Covering the objectives before the lecture and connecting it to why it is important to their industry, usually eliminates questions as to why they are completing a certain task. It also increase interest in the objectives.

I recently gave my students a totally extra credit assignment to design and to build a "fox-hole radio". It was more of a fun assignment. There was no punishment for not completing the extra credit. What happend was really interesting to me. I have a small class; but, two of my students made this a family project. They got their sons and daughters involved in the research and the building of the radio. Both people brought their radios in and the rest of the class participated in trying to make them work. It turned into a fun team building exercise; not only for the students, but for their families too. Personally, I thought that was cool. Oh, the way I set it up was credit for the design and credit for the build. Based on my reading of this course, was I wrong to assign this? I used the results for borderline cases - I wanted to see their desire. Instead, I saw family and our student body involvement. Although not directly related to our subject, it did apply. Again, the idea was to show innovative thinking and making it apply. Did I do wrong with this assignment? I think getting the family involved with their "significant others" participating in their class was worth it alone. thanks, jay

I've found that using material that the student should have learned in their previous subject provides some great insight. First, it shows the relavency of what they have learned and how it applies directly to the new material. It also provides the "pre-test" recommendation by seeing how well they understood the pevious material or see if they have learned how to use the material. One recent example was the use of a simple resistor/capacitor network to make a delay timer. We needed a delay timer for an access delay however, we had no delay timers available for the class. We made it an in-class assignment and got the opportunity to show how a RC ciruit can be used in the real world to solve a real world problem that they will encounter often. If also demonstrated their ability regarding the circuits course they recently completed. It provided a good basis for the level of training that I needed to start with. I quickly learned that Eisnstein's relativity theory was not the place to start; but, rather an understanding of energy was more appropriate (just an outlandish example in this case). But, the idea is the same. Comments?

Every time I teach the same class I always review previous notes, tests, discussion questions, power point presentations and visual aids. I always learn something new, either from my own studies or those of the students. With time I have been able to spot those students that need additional encouragement, or projects to make them feel as though they are part of the class.

Every student needs to know how they can measure their performance in class. By setting measurable standards they, the student, can be aware where they rank in the class and know what areas need to be improved upon. I understand the purpose of standards; however, my curriculum doesn’t have such requirements.

In my opinion, it is very important to me to hold an individual retropspective every day - the idea is to see what worked, why it worked, why something didn't work, and how to improve. It can be an invaluable tool developed during a perior of time that could otherwise be a waste. I think that there are many innovative ways to acheive better performance on a daily basis; but, this is certainly one that works for me. Of course, safety over being introspective. Thoughts?

Hi, all. I've discovered that being retrospective in both the classroom environment and the work environment are extremely beneficial. I must admit that some times it is difficult to realize problem areas that you have. This is the toughest area in my opinion. Being open minded enough to understand issues is a challenge. Primarily, because it is difficult to realize that the problem area is yours as a teacher and not that of the students (or boss). I have been assesing feedback from my students daily. I do have a small class; but, they are all eager. They also have individual methods of learning - that can be a challenge. Also, I find it difficult to determine if an issue is truly mine, or if it is an excuse for poor performance. I recently had a guy drop out. The reason doesn't really matter for this discussion; however, I took it very personally. E.g., how did I let him down. Did I let him down? Or, did he simply have other obligations. He spoke with the Registrar, etc., and I still don't really have a good idea what the issue was. I would like to know. Based on the Registrars feedback, it wasn't my methodology; but, I can help but wonder how I could have improved and kept him more involved. Thoughts? jay

When writing tests, you should give the test to another colleague to have them review it, to see if it realative to the material and makes sense to another person, and realtive to the objectives it is suppose to meet.

Pretesting has proved be an effective tool to see where the students are. It also gives me a chance to see you needs more attention.

Keep slides up to date, funny, interesting. The youth we teach now need more stimulation than in the past, by keeping the slides "catchy" we can keep their attention.

A field trip to a farm in culinary school is important. It allows the students to see first hand where the food comes from. Growing a graeter respect for the food itself

Before each class I always outline the material I intend to cover and additional material if the class time goes to fast. The next class I will briefly cover the major points and then continue with the lesson plan for that class.

I always prepare for my class because of the unknown questions that always seem to arise. The educational and real life experience of the class is very demanding and teaching effectively to each student is in fact a daily challenge. I also use outside sources to keep the students attention and for additional information not explained in detail in the text.

knowing who you are and what you can or can't do is so important. Don't paint yourself in a corner.

Too many words, too many pics, too many whiz-bang entry styles. Keep it simple, use the right image for the right lesson. Don't use ppt for EVERYTHING! It's over used and overrated.

If you know the flow of your class that you have taught numerous times. What would happen if you start a new subject for the first time? I find it would be helpfull to plan learning activities that will be useful in making my students interested in the topic, fun, and engaging. These may or may not be used depending on timing of the class schedule.

Some of my classes meet at night once a week. Classes run from 6:00-10:00. It's tough to keep a group of students who have either worked all day or been in class for most of it engaged for the entire time. I try to mix up activities, but sometimes find that my students are just worn out by the final hour of class. Ideas? Are there certain activities that are better left for the end of the class?

I teach English