Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Shana, Students want to be in positive environments, and an instructor who consistently portrays passion with their instruction is going to command the attention of their students most of the time. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Organized and prepared to teach

Jonathon, Yes -- there's just such a smoother flow when the instructor feels (and is) prepared. Students will notice too. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Using pretests as planning tools

Donna, Great! I find pretesting helpful, and also does not necessarily have to be exhaustive, and in fact I have used just 1-2 questions to determine how much depth I need to provide. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Selecting instructional media

Rosalyn, Variety is very important. We can choose awesome material we think students will love, but if the medium is not varied, students will begin to lose attention. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Reasons for evaluating students

James, I look forward to grade and performance discussions. The relationship is enhanced, and I get an opportunity to convey sentiments that suggest I care and want to help the students success. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Reengaging off-task students

James, These are great suggestions and I'm sure if practiced, students would be in tune more of the time they arte in class. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Using pretests as planning tools

Judy, Sometimes, just learning where the class is can help shape the degree of depth of instruction that will be needed for a particular topic. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Selecting instructional media

ROBIN, My take is whatever we use, it needs to be applicable. Also, there needs to be variety -- students tend to have short attention spans, so mixing up the delivery of course material is a better best practice. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Developing instructional backup plans

ROBIN, I don't think you could ever go wrong with a practical story, situation, circumstance, or humorous event. Students like stories and will nearly always perk up and pay attention. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Goal of educating students

James, I think an impartation of approaches to problem solving can help students immensely, along with theory and practice of the subject matter. Barry Westling