As a visual learner myself, I find it more affective to use visual aids that might help the student to understand what the expectations are. It also gets the student excited about what they will be doing.

I find that sometimes because I tend to be very busy in preparing for the current class or maybe try to get ahead for the next class, I am unable to detect student needs sooner.

Showing the students that you really care about their success and showing them how you are assessing them usually works for me. I tell them how they can be successful but because of certain behavior or reactions to certain situations their grades will suffer.

It has helped me to call on the students that seem to have difficulties concentrating and asking them to stay after class. I usually would discuss my observation and ask what is the difficulty on their side. I very kindly tell them that their behaviour needs to improve for their own benefit. More than usually, if you show them that you care about their success, they will start to improve their behaviour.

I enjoyed this particular portion of the course. It gave some very helpful tips on dealing with the array of students that are in any given class.

I try to keep my learning material exciting to keep eveyone focused.

When I make a mistake, I point it out and make it a learning moment... whether it is making hollandaise or beurre blanc, I always say "Okay, this is how "NOT TO" make the sauce!" Usually I will get some laughter but then I go into what made the sauce break or why the heat was too hot, etc. What you need to do is show that you must understand how to fix the problem and not give up. I make that the learning outcome. How to fix the problem is what we are trying to teach the students as well. ~Louis

When students come in with attitudes, I address this right away by having a general discussion without pointing fingers. As instructors, we have developed a keen sense of hearing and can pretty much gauge the mood in the classroom. I start the discussion and offer up any suggestions of why the attitude and explain why they feel the way they feel. Usually the attitude stems from plain laziness or lack of understanding of the subject matter. For instance, a research paper is due and many students do not like writing papers so of course they will be disgruntled and complain. I explain that writing a research paper helps one think, analyze and communicate their knowledge of the topic and it shows their level of learning to the class. ~Louis

When I see a student struggling with attendance or having "life" challenges, I bring up the "80%" rule. Many have different variations of the "80%" rule. To me, success is 80% showing up - whether it is at work, classroom, etc. and the other 20% is a combination of hard work, attitude and luck. We all have bad days but by showing up, you say that you are not a quitter... by showing up, you are stating that you are ready to handle whatever challenges face you. I go into this during the first day of class as it will always apply to the student's life journey in the future. ~Louis

When class commences, it is the responsibility of the Chef Instructor to provide guidance via cooking demos or assignment examples so students have a point of reference to judge their work from. I like to show several examples for students as this gives them ideas and a distinct guideline to what my expectations are in the lab and academic classroom. ~Louis

I find this to be a time saver, along with on line disscussion groups to answer question.

I find that going through expectations and requirements, along with a handout, on the very first day of class is very helpful. It sets the tone on how you conduct your classes, students now know it is serious business. Also, it makes it clear to the students your standards and there will be no excuses.

This is a very important tool that can help calm the nerves of student's. This can also help answer questions before they ask them.

I like the idea of a group activity that promotes team work. Most classes have an array of students from various backgrounds. It is important that while they are in school, they learn the valuable lesson of working with others towards a common goal, regardless of the differences they may have between them. It is a key element for a successful career.

How have technology help in the aid of students cheating?

In any workroom or lab knowing the basics will help that student accomplish the goals and guidlines set upby the instuctor and or school...

"Many students are very sincere with their compliments and you can count yourself fortunate for having such genuine students who enjoy the field you are teaching and enjoy your instruction. This is what teaching is all about. Relish these students." This may be what teaching is about for the person who wrote this lesson but it is wrong to tell others why they should teach or what aspects of teaching they should enjoy. It is an opinion that should be removed from the course.

There is no real consequence for not turning in homework in my classes except that the student does not learn the material and may not perform well on the tests. These adults decide if they want to be responsible or not. However, to motivate them, do you think it would be a good idea to offer some type of bonus for turning in the complete work on time? Or is that just rewarding them for something they're supposed to be doing anyway?

I've usually used the tactic of listening to music and taking a short power walk in between classes or breaks. Helps to blow some steam off and clear my mind for a bit.

Being a career instructor has produced a great amount of stress because it always feel like there are things that need to be done. I try to not let it affect my job but it sometimes does. I've had to learn the value of time and not take it for granted because this is what seems to be the conductor of most of my stress.