I exercise 3 days a week, and do streching daily.

Does anyone have time-saving tips on grading workbook assignments. I assign my students to complete their workbooks for the current chapter. The workbooks are due at the end of the week (which for us is a Saturday). I'll either walk by each students' desk and check their work or have them turn the entire book in. When grading the workbooks I grade them according to how much of the assignment is complete vs the correct answer. (Note: I do ask if anyone has questions about the assignment before moving along.) Many of the chapters are lengthy, some have 22 or more pages that require fill-in the blank, short answers, etc. Can anyone think of a quick(er) way to grade these? Thankfully, we do use an online gradebook. However, I still have to go through each book as well as all the pages to tally the actual grades.

I am a master at organizing and managing my time and tasks. Then why do I find myself sometimes running out of time? The answer is simple. Because I'm doing other people's jobs. Why? Insecurity, micro-management, lack of knowledge, plain laziness, extreme talent in over-complicating things, the "whim of the day" effect, lack of those above me completing the tasks described in this lesson and doing things like prioritizing, and managing effectively. It would also be awesome if my boss knew my job. This is a situation I've encountered in almost every organization I've worked for, and regretfully I always end up feeling that my talents and resources are not fully exploited.

They need to know that their chosen career and that this knowledge will help them on their career path.

I really enjoyed this subject just as well as I have enjoyed all the other topics. I was able to identify myself and style of classroom management. And now I understand what areas of classroom management I can keep and what I can develope into my management styles. I don't know if I expressed it well, but I do know I'm glad I had the opportunity to evaluate myself.

As a fairly new instructor I face the fact of do I prepare for one more hour of lecture, or call it a night and take the additional hour to sleep. This has caused a fair amount of stress in my life. I find myself being inconsistent. Sometimes I choose the sleep and wake up more rested, but feel overwhelming stress due to lack of preparation. Sometimes I stay up and prepare, but feel drained by the end of the week. I think I will try to reduce stressors in other areas to try to free up some time.

Keeping it simple is a natural way to streamline or organize things. The tools presented in this module are wonderful ways to simplify one’s life. The more efficient one can perform a task, the more time and less stress you will have. With more time and less stress, we can become better instructors for our students.

Even if an instructor has taught the class many times previously, it is always a good idea to decide whether or not the course materials are still up-to-date and utilize innovative instructional methodologies.

It really does save time to ask fellow instructors for their course materials and then streamline them for your course. Then, you have time to modify the materials to accomodate your style of teaching.

I believe that many instructors feel the need to get things done yesterday. It should be in our nature to always be thinking of priorities in past, present and future deadlines. Sometimes this innate need exstinguishes our ownership over how to creatively accomplish tasks.

I agree with the module that task immediacy can make a career school instructor extremely tired by the end of the day. These types of instructors need to make to do lists and prioritize the items in their lists.

As instructors we have daily routines and we just go through the motions. Some of the day to day tasks have certain sense of urgency because of our policies. That being said, it is always good practice to revisit the BASICS! From time to time we may have the tendency to deviate from our duties as instructors. This becomes a challenge when the deviation becomes normality and the behavior or practice is out of compliance with policy. The choices we make the behavior we exhibit most often will determine our perception. Because behavior is learned, therefore, it can be modified to take a different perspective on our daily tasks. This will have a positive effect on our student’s perception. What modifications can you make to your daily routine to break the cycle of repetition and maintaining company policy?

I have made some of these same mistakes when I first started to teach. The one that stands out the most is letting my students know that I have not tought this class before. I like the example of letting the students know that I am an expert in the field with 12 years of experance.

When there is a hostile student acting up in class, when do you address the issue? At the time the student makes their comment? Or do you take them out in the hallway at break?

Having the center stage student be the quiet observer was a great suggestion. I have a student that fits this discription exactly. I will try this approach with her.

How do you address an absent student an assignment time line?

No one is perfect, therefore mistakes may occur from time to time. But, I have found that acting professional in your demeanor begets respect as well as being prepared for your class mentally and physically. Also, being organized and having the proper instructional materials ready and following the course syllabus will alleviate many mistakes. From time to time a situation may arise that you haven't dealt with before and you must have the confidence to be able to resolve it.

I have found dealing with students with behavior problems that disrupt the class to be one of the most frustrating experiences to cope with. My strategy is to take the student aside and listen to their complaint and try not to become defensive or judgemental. After the student has vented, work toward a positive resolution. If you are unable to resolve the situation with the student, it is wise to document the situation and follow your companies policy regarding the situation. And, don't be afraid to include a third party (instructor, supervisor, etc.) as a witness especially if the situation escalates or gets out of control.

I agree with the assessment that we must first look at ourselves as instructors to see if we are not communicating effectively with a challenging student. Have we set clear expectations, goals and deadlines for assignments in our course presentation? Also, we cannot blame the student with behavior issues if we have not first done our part to support and encourage him or her. I have found in my teaching experience many students with behavior issues lack self confidence and need structure, support and encouragement to help them suceed.

This course gave excellent examples and insights on how to keep a course interesting to a diverse population of students. Although I currently employ some of these methods described as part of my class instruction, I did learn some new "icebreaker" techniques to help my students learn to work as a team and see the value of the information provided in the course outline.