Below is a link to a funny You Tube Video concerning the use of PowerPoint. It's called Death by PowerPoint - it a funny way to help students understand how to utilize media in presentations. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpvgfmEU2Ck Annette Ruth

I agree that a consistent and fair grading system should be in place so as not to cause any bias or discrimmination.

My own rule is to grade papers immediately because students always want to know how they did on their work.

Instructional back up plans would be beneficial when a change is needed to present material or you have covered the material quicker than usual and you have extra time to do other activities.

Pretest would give a better gauge of where students stand in view of the material to be presented.

Demonstration teaching is dominant in my class as students love the hands on learning style. They also are more interactive with one another which engages the entire class.

I do utilize powerpoint presentations as another medium to eliminate tedium. Utilizing such a medium engages visual and auditory learning styles as the graphics engage the sight and my highlighting the impotant points engages the auditory senses.

I play to my strengths of being passionate and enthusiastic about my students and the course I am teaching. I make sure I am well-prepared and that I establish myself as a credible source. I believe my passion and enthusiasm engages the stduents.

I utilize guest speakers as a resource to reinforce and reiterate the importance of the course. I choose dynamic and effective guest speakers who understand the points I would like covered. I always discuss what the demographics of the class is and how their career is relevant to what I am trying to stress.

I have started to modify some of the slides that came with my textbook. Does anyone have any other suggestions, with presentation methods?

What is the best way to find places for field trips? Do you cold call places, or already have places your school has set up for you?

I am new to Teaching, so I plan out every topic, subject matter (aacording to our Syllabus), and materical including Study Guides for each student. I am bent on making my student's classroom time enriched with the tools they need to ensure their understanding of the subject matter as I was during my student classroom time. My Teachers' inspired me to seek out as much subject information that I could retain to prepare me as a well-rounded Medical Assistant that was sure that I was able to perform the tasks that are expected. I want the same quality of education for my students and I feel that being prepared, showing examples, motivating their desires to learn and improve and then stirring their thoughts and curiosity on the topic (s) for each week brings the purpose for attending class to an actuality. This does not work with every student but it does allow you to know which ones are making efforts to learn what is being presented before them and hints of how to approach the others.

Is it appropriate to provide students with copies of powerpoint presentations from previous lessons to use in test reviews? I feel that this conditions some students to forgo note-taking during the lesson, knowing that all they have to do is wait for the handouts at the end of the lecture.

Being prepared for your students is an awesome feeling! You prepared! ah, what a feeling, you planned the work, and worked the plan! As you stand aside for 20 seconds observing your students working in the lab, you take pride in the lesson, and their application of the lesson during lab. Nothing better than having handouts ready, guest speakers engaged and a field trip to solidify the students engagement to their instruction.

I use a free online teacher's tool called ENGRADE. The students can see everything and follow there progress in the course. It also has a messaging system built into it so I can send emails out to the entire class. I love it.

I am a new instructor at a school. I am teaching AP I and have found that some of the information included in there book is to intense for the type of students I am teaching. I am very well organized and do read all my lecture notes and chapter material before I present it. I have been able to pick out the information that pertains to all three types of students in my class and try to relate the topics to my Surgical Tech students, my Medical Assistant students and my Massage therapy students.

Do you think the older students do better in their learning styles as visual because of the traditional method of presenting the lecture material?

I am a huge believer in field trips and guest speakers. I feel that both give the students an opportunity to see what their career choice has in store for them. In my 7 years of teaching I have had several Medical Assistant students observe an open heart surgery and come out and say this field is not for me and chose a different career path.

It is very important that you practice your lecture before presenting the subject to the class. It's helpful to practice in front of the mirror so you have a better idea how you are going to present the subject to the class. When you catch the mistakes during your practice sessions, you will not make the same mistakes again when you are teaching the materials to the students. And most definitely, you will feel more confident teaching the subject.

Extra credit is a good method to help stuents earn back some points to raise their grade.