of Train Smart but it's funny how, even with that fresh in my mind, my initial thoughts for the class are "What will we lecture on?" Then I immediately realized, well, I don't really want to worry too much about that, we'll just go over the basics then get the students practicing the skills for themselves. Not only will they stay engaged and learn better but they will also likely have a higher skill level at the end of it given the practice. An idea that springs to mind is using a role play activity to have the students act out first of all how they would usually act, then improve that based on our tips to practice. I'm sure as Jim and I discuss and plan we'll come up with a lot more active learning strategies.

One of the other great tools I found in the handbook is the organizing checklist (page 256). I think as Jim and I move into that planning stage, this could be really helpful to guide us and make sure we are well prepared on the day. After meeting with administrators with the refuge organization that we will work with this morning, we have already checked off the first item on the list: Assess participants' workshop needs. Now we'll have to move through the rest of this comprehensive list to figure out exactly what we want to cover, how we will implement that into activities and how the training will flow.

Am I unconsciously competent? Let's hope so!

Just one other quick shout out about The Ultimate Training Workshop Handbook readings for this week. Another thing that jumped out at me in these readings was an idea that I have heard of before  - The Stairway to Proficiency.

I remember I first heard of this idea in my Comm 221 Interpersonal Communication class back when I was in my undergraduate days. Something must have struck me about the idea though because it stayed with me all this time in the back of my mind until I read it again in this book earlier this evening. The idea is simple and includes four steps:

1. Unconscious incompetence - You don't know it, but you are not doing something well.
2. Conscious incompetence - You become aware that you are not doing well.
3. Conscious competence - You become aware that you are doing better.
4. Unconscious competence - You become so good that you are unaware of trying to be good.

I think the reason this resonates with me is that it can apply to pretty much everything that we do or learn. I think about it a lot when I am striving to improve a skill and am usually in the conscious competence stage. I never really pay attention when I get to the final stage but I suppose that is the point really.

One area I have worked to improve and am now consciously competent in is giving positive feedback to my students. It's a tip I picked up from Train Smart earlier in the semester and I have been trying to positively acknowledge every student who does something in one of my classes - answers a question, gives feedback etc. At first I suppose I was unconsciously incompetent since I didn't give that feedback as often and I didn't know that was a problem. Then after reading the tip in Train Smart I decided to incorporate it and kept realizing that I had forgotten to give the feedback. Now I notice that I am getting better and giving the positive feedback more instinctively. I won't really pinpoint when I move into that final stage but when I stop thinking about it and it becomes a good teaching habit then I will be unconsciously competent.

Build trust and rapport

This week we've jumped into "The Ultimate Training Workshop Handbook" by Bruce Klatt which gives tons of instructions and advice on how to run the best possible workshop. Right now in class we're beginning to plan for our own workshops so the information all seems pertinent.

One specific section that jumped out for me in Chapter One was the section on trust and how to build it as an instructor. This is something I can see myself applying in my Comm 101 classes as, thinking back to great teachers I've had in the past, trust is a key issue in being an effective instructor.

First, Klatt outlines how important it is to keep any trust you gain - once lost, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to gain back. To give your students an aura of trust about you, you must also trust them in return and be genuinely interested in them as students. Another important element  - and something that resounds with me as I try hard to live this in my daily life - is understanding that you are not perfect as an instructor and admitting when you are wrong or don't know, instead of just BSing. Taking responsibility for yourself as the instructor will hopefully garner respect from your participants and they are more likely to trust what you say because they know you will own up if you don't know something.

Another element of trust is openness and working to be a 'real person' as well as an instructor, which is an element of my teaching philosophy (currently under development). I think in most circumstances, this can lead to more trust and respect since participants come to understand that you are being truthful and up front about the topic and not trying to skirt around issues. Along with openness comes being congruent, reliable and supportive, all very important elements in trust.

Another element to go along with trust is rapport. Klatt gives an example of good rapport as the class having an inside joke, possibly even laughing at you as the instructor, but in a good humored way. I think this is a great way to connect with a class and again ties back to being a real person who is relatable. Inevitably that will lead the class to trust you more.

I teach two sections of Comm 101 and I can tell that I have a much better rapport with one class than the other, and I haven't yet been able to pinpoint exactly why. In my morning class that I teach twice a week the students are often difficult to engage and don't seem interested a lot of the time. However, when I do the same exercises with my night class, they quickly engage. That is the class that I can tell I have a better rapport with. I put it down partly to the time of day - for example, if I show a funny video clip to illustrate a point, the morning class will sit there in silence while my night class will crack up - so it's not all me! But in the night class it seems the students are much more apt to joke around with me; a standing joke in the class is making fun of me biking to campus in my high heels :) I never thought much about the joking as a specific way to build rapport, it just comes more naturally later in the day I think, but now I plan to try and implement a few more jokes into my morning class to see if it builds a better rapport with those students.

Who am I to teach? Finding my courage.

I talked in my last post about the book I'm reading for class "Teaching Interpersonal Communication" by Elizabeth Nattale. We jumped into the middle of the book to look at interpersonal theories but now I'm taking a step back to look at myself as a teacher.

