Hi, Phyllis,
I teach marketing and budgeting. I would ask my class to take a short "field trip" to walk across the street to the restaurants and shops to study the way they post the signs and ask them to take some photos. I think variety is the key!
Thanks - good suggestions
I teach a Cultural Diversity course from 6pm to 10 pm and most of my students come directly to class from work. I definitely agree with Dr. Meers - variety is the key. Even when they watch a DVD (and the lights are turned low!) I give them questions to answer on what they are watching and use these to jump start discussion. Since they appear on midterms and finals, they also watch more carefully. I also do skits that involve students to portray a concept.
Hi Phyllis,
Since I teach from 4 until 10 I know exactly how you feel in your attempts to keep students engaged throughout the evening. The key is variety. I lecture for 10-15 minutes and then have an activity. The activities I use may be small group, DVD, discussion, etc. Anything to give their brains and bodies breaks. I use competitions a lot to get the students thinking about what we have just covered while we are playing a game. We also take regular breaks that have the students moving around the building so they get the blood flowing. They are tired so I try to make my content both relevant and enjoyable so they can see application to their career goals and their future. It is a struggle but one I enjoy because it keeps me working hard at coming up with new activities and ideas. I like this creative part of my teaching.
Gary
