I have had mindfulness meditation training, and this helps to cope with stress immensely. One primary coping technique that is taught is to live in the present. Worrying about things in the past or future is a waste of energy. Thinking about this really puts things in perspective and not let my thoughts run wild with worry.

My philosophy is to remove the desk from the classroom. Get up on your feet and circulate. It is amazing how a shy or quiet student will ask questions if they see you are visible and up and moving around to help them. In the past, I have had veteran teachers ask me how I maintained such an engaged group of students while I was teaching. I told them that I never sit down, I am moving around the room while lecturing, and I stand in the back of the room while they are taking exams. For my online teaching, I make myself available to the students beyond my online office hours. Whenever I am working at the computer, I make myself available through the online chat if they have questions. If I receive an email, I send a response right away and if I need to call a student I do that too.

Has anyone every used the use-it-wisely cards? I have not used them before. I guess I would have a hard time to think that if a student uses all of their cards, then they would be finished for the day.

I know that it takes longer on my part, but I am very particular about my tests. I will not use anyone elses test. I want to write them myself. Also, I will not use a true/false or mulitple choice test. I prefer to know that my students really do know the material. For that reason, I only give short-anwer tests.

One of the suggestions here is to avoid essay exams if possible because they are so time consuming to grade. However, an earlier course on how students retain information advised that essay exams are the best way for students to show they have actually learned the material. The suggestion here is that mutliple choice and true/false are the best way to streamline grading of exams, but these are also the least effective way of showing student retention of the information. How can these be reconciled with each other? In composition or other writing intensive classes, in which exams are impractical and not applicable, how can the grading process be streamlined while still ensuring that the students have met the course objectives in terms of writing conherently and showing that they retain the information?

Today, I had a student send an email on how I have impacted her life from the very first class until now. This is her last will be I knew we as instructors can btaining her degree.impact a student life but it still makes my heart melt when the goals of teaching has been accomplished.

I have found standing in the back of the class, and/or walking throughout the class throughout the quiz/test time has put a "watch" in the class. I have also distributed 3 versions of the test/quiz as they sit two at a table it adds a third variable to the test.

i love too have challenging students. they make me even work harder to get them involved.

I will be teaching my first class this quarter. The course that I will be teaching is a course that all new students will be scheduled to take. This course weighs alot on retention. Does anyone have suggestions on how to handle a mini-term course. I am concerned about loosing the attention of the students.

I teach some of the begining courses, and as a result some of the material in my class is fairly basic. Some of the students have passed a basic test to work in the industry, yet i have to cover this material as a starting point. They get VERY bored and disruptive. I've tried the reasoning approach, by letting them know if they have some industry experience that they should take this opportunity to affirm their knowledge. Some do this, others become disruptive and rude. Then what? They know the info, I'm not teaching them anything...I'd be bored too.

we share a computer room with alot of other instructors, often when i am trying to concentrate on something like this course, there alot of other instructors in the same room doing different things or just talking with each other, I find it very difficult to concentrate on something when there is so much distraction.

I find that when I am most organized that I procrastinate less. When we create more work for ourselves we are more likely to put it off. Where as when it is easy and available we feel a better sense of compeltion in our future. Post it notes are one of my favorite uses of tasks/to-do lists. When I see them listed or "stuck" to my wall I am reminded of them and can clearly identify what needs to be done.

What are some tips to hide your stress from students.

PROCTASTINATION IS SOMETHING I AM ALL TOO FAMILIAR WITH, MY WIFE PROCTASTINATS ON EVERYTHING AND IT DRIVES ME CRAZY. I TRY TO EXPLAIN TO HER , JUST DO IT . GET IT DONE AND GO ON WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO DO, BUT SHE JUST DOES NOT GRASP THE CONCEPT.

It is very important to maintain a professional image in class. As an instructor you need to institute the guide lines for student instructor relationship but not friendship. Students need to recognize you as a knowledgeable professional but still be caring about their needs as a student. Never fall into the trap of teaching to the students so they will like me. This idea is very destructive not only to you but also to your class.

The best way I have found to stop students from cheating is to make sure the students understand the material and developed relationships of trust with them.

In class, I like to involve the students as much as possible with hands on group activities. I have found that prepping class at least one week before will help prepare for the rigors of teaching and helps keep me stay on tract. With the prepping done, I can concentrate on group activities more. Last week for instance in Microbiology, the class broke up into 5 different groups not teams, it is very important that you do not have the students break up in to teams by doing this it will increase negative outcomes. With the groups assigned, the class played Wheel of Fortune but with the categories pertaining to Microbiology. The class hand a lot of fun and participation was extremely high. The very next week the class took a weekly quiz on what was covered that week. The Quiz results was outstanding, 97% of the class received 98% or better on their quiz. I Think that hands on learning for most students get results.

I am in a culinary school where students are reliant on the performance of a team in order to finish daily tasks. I have found that there are differences in handling students with different origins of their anger, and I am curious if they should be handled the same. I chalk it up to internal vs external locus of control, but is there more clarity here? I find some students appear predispositioned to an angry state internally, while others anger seem to responsive to external stimuli, such as other students behaviors, despite its roots being internal as well.

When teach, I have found that if I use PowerPoint presentations along with class discussion and fill in the blank notes the student do better on their quiz. The class test scores have increased by 30% do to interaction by the students.

It can be difficult to tell which students are simply tired and do not share many characteristics with the silent student as it is outlined by the text. The tired student is one that is best counseled independently. I ask the student if they are working more hours or studying too much. Many of my students are working mothers and they will say that their kids are keeping them up. Either way, you are encouraging the student to get enough sleep to be prepared for class.