Natalle questions the reader as to why he or she became a teacher and when they decided to do that. I guess for me, as I reflected on that question, I thought back to my days in primary school. I had always wanted to be a teacher but the idea of teaching at the university or college level had never even crossed my mind. It was a choice between a history teacher in secondary school or a primary school teacher. Although it was a given throughout my childhood that I would always come to college, I definitely didn't have the most concrete background as far as parental examples - not only am I a first generation college student but my parents didn't even finish our British equivalent of high school. So maybe that is why the idea of teaching at this level never even occurred to me.

Anyway, I took a year out after I graduated and worked as a teacher's assistant in a primary school. While I really loved the experience and valued the fun time I had, I saw the work of the teachers around me as something I did not want to do.

Then I came out to Boise State, a history major for my first year, thinking about becoming a history teacher. But through my studies I realized another career choice (it had always been between these two) and decided to switch my major to Mass Communication/Journalism to become a journalist. That gave me my first experience with Communication as a field and I began to love so many aspects of it, especially interpersonal. That lead to me coming back to study my master's degree after working as a reporter for a few years; while I loved the work, I felt that teaching at the university level suddenly became an option for me and I didn't want to put it off any longer.

Natalle also questions the reader as to what their strengths and challenges are as a teacher so I'll take a shot at figuring out some of mine.

Strengths:

• Personable - This helps me to relate to students.
• Positive - I can take most things and give them a positive spin.
• Passion - I really "get into" material, especially regarding communication, so I find I can sometimes pass this on to the students.
• Organized - As long as I have time to prepare, I can set myself a schedule and stick to it through the class.

Challenges:

• Soft voice - While I can be loud at times, I generally have a softer voice when teaching so I need to work on my vocals to project my voice effectively.
• Nervousness - Sometimes I can get flustered if we get off track or I lose my place in the outline so I need to practice being "off the cuff" to reduce this.

After that background, next I'll delve into my teaching philosophy.

Stages of coming together and apart - we can all relate

"Teaching Interpersonal Communication" by Elizabeth Natalle outlines the original text of some fundamental interpersonal theories. In class we divided up the theories and each used Train Smart ideas to teach the our classmates. I chose to teach Knapp's Stages of Coming Together and Coming Apart, mainly because this is one of the interpersonal ideas that best appeals to me. I consider it to be foundational and adaptable to all manner of relationships. It can also helpful within those relationships to understand the stage and the behavior generally associated with it.

In class I decided to begin by demonstrating to my classmates how adaptable this theory is, surveying them to find out who had been in a relationship, who had been in a relationship that ended and who was still in a relationship. Obviously they all raised their hands for all of them - that's because this theory is so adaptable to every relationship.

I varied the visual-field and overviewed the main points with a powerpoint, being sure to use a pretty design to make it worthwhile to look at. I also had my classmates reflect on each stage to identify specific relationships that characterized each stage. I had them pair up and act out a different stage to involve, not tell. This was fun and also had them thinking deeply about each stage.

Just as an overview, here are the stages outlined by Knapp:

• Initiating
• Experimenting
• Intensifying
• Integrating
• Bonding
• Differentiating
• Circumscribing
• Stagnating
• Avoiding
• Terminating

I can't draw it out here on the computer screen but I visualize these as a pyramid - moving up the stages of coming together all the way to bonding and then coming down the other side to terminating.

A few points to note: You can have characteristics of many stages but you are characterized by the most dominant behavior and also that there are no good and bad stages here - coming together can be bad just as coming apart can be good.

A few tips from Train Smart

As my previous post outlined, I've been reading "Train Smart" by Rich Allen in which he lists 25 key concepts for training smart. I'll just pick out a couple of my favorites to chat about here.

1. Acknowledgement - It seems like common sense but it's important to pay attention to each person and each response to create a positive atmosphere. While we can't let it seem like fake praise, just keeping everybody's efforts acknowledged can lead to a good learning environment.
2. Precise directions - Again, it sounds like common sense, give precise directions so people can know exactly what they need to do. It's a little more difficult to do however since sometimes we can give directions and not realize that they need to be more specific. For example, instead of asking a question, tell students to raise their hands if ... which gives them better direction (ties in with another tip, participant inquiry). Also keep directions concise and give them one at a time.
3. Teach it standing - I tried this in the Comm 101 classes I teach and it worked a treat! It's a simple concept, just get the students on their feet for a while so they are not falling asleep in their chairs. It's important not to use it during important times when students need to write things down or answer test questions.
4. Question/clarify/question - As a teacher when you open the class up to discuss a questions, adding in lots of details after the question can be confusing. This tip recommends the teacher first states the questions, gives the additional details and a specific example of what they are looking for, then restates the question at the end so it's fresh in the minds of students.
5. Managing disruptions - This tip outlines various ways to deal with disruptions which is an area I definitely want to get better at. It can be as simple as giving participants time to voice concerns or get out frustrations or can require the instructor to stop in to diffuse the situation. Any remarks that are offensive or hurt feelings need to be dealt with right away.
6. Positive language - I'm a pretty positive person so I'm surprised this one hasn't occurred to me before now but this just involves framing each thing you say as an instructor in a positive way instead of negatively.
7. Involve don't tell - This encompasses a lot of the Train Smart ideas and is quite self-explanatory. Students will learn best if they have to do something to learn it rather than just sit and listen. So come up with activities that allow the students to interact with others and the material.
8. Visual-field variations - Mix up where you have students looking as an instructor to keep the students attention focused. Have visuals such as a powerpoint for some content but then write other content on a board to mix up the visual-field, for example.

