(I had never taught before )
I admit I was excited and nervous
My first night teaching
Was basically housekeeping
Passing out packets explaining
The rules, I was basically preaching
I looked at the sea of eager faces and said “I’m going to give you all an “A”
right now. Everybody in this classroom has an “A”in the class.!”
All the students cheered loudly
A Student asked “ what’s the catch?
I smiled and said
“It’s up to you to keep it”
The class exploded with nervous laughter
The same Student raised her hand
(an eager ******, I thought Good)
Great, my first real question
“ isn’t it time for our break?”
I was not told anything about a break
I didn’t wanna make a mistake
So I began to ad lib. the conversation
Does everybody believe
we should take a break?
Every hand went up
Yes, said a student. All the other students nodded their head in agreement.
And when are we
supposed to have our break?
Again, all the hands went up
Student said
“ about now for 15 minutes”
OK we’re all on the same page
so nobody should be late returning
Let’s take our break now.
As an adult instructor
One must exude confidence
Be Sure of all explanations and answers
And At times to finesse
The situation from escalating
While working on an
Emergency medical hotline,
If we didn’t know the answers
we had a pack phrase “
“I’m going to do a little research to make sure I’m giving you the most up to date accurate information”.
OR
Let me check into that and I’ll get back to you.(give a call back time)
Make sure you call back
You’re only as good as your word.
To reiterate
It’s OK to not know the answer,
Never say “I don’t know the answer”
Never let them see you sweat
Fake it, until you make it
If at all plausible ad lib.
BLT Webster’s Word of the Day challenge
2-6-25 ad lib.
To ad Lib some things, such as a performance or part of performance is to make up words that had not been planned. Example the actor forgot his line so he ad-lib
2-8-25 finesse
To finesse something is to bring it about, direct it, or manage it by skillful maneuvering