What I learned from teaching children and how it changed my instruction

When I began my first year of teaching, I had never completed a single course in the field of education.  I had graduated with a degree in Business Administration and majored in Marketing.  My degree and business experience helped me land a job teaching Marketing Education for a high school that was unable to find a certified teacher. (A word of warning, I don’t recommend this particular path into a teaching career for the faint of heart!)

During my first year in the classroom, I approached teaching in the same manner that I had been taught during my days as a student.  As a student, I sat at my desk, listened to the teacher lecture, completed end of the chapter questions or worksheets, and spit all of that knowledge back out on a multiple choice or true/false test.  Once I was in charge of my own classroom, I found myself using the same direct instruction method.  I recall from previous readings in Steve Alessi and Stan Trollip’s  Multimedia for Learning, proponents of behavioral and cognitive theory treated learners like a bucket that information and knowledge were to be poured into.  I now realize that I approached teaching in the early stages of my career in the same manner.

While teaching class one day during my first semester, a student raised his hand in the middle of my riveting class lecture and asked a question that changed my style of teaching for the rest of my career:    “Ms. Conger when will we actually do something in here other than reading the book, answering the questions at the end of the chapter, and taking tests? ”  I didn’t have an answer; I think I was too stunned to answer his question.  I had been so caught up in covering the material in the textbook and getting the required number of grades recorded for the grading period, I hadn’t stopped to consider if what I was teaching was actually being comprehended outside of a multiple choice or true/false test question.  However, from that day forward, I was determined to making learning for my students a more active process.

I was suddenly progressing from the world of behavioral and cognitive teaching theory into the world of constructivist learning and teaching theory.  I searched for and found motivation from other educators such as Edie Parrott and Vicki Davis who are active educational bloggers and experienced educators.  Even though we don’t teach the same subjects, we could all relate to many of the same classroom management issues and could also share some of the same lesson plan ideas which could be revamped to suit our individual courses.  An example would be the PSA lesson plan available at Edie Parrott’s blog.  This particular lesson relates directly to the course competencies as set by the Tennessee Department of Education for one of the classes I taught, Advertising and Public Relations.

Not only did my teaching style change, there was also a notable change in my students.  They seemed to be more motivated and were active participants in the learning process much like the students in this image.  The students were coming to school early and staying late to work on projects for local businesses and practice for regional, state, and local business competitions.  It certainly was a change from my initial days as an educator and definitely a change for the better in regards to the learning experience for my students.  Learning in my classroom had transformed into an active process which allowed the students to connect what was taking place inside our classroom to the real world of business outside the walls of our school.

Guest Blogger: Kristy Conger worked in the classroom for seven years as a Marketing Education teacher/ Work Based Learning Coordinator in the Henry County School System. She also taught computer literacy courses through the Adult Basic Education Program, and currently works as an Academic Technology Consultant for the University of Memphis.  Kristy received her BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing from the University of Tennessee at Martin. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in Instructional Design and Technology at the University of Memphis. After completing her degree, she would like to return to teaching in some capacity and perhaps work within a K-12 setting in an instructional technology role.

Image courtesy of Adam Seering at http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/hs/guitar/su06/imagegallery/pages/DSCF0014. html