Hi Marcelo! Welcome again to the course and to the discussion forums. Your point about patience and open-mindedness going hand-in hand, is right on target. I too have found that when I make a concerted effort to exercise patience with adult learners, and remain open-minded to their diversities, abilities and challenges, I, in turn, learn so much about them and so much from them as we engage in a learning partnership. Eye contact, as you referenced, works both ways. It is so important to maintain eye contact, but, of course, the intenseness of "the stare" can create a different message. I had the same challenge; something that worked for me was that I made sure that I had eye contact with students while talking informally with them as well as when I was presenting or conducting classroom activities. That way, they began to see my eye contact as sort of a "persona" of who I am and not as an intimidation. Thanks so much for your observations, Jay ED106 Facilitator