By Jessica Cinco

Have you ever had one of those teachers? The ones whose monotone voice drones on
and onand on, until you either doze off in the middle of the lecture or hopelessly slump
down in your desk, with your hands covering your face wondering if the Cosmos was trying
to punish you? Or maybe you had a professor whose lectures were so unclear, complex, or
abstract that you spent every single moment in class trying to quell a panic attack because
you knew that you wouldnt be comprehend the course material enough to pass the test.
I had one such professor, whom Ill call Dr. O, during my freshman year of college. At that
time, I was a business major with high hopes of becoming a successful business woman. I
enrolled in Dr. Os Introduction to Microeconomics class, and as I settled myself into my
desk on the first day, I knew I was in trouble. Dr. O quickly introduced himself, the syllabus
and the class. Then, he immediately launched into his initial lecture on microeconomics. He
was definitely not a dynamic speaker. To begin with, he never once made eye contact with
the students. He spent most of the class lecturing in a dull, detached voice while
simultaneously furiously scribbling information on the board. As a result, his back was to
the class for the majority of class, while he spokemumbled, reallyto the blackboard,
instead of to the students.
While the words coming out of his mouth were in English, I struggled to understand what he
was actually saying. As I glanced around the lecture hall, I noticed expressions of sheer
bewilderment on the other students faces and felt slightly comforted that I wasnt alone in
my lack of comprehension. A few brave students tried to ask Dr. O some questions to
clarify the information, but his answers were just as cryptic as the rest of the lesson. As the
semester wore on, Dr. O continued to confuse, befuddle and bore students with his
lectures. My final grade in that class was not one that I am proud of, which made me realize
I was in the wrong major. I changed my major to German and Communications and upon
graduating, embarked on an ESL teaching journey that has taken me around the world a
few times and now, to Arizona. To this day, economics remains a mystery, but I do have
Dr. Os teaching skills, or lack thereof, to thank for inspiring me to leave the business field!
If someone were to write a book entitled, How Not to Teach, Dr. O would likely be pictured
on the front cover. Now, dont get me wrong, Dr. O was an absolutely brilliant man, and an
expert in the field of economics; however, that doesnt automatically make him a great
teacher. Sadly, he was unable to organize and simplify the vast amount of economics
information stored in his brain and present it in a manner easily understood by 18 year old
freshmen, most of whom had never taken an economics class. Dr. O is not alone. Teachers
in every fieldeconomics, math, physics, and yes, even languagestruggle to convey
their wealth of knowledge in a logical, clear fashion so that students can not only
understand ideas, but also engage and take a deep interest in the material.
Ken Bain, the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at New York University, spent
15 years researching the qualities of the most effective university professors. He observed

them in class and compiled the results of his research, and offered some helpful tips to help
all educators strengthen their teaching skills. Here are two of his ideas:
Good Talk
Teachers can treat the lesson as a conversation instead of a performance. Here are a few
of Bains suggestions:
Interact with students.
Have eye contact with all students.
Routinely check that students are understanding.
Be aware of students facial expressions or body language. Bored or confused looks
should be signals to rephrase your information. Smiles and nods mean that students are
interested and relate to what youre saying.
Move around the room, dont be anchored to your podium.
Learn the students' names.
Engage students in banter and allow them to ask questions, offer opinions and interact
with the lesson.
Use conversational tones.
Speak clearly and carefully. Be sure to enunciate.
Project your voice.
Change the focus or activity every 10-12 minutes to stimulate and hold students interest.
Warm Language,
Teachers and professors, in an attempt to look austere or scholarly, can sometimes take
themselves and their classroom content too seriously. Traditionally, this was done to make
the teacher appear as the all-knowing expert up on a pedestal, whom the students revere
and dutifully take notes from. As teaching methods have evolved, so have views of
teachers and classroom interactions. Teachers who adhere to the communicative approach
have made a conscious effort to avoid putting themselves up on a pedestal, and instead
have adopted a warm, engaging learning environment. Warm language was discussed in
Video 5 as a means to draw students into the lesson and further engage them. Here are
some techniques for using warm language in your classes.

 Talk about ideas, instead of around them.

Bring the student into the lesson and work through ideas together.
Create a clear image or idea that students can relate to.
Personalize the class.
Use asides (You know,.) and explanatories (Well, wouldnt you know. and
Goodness.).
Be explicit and transparent.
Tell the story (or lesson) and give clear, simple explanations that students can easily
understand.
Ask critical thinking questions that provoke thought.
Use humor in the class.
Bring the language down to the students level of knowledge without talking down to them
(Bain, 2004).
By employing good talk and warm language techniques in your classes, you can make
yourself seem more human and bring yourself down to the students level for a more
comfortable classroom atmosphere. As a result, students react more positively, are more
engaged in the class, and are more likely to retain what they learn from your class for years
to come. You mightve noticed that these are some techniques that we, ourselves, have
been utilizing throughout this course. Instead of being one of those dull, incomprehensible
teachers whose classes students dread like my econ professor, Dr. O, our goal for this
course is to engage, inspire and empower you to become effective teachers in your own
classrooms!
Bain, K. (2004) What the Best College Teachers Do.