Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.

Getting into a teaching mindset

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
WhatsApp

Being mindful of the teaching mindset

I wear many hats at AgileSparks – what you might call a T-Shaped sparkie… Every week I can find myself wearing the consultant hat, the marketer hat, the thought leader hat, the trainer hat, the conference speaker hat, the head of business in the United States hat, and probably a few more that I’m forgetting. Switching hats requires a context switch which we know is tough but also requires a mindset switch.

Specifically, what I found over the years is that going into a teaching mindset is something I need to pay some extra attention to. This goes beyond making sure I’m comfortable with the materials I’m going to deliver, reviewing the facilitator’s guide, etc.

Patience Patience Patience

What do I mean by a teaching mindset? For me personally, patience is the most challenging aspect. I’m considered impatient even among-st us fast-moving impatient interrupter Israelis. I frequently get where a student is going with a question way before they even finish asking it. I have to be mindful of that and patiently wait for the end of the question/statement before I attempt to answer. Since starting to force myself to wait I found that something like 90% of the time I guessed correctly about where the student was going with his question. Not a bad statistic but worth it to wait even for that 10% where I learned more by being patient.

More importantly, people from many cultures struggle with these interruptions. Since starting to force me to wait I also noticed other phenomena. Some people actually EXPECT to be interrupted at some point and if you just patiently listen they sort of keep going on and on reiterating their point as if waiting for you to get it and start answering rather than finishing and risking a white space…

Smile Smile Smile

In many cases when delivering a class you’re teaching people you haven’t met before. They don’t know all your shticks. They don’t always know when you’re joking or serious. Give them some other cues! My personal approach to trying to be funny is very dry. I got the feedback that I’m hard to read. So when going into a teaching mindset I try to add some cues like smiling when I’m trying to make a comment aimed at being funny.

Awareness

Teaching requires you to both deliver materials effectively as well as be the facilitator for the class. Monitoring the energy level in the class and adjusting pace, tone, and activity type, all while focusing on delivering and answering questions. I love the technique of asking the participants to help out. Whether it is by assigning “Rat hole”, “Sold”, or “Park it” flags that everybody is encouraged to use, or whether it is by asking for feedback about the pace frequently – at a minimum after every lesson/module/break. Combining a short discussion of pace (e.g. thumbs up for too fast, sideways for just right, down for too slow) with a review of where we are from an agenda/objectives perspective is even better – as it gives everybody all the information so we can all try to adjust if needed.

What are YOU doing to get into a teaching mindset?

I’d love to hear from you – the reader. Do you have a teaching mindset checklist? Is it similar? What else do you try to be mindful of? Let me know in the comments!

Subscribe for Email Updates:

Categories:

Tags:

Atlaassian
Pomodoro Technique
Scrum.org
Code
WIP
Test Driven Development
Scrum Primer
Lean Agile Leadership
Video
System Integration Environments
Coaching Agile Teams
Legacy Code
The Agile Coach
Nexus
Agile
Agile Release Management
Scrum
Sprint Planning
Agile Mindset
Lean Budgeting
Jira Cloud
speed at scale
Spotify
Managing Projects
Lean-Agile Budgeting
Lean Agile
Scrum Guide
SAFe
Artificial Intelligence
Agile Outsourcing
Manage Budget Creation
Agile for Embedded Systems
ALM Tools
Scrum Master Role
Scrum With Kanban
Applying Agile Methodology
speed @ scale
Kaizen Workshop
Enterprise DevOps
Professional Scrum Master
ATDD
ART Success
Principles of Lean-Agile Leadership
predictability
Self-organization
Software Development Estimation
TDD
Agile Project
Scaled Agile Framework
ATDD vs. BDD
Lean and Agile Techniques
POPM
LAB
Continuous Planning
Games and Exercises
SAFe DevOps
Lean Agile Basics
Frameworks
Agile Games and Exercises
Lean Risk Management
Professional Scrum with Kanban
Agile Assembly Architecture
Introduction to ATDD
Value Streams
RTE Role
Accelerate Value Delivery At Scale
Product Ownership
SPC
Nexus and SAFe
NIT
Risk-aware Product Development
Acceptance Test-Driven Development
Legacy Enterprise
Agile Techniques
Sprint Retrospectives
Agile Product Development
Agile Product Ownership
Lean Software Development
Agile Development
Risk Management in Kanban
Scrum and XP
Releases Using Lean
Lean Startup
Agile Community
Planning
Webinar
Tools
Quality Assurance
Lean-Agile Software Development
Change Management
Certification
Perfection Game
Process Improvement
Software Development
Jira
AI Artificial Intelligence
Lean Agile Management
Introduction to Test Driven Development
SAFe Release Planning
Agile Project Management
Implementation of Lean and Agile
Agility
Hybrid Work
Agile Games
Professional Scrum Product Owner
Continuous Delivery
Amdocs
Kaizen
An Appreciative Retrospective
Agile Exercises
Agile and DevOps Journey
ARTs
Large Scale Scrum
Agile Israel
Sprint Iteration
User stories
Implementing SAFe
Limiting Work in Progress
System Team
Lean and Agile Principles and Practices
Agile Marketing
chatgpt
PI Planning
SA
Engineering Practices
Covid19
Nexus and Kanban
Risk Management on Agile Projects
Entrepreneurial Operating System®
Scrum Values
Story Slicing
Advanced Roadmaps
Agile Testing Practices
ROI
Program Increment
Kanban 101
AI
Effective Agile Retrospectives
Kanban Game
Reading List
Built-In Quality
Certified SAFe
Release Train Engineer
Product Management
Kanban Kickstart Example
Agile Israel Events
What Is Kanban
ScrumMaster Tales
Development Value Streams
Agile Release Planning
BDD
Rapid RTC
Kanban
LPM
Presentation
Scrum Master
Kanban Basics
EOS®
RTE
The Kanban Method
Agile India
Continuous Integration
GanttBan
lean agile change management
Iterative Incremental Development
Jira Plans
PI Objectives
RSA
Operational Value Stream
Daily Scrum
Agile in the Enterprise
Lean Agile Organization
AgileSparks
Continuous Deployment
Tips
A Kanban System for Software Engineering
Nexus Integration Team
Agile Risk Management
Agile Contracts Best Practices
Atlassian
Jira admin
LeSS
Agile Program
Continuous Improvement
DevOps
Managing Risk on Agile Projects
Agile Basics
System Archetypes
QA
agileisrael
IT Operations
Business Agility
Agile Delivery
Portfolio for Jira
Systems Thinking
Elastic Leadership
Nexus vs SAFe
Achieve Business Agility
AgileSparks
Logo
Enable registration in settings - general

Contact Us

Request for additional information and prices

AgileSparks Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter, and stay updated on the latest Agile news and events

This website uses Cookies to provide a better experience
Shopping cart