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The wonderful Louise So agreed to be my official mentor when Joann Pell retired after Spring of 2021. I have always gone to Louise for ideas and advice, and she has been an unofficial mentor to me over the years. I shared with Louise that my students were exceptionally quiet and that I was having a difficult time getting them speak up and share during class. Louise observed me and my students in the Sports Performance Lab on 1/31/22 and she agreed that my students were quiet, but believed they were engaged and enjoying the class. Louise shared that she was recently in a training, and she did not speak up or answer questions until the presenter provided an example of what she was looking for. Her story made me reflect on my own experiences in trainings and classes with my peers. There have been times that I did not know exactly what I was being asked, and I did not volunteer to answer because I did not want to be wrong. During my next lesson, I incorporated Louise's suggestion by providing a few examples when I asked my students to list exercises. I tried to be mindful of which examples I shared. My goal was to share examples that were familiar to my students without taking an answer that my students would have given. My students responded well to this approach in class.
Louise also suggested presenting all information in a auditory, visual, and tangible manner. I 100% agree with this advise and believe it applies to all types of teaching. We even teach our Exercise Science students the "Tell, Show, Do" approach for teaching clients new exercises. I love teaching Health Sciences and Exercise Science because there are so many opportunities for hands-on activities, labs, and movement. I will check each lesson I plan for auditory, visual, and tangible elements to verify that I am appealing to various learning styles. I strive to include auditory explanations, quality visuals, and meaningful learning activities in every lesson.
When reflecting on Louise's advice and my class, I noticed that the directions for an upcoming project did not include a visual or example. I decided to apply Louise's advice of providing examples and appealing to multiple learning styles by creating a sample project that I presented to my students when I was going over the instructions. In addition to explaining the requirements verbally, I showed my students a visual of a completed project and demonstrated a presentation. My students did a great job on their projects and I was pleased with their presentations. I believe that providing an example of the project and presentation boosted their confidence because they knew exactly what I was expecting and that they were on the right track.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with Louise.
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