Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Making field trips and guest speakers a part of instruction

Maryellen, I agree there is power in he field trip activity. Few instructional strategies can match the degree of interest, engagement, enjoyment or motivation a good field trip can instill in students. The potential to inspire students to work harder and become better students is also welcomed side benefit ofen experienced by many. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Informing students of status in course

Richard, Reassurance is really a helpful trait that can provide optimism, hope, and inspiration, even to students who may not be performing at their best. I think whenever we can personalize information sharing it promotes a more positive student-instructor rapport, which by itself can add to improved student performance. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Reengaging off-task students

Richard, Your proactive approach is a good example on how to keep students engaged. Even so, the next group of students will find other ways to distract and hence, other proactive methods employed by you, their instructor. This exemplifies that all classes are different, and even when procedures and or policies are developed, there will always be a need to be on the alert for students who are not fully engaged. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Organized and prepared to teach

Richard, Time management is really self management (since we all have the same 24 hours in a day) so good preparation requires a commitment of time, planning and effort. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Informing students of status in course

Jamie, Good post. Students begin their classes and make various degrees of progress until they begin to receive feedback from their instructor. That feedback can be very encouraging and supportive to the level of motivating students to put in the needed effort for improvement, or inspiring for good students to keep up their good work. Either way, feeback about progress is as important as the delivery of instruction. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Goal of educating students

Christine, Yes, and I'd even say more than as "much as possible", we should prepare our students for all learning objectives, skills and knowledge, and the professionalism associated with their career setting. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Developing instructional backup plans

Lynn, This is a great example of a (backup) plan that can be conducted when the regular planned for activity is unavailable for whatever reason. Good back up plans are simple to implemment, related to the topic, interesting to the students, and productive in that students don't feel their time is being wasted, or engaged in a "time-filler" activity. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Organized and prepared to teach

Christine, Instructors will definitely feel more secure and confident about their presentation and delivery materials when they have spent time in preparation. Rehearsal and practice is needed by individuals in other professions, and so it is with instructing classes. And we expect no less from our students. Students will recognize our preparedness and will appreciate our effort is for their benefit. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Using pretests as planning tools

Denise, It varies in content, format, and length. The idea is to sample your students early on to see what prior knowledge they have. Then, based on examination of the overall results, an instructor may see that students are really strong in one area or really weak in another area. So, based on your observations, adjustments in amount of time spent or where emphasis (more or less)is needed, planning your class by spending time on material that needs no emphasis is avoided. It can be short (7-10 questions) or lengthier (35-50 questions). Also, true false, multiple choice, or fill in… >>>

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Informing students of status in course

Stephanie, If we want to measure learning there are alternate methods to do that that are acceptable. We just need to make sure that the alternate way is fair, accurate, and doesn't give the student an unfair advatage over other students. Barry Westling