Barry Westling

Kenneth, Great! A good guest speaker can spark interest, motivate and inspire students beyond what they might receive in their classroom alone. It's not that the instructor is not doing a good job, but the brief break from the routine, a different voice, and supplemental information from an informed third party all contribute to a satisfying experience regarding the profession the students aspire to pursue. Thats why it's interesting to them. Barry Westling

Barbara, I reside in your camp, but appreciate that others have alternate views. I believe if it's important to know, then it should be taught and learning measured in some way. In my opinion, our role is about learning, understanding, and possession of useable knowledge. Extra credit is about points and grades. I suppose that may be acceptable in some cases. It is not a route I take and choose not to offer it. Barry Westling

Barbara, You've touched on an important goal, although usually not a written one, and that is the ability to make choices -- good choices, or at least better choices in their career and personal lives. Education should provide the foundational for lifelong learning and growth. Barry Westling

Candace, Students waqnt and need order and direction. Evaluations are one way to convey needed changes in study or recognition for aoutstanding work. Either extreme is helped by the instructor feedback to the student through evaluations and discussion. Barry Westling

Candace, As a planning tool, pretesting gives the instructor insight to where they may need to make adjustments, additions, review, or omission if the class is already performing satisfactorily in a certain area. Why take valuable time if students prior knowledge already exists. Or perhaps more time is deemed necessary based on pretesting results. Barry Westling

Candace, I get a lot of benefit by doing classroom observations, even if it's instructors I don't supervise. I'm amazed that after many, many years of instruction, I still pick up simple and/or useful tips about what makes a good class run smoother, or some technique I hadn't thought about. Barry Westling

Candace, Modifying our plans can be a version of student-centered instruction, where rather than forcing my way of thinking onto my students, I try to understand where they are coming from, and reach out to them on their level. This is more difficult with larger classes. Yet having a willingness to slow down a bit if needed is better if the result is improved student understanding. Barry Westling

Candace, Yeah, we all have a self-perception that guides us, made up in part from how we view ourselves, how we perceive our students view, and how our students really perceive us. Striving to be our best will never be an undesirable characteristic, so that's one thing I can do to be effective at least to the degree I can control it. Barry Westling

Allison, I believe students can never receive too much review. For weaker students, they benefit to strengthen their understanding. For stronger students, the review information is a good reinforcement and validation of their comprehension. So it can never hurt. Barry Westling

Allison, Yeah, I imagine a lot can be revealed in the manner, use of grammar and words, and punctuation in a essay to determine where some students may need more work than others. Concise words to convey ideas or thoughts is a skill that really takes practice and good instruction in the fundamentals of writing. Thank goodness their are individuals (like yourself) that have the interest and ability to instruct. Barry Westling