After half a term at TAFE, so six weeks into my second course, I have decided that I am possibly far too critical as a student. I find myself wanting to do trainer observation reports on my teachers and comparing them to my own staff. I find myself correcting the typos and punctuation errors on the handouts I am given. I find myself cringing at the mispronunciations of the trainers, who have English as their first language but still can’t get it right.

So I have put together a list of things that trainers should and shouldn’t do if they have me in their class.

1. Do not give me a handout that you are planning to also display using the data projector and then read to me. I would prefer not to have the text in front of me, as I read about twice as fast as you read it and am finished and bored by the time you reach the end.

2. Do not set an activity that will take the class about 15 minutes to complete and then check your emails for the next half an hour, as we will all be sitting there waiting for you to start teaching again.

3. Do not decide after two hours to have a 10 minute break when you really only have 10 minutes more of content left to cover. We would rather go without the break and leave early.

4. The word is proNUNciation, not proNOUNciation. Every time you mispronounce it I see the NESB students looking confused, as they know how it is supposed to be pronounced.

5. The word is specific, not pacific. Using the wrong word once is bad, but using it five times in a lesson is unforgivable.

6. If there are computers in front of us, we will be using Facebook, Twitter or other social media, if you don’t give us work to do and the things we will be writing about will not be totally complimentary to you.

7. Pace your lessons properly. If you go too slowly before the break, it is not good to try to rush through the content after the break, especially if the concepts are complex.

8. The fact that you are very good at your day job, does not mean that you are a good trainer, so it is important to keep upskilling yourself so that you can fix the things you do poorly in the classroom.

9. Be aware of your audience. A tired class does not usually respond well to a whole lot of questions asked to the cosmos. Be more directed when asking questions.

10. If people say they didn’t understand something, explaining it again with exactly the same words probably won’t help.

By following these suggestions, there is a chance you might avoid bad feedback at the end of the term when the students complete their evaluation of your class.

But beware! If I am in your class I am watchful and critical. Apologies in advance.