This will be my first course I've ever taught. I know the material and am confident that I have the ability to teach it. I'm just not sure I can handle the lecturing part of it. And answering random questions doesn't thrill me. How do I handle this??

Some of this module was a little too much for me. I mean that if you're teaching adult students at a college level, they should be responsible for their own actions. This is college. These are grown-ups. There is no need to baby them. They should be able to comprehend what is expected of them after the first day of class. If they can't, then their grade will reflect that.

What are you supposed to do if students keep challenging you because you're a young teacher and much younger than those students being taught? How do you deal with that and fix the problem?? I need to gain the respect of my students, but I don't know how to accomplish that when all they do is judge me for my age...

If you decide to be so strict at the beginning of your class, in order to scare your students out of screwing up, will there be more class participation in the long run, or less, than if you were playing "the nice guy"?

I am human, I know I will make mistakes in class. I have been teaching for 5 years now and still check to make sure my fly is zipped before entering the classroom. That would be the worst! Humor is the answer, everytime. It is important to teach the students to laugh at themselves as well. I am the perfect example. If I miscount handout copies, I blame my secretary by rolling my eyes and saying sarcastically, "my secretary can't count"! My students know I don't have a secretary. I feel redeemed in their eyes if I can crack them up. They also forget your mistake.

We get quite a few of these, so we have developed some methods that work well. I teach Culinary Arts so we have to have them controlled because we give them knives to use! If I have an angry student burst out in class, I sternly ask them to meet with me in private during break or after class. I do not allow them to disrupt class for more than an outburst. When I meet with them I let them vent, and I explain to them that I will help them find a solution. Our student services department has a "counselor" who is trained to deal with these situations, and she has helped us tremendously. So if I feel I can't help the student, I assist them in making an appointment with our "counselor". We have had a drastic reduction in continued anger from these students, even some successful turn-around stories.

I have found that small group discussions or group debates in the classroom tend to keep all types of students "awake" and motivated. I typically will have at least one small group discussion included in each of my class periods. Some of the small groups formats I use include having various groups debate an issue or topic I present to them, answer end of chapter questions, etc. I just wanted to reiterate some of the information discussed in Module 2 on how groups in the classroom can help motivate students and help the inattentive students pay much more attention and be more excited about class!

I believe that the first week of the course is the most important week of the session/quarter. It definitely sets the tone of the course. (I remember back when I was a college student and would form opinions of a course during the first class meeting). It is sometimes hard to change those opinions once they are formed! So I really do think the first class meeting is extremely important and it is essential for the instructor to be prepared and start the course on time. I also think that expectations of the course need to be discussed during this class meeting. I always use the first half of my first chat/class to go over what my expectations are regarding participation, attendance, assignments, etc. If I, as the instructor, provide good, clear expectations, the students are aware of what is expected, which I believe helps the students to be successful in the course.

I do find myself doing this with my class prep and I have learned new ways NOT to do this and it is making a world of a difference

The first class that I taught at a career college was an eye opener. One of the first mistakes that I made was assuming that since I was dealing with adults, my students would act like adults. Wrong! I've had classes of middle-school students who were better behaved and more respectful. While half of my class behaved as I would have expected, the other half put me through a "baptism by fire". As often happens, it was a case where one "bad apple" on the "challenging" side of the room strongly influenced others in her group. I doubt that there was a day that I didn't have to say "we can discuss that after class if you'd like". The student never ever stayed. I spoke with the student individually outside of the classroom, and soon realized that actions that you and I (and most people) would consider rude or disrespectful- she did not. Fortunately, I knew that administration was behind me and if necessary, I would have asked her to leave the class and advised that she would not be able to come back until we met with administration together. What I tried to do was never lose sight of the fact that I was the instructor and it was my obligation to be firm but to stay calm and treat treat her respectfully regardless of how she treated me. After we spoke one day, and she began to realize that I was not "out to get her", her attitude improved tremendously and she became much less disruptive in class. I think that she also realized that most of her "friends" had already began to realize that I genuinely wanted them all to succeed. I was there to teach and help them. How did I win her friends over? Simply by not allowing the fact that they could have been considered to be "associated" with her to influence the way I treated them. As I worked with this group of students individually, one by one they seemed to begin distancing (although slightly) themselves from her behavior. At the end of the term, students from the "good side" of the room actually wrote in their course surveys that they found it amazing that I never "lost my cool" and that they were impressed with my professionalism and the way I handled the situation over the course of the semester. I often wonder what they might have written if I had reacted to the antagonism with antagonism and handled the situation (most likely with at least a few sarcastic comments) as I perhaps might have been inclined to.

I get a lot of these, our class time is 3 hours long. It is culinary so students want to cook and not sit for lecture so they show up late, and try to leave early. They want to cook, but not clean up. That stuff doesn't fly. Our attendance policy is to rigid about tardies, and if they leave before dismissal for ANY reason, they are counted absent. If you dodge clean-up, you aren't allowed to cook the next day. You spend it cleaning instead. It works pretty well, but we still have those who buck the system.

I noticed that one of the strategies mentioned for managing angry students was agreeing to reassess their work (if that is what they are angry about). In the past, this has been a last resort for me as I found it both rewards anger and is unfair to the other students in the class. I am hoping someone can further explain how this an effective strategy and what positive implementation of it looks like.

Being very firm from day one with the uniform policy at our school has helped me maintain order in class

I have applied the technique of splitting them into smaller groups to get them more involved, but still sometimes it doesnt work. Any thoughts as to how to get them more motivated

what are some better techniques to apply in class for older generation students to make them feel more at ease during lecutures, since they have been out of school for so long?

I think one of the most common mistakes new teachers make is trying to become friends with their students. That said, I am curious as to how other instructors feel about using social networking sites (e.g. Facebook) as a way to interact with students.

I'm an instructor at a for-profit technical school. Although the school catalog lists very specific and strict policies regarding inappropriate behavior by students, the administration rarely backs our instructors. On more than one occasion I have requested that a student be removed from my classroom due to repeated disruptive behavior. On each occasion, however, I was basically told that we cannot afford to lose a student. How is an instructor supposed to adequately manage the classroom when administration is much more interested in focusing on the monetary bottom line?

I have difficulty being seen as assertive and as a new instructor it can be difficult to handle situations that I have never encountered, as I have never taught before. Teaching is different from training. My superiors have mentioned that eye contact is crucial, which I am working on. Are there any other tips someone could offer me?

I am a strong believer that you as the instructor set the tone for professionalism in the classroom that will be picked up by the students and carried out to the work force.

I have a student that has multiple family issues, a terrible outlook on life, tries to intimidate everyone in class. I have had to throw her out of class twice and recently she was removed from my class permanently and has to repeat the class next semester. I tried doing a few things listed in this module by having her write down why she was angry and she wrote down nothing that had to do with the class or myself. What else could I have done with this girl ?