Jay Hollowell

Hi Donna! Thanks for your comments! I too, after years of teaching, tell myself to pause and take a breath while presenting. We get so wrapped up sometimes in the subject matter that other students can inadvertently fall behind. I have often stopped during a presentation or lecture and asked a student volunteer to provide an example or paraphrase a presented topic in his or her own words, or asked students what part of the lecture would make for an interesting discussion; other times I simply ask students to simply raise their hand to indicate that I may need to… >>>

Thanks, Olga, we have often found that "silence is golden, not arkward" so to speak. Sometimes a bit of quiet during a presentaiton or lecture can be quite powerful - it can bring special attention to a point, refocus students, or simply give learners a chance to catch up. The hardest thing for me was to ask a quesiton and then wait for a response - it seemed like an eternity before a student might respond. I learned that it's OK to just let a little time pass before an anticipated response is given - it's actually a great communication… >>>

Hi Olga! Thanks for your input! True, one of the characteristics of learning groups is that some members carry their weight, and some don't - very typical of the world of work (smile). Assigning tasks specifically to group members is a good method as long as the tasks are all interrelated and, to some degree, mutually depend upon outcomes. - that way, group dynamics often facilitates positive outcomes. Sometimes, I ask students in the group, under my guidance, to develop their own set of team ground rules regarding expectations, participation, activities, assignment completion, etc. The group leader (assigned, chosen or… >>>