Practice what you preach

I was reading Trisha's post and it got me fired up enough to put down some of my thoughts about some of my experiences in this program.

I'm doing my undergraduate in Education, and as such have been taking classes similar to our methods class for the past couple years. I have had some absolutely amazing teachers that are so efficient and dedicated I hope I can be half of what they are in my teaching career! That being said, I feel that few actual examples of different teaching methods are ever used in a university classroom. There are moments within the classroom that we get a chance to practice these different forms of teaching and see what they could look like in a classroom. And if we don't know what these methods look like in a classroom, how will we successfully use these tools in a classroom?

That being said, I cannot shake this feeling that this program has spent the last few years lecturing at me on how NOT to lecture and how to engage students. Only, there is so little engagement by our teachers to us as students. I'm sure other students feel similarly. There are so few professors, even within education, that actually practice what they preach. I understand that they are teaching us the theory so we can take it how we will and become different and unique teachers, but sometimes we need a bit more engagement.

There are a few lessons I've learned from this experience up until this point that I hope might help others who are feeling similarly a bit:
1) remember how you feel being lectured at and if you feel you are really being engaged. If you feel that way as a student who has succeeded in the school system we have, think about how other students who learn differently would feel. (Easier said than done if the examples of how to reach those students are few and far between, but we'll figure out some of what works and what doesn't on your practicum!)
2) practice what you preach because the student's will recognize when you don't
3) use the things you don't like about your classroom experience to remind yourself what not to do in your own classroom as a teacher
4) at least look like you enjoy your subject material, even if you don't!

Does anyone else have any lessons they've learned so far through this program and how it will impact their teaching style that was not ever directly taught by the teachers? I would love to hear them!