How can we train smart?

"Train Smart" by Rich Allen promises effective trainings every time. Now I haven't used it all that much yet so I can't speak to how true that promise is, but it sure seems like we could learn a lot from this book.

Although many of the ideas seem a little common sensical, judging from teachers and trainers I've experienced, not everyone  - in fact very few in my sphere - follow these guidelines.

The point is simple: Don't just stand up infront of a crowd, give a boring lecture and expect everyone to magically stay focused and absorb all the information. Most of us learn much better in a varied environment where we are doing rather than just listening.

Allen outlines what he calls the "bricks" of the Train Smart Model which include:

• Teach people, not content
• Awareness leads to choice
• Learning + enjoyment = retention
• Application is everything
• Stories work

While these have further explanation in the book, they are pretty self-explanatory and all lay the foundation for the different teaching tips the author lays out in the rest of the book. Allen also outlines the "Five Pillars" of the model:

1. Engage - 2-5 mins to engage participant's attention
2. Frame - less than 1 minute to establish a frame of reference
3. Explore - 5-30 mins to introduce the conceptual activity
4. Debrief - 5-15 mins to reinforce the learning
5. Reflect - 2-5 mins to reflect on the broader relationships through stories or parables

I'll later explain how I modeled a training using these five pillars but for now I'll leave it here to ponder the importance of that outline.

Brainstorming and Discussion: Ways to engage

In the previous post I took a look at Tate's preface to her book '"Sit and Get" Won't Grow Dendrites: 20 Professional Learning Strategies That Engage the Adult Brain.' Then I delved straight into chapter 1.

The chapter focuses on brainstorming and discussion; ways to bring this into the classroom and how it can engage your students. Tate mentions classes or workshops where the teacher serves as "the fountain of knowledge" and lectures on the subject that entire time. I'm sure it varies from discipline to discipline but here in the field of Communication, I can't imagine why an instructor would want to do that when it seems getting the students communicating among themselves would be the best way to learn and engage.

In fact, Tate uses research to back up her reasons why brainstorming and discussion can be of great aid to learning. Sharing and interpreting ideas, participating in dialogue with fellow students and asking questions - I won't list them all here but, suffice it to say, there are many, many reasons why it seems scholars agree that talking about the subject helps students to understand it.

Here are my three favorite ideas Tate puts forward as ways to promote brainstorming and discussion:

1. Participants circulate around the room and discuss a topic. She recommends students discuss their expectations for the course, but I think it would work for another topic as long as the instructor is specific.
2. Participants are given a question to which there are multiple answers. They brainstorm to generate multiple answers using DOVE guidlines: Defer judgement when others respond, One idea at a time, Variety of ideas given and Energy directed to the task.
3. Participants are given two minutes to brainstorm as many concepts as they can remember from a previous class session. They can then compare with a classmates. A point is given for each concept the other partner did not get.

Do I look like I'm supposed to be here?

Staring my foray into this semester of learning and teaching, I read the preface of what promises to be an interesting book:

'"Sit and Get" Won't Grow Dendrites: 20 Professional Learning Strategies That Engage the Adult Brain' by Marcia L. Tate

The author recounts her own experience of both a bad presentation and a good presentation to show her inspiration for becoming a good presenter. Her bad experience resonated with me because, like many others, I've been there before.

"The presenter, a disheveled, middle-aged man ..."

Well that made me laugh right off the bat, I can just imagine him! I know this isn't the case for everyone, but appearance is something I find very important in a presenter. Not how good looking a person is, but how they present themselves, how they are dressed, how they carry themselves. If a person is "disheveled" I find myself distracted by their lack of care in their appearance and my first impression is that they don't want to be there and that they don't belong.

This semester I'm teaching Communication 101 and I made an effort to dress professionally on the first day of class to present a good impression. For me, the students I'm teaching are mostly around 5-6 years younger than me and some are older than I am, so it seemed important to separate myself as the instructor through my dress.

Tate continues to recount her experience, saying the presenter apologized for not having enough time to prepare. To me that seems like a recipe for a self-fulfilling prophesy; now the audience will expect him to be unprepared throughout the presentation and that is what they will see.

The author then recounted her most memorable presentation. The room was ready ahead of time and the presenter greeted each audience member at the door as they arrived. She had the audience break into groups for discussions and only lectured in 5-7 minute intervals. Now that sounds like a presentation I would be engaged in!

The idea of the short lectures especially resounded. When I lecture in my classes I can feel the students' attention start to wander if I go on for too long. I'll have to start timing myself to see when that point is and try to break up the lectures a little more.

Now, onto the next chapter ...