I remember the excitement I used to feel as a student walking into a classroom on day one. I’m a guy, so my first tingle of excitement was about meeting all the new girls walking through the door. Hot on the heels of wanton desire was the urge to learn something new and applicable to my life. I wanted to be everything when I was a student. I went through so many majors and minors that by the time I finally got into a teaching career it turned out I could teach a bunch of stuff.
Once I became a teacher that excitement shifted. No longer about them girls, my excitement for day one turned into seeing all the faces and hoping to find reflected in them that same urge to learn something applicable that I felt as a student. Honestly, I don’t see that flicker in every face. More and more I get the disinterested stares of the caged student and I wonder why they are here.
Still, that flicker does exist for many and it is those that drive me to be truly good at what I do. I recognize the role a teacher has in the classroom. It isn’t to stand up there and deliver content, but to ignite the imagination and educational desire of each new student that walks through that door. Because we live in an information age, the role of the college instructor has shifted. Most students are savvy enough to figure something out if they really want to. Look at any video game and you’ll find that it always starts with a decoding–a period in which the user must decode the controls and learn how to apply physical response to on-screen cues.
The game provides the motivation to learn in the same way the instructor must provide positive motivation for student engagement and success. This is the lesson we new breed of instructors still struggle to accept.