The Dynamic Classroom Communicator .docVIP

Module #3: The Dynamic Classroom Communicator.?Faculty Development Modules Anthony, Michael The old adage still stands today: It is the teacher who makes or breaks a class. Obviously, classroom dynamics are much more complicated than a simple saying, but it is true that the teacher’s person, presence, and delivery have a significant impact on a student’s perception and experience of a course. The purpose of these faculty development modules is to make you more skilled in the art and science of classroom instruction. This particular module is designed to help you evaluate the manner in which you deliver your classroom material. How you communicate is as important as what you communicate. You are to be commended for recognizing that effectiveness as a teacher involves not only a certain mastery of the content, but also careful attention to the communication process employed. Dr. Stephen Brookfield has described teaching as a complex and passionate experience. He further describes its complexities and passions as follows: Teaching is the educational equivalent of white-water rafting. Periods of apparent calm are interspersed with sudden frenetic turbulence. Boredom alternates with excitement, reflection with action. As we successfully negotiate rapids fraught with danger, we feel a sense of self-confident exhilaration. As we start downstream after capsizing, our self-confidence is shaken and we are awash in self-doubt. All teachers sooner or later capsize, and all teachers worth their salt regularly ask themselves whether or not they are doing the right thing. Experiencing regular episodes of hesitation, disappointment, and ego-deflation is quite normal. Indeed, the awareness of painful dilemmas in our practice, and the readiness to admit that we are hurting from experiencing these, is an important indicator that we are critically alert. If you deny experiencing such dilemmas, you are either exhibiting denial on a massive scale or getting through each class on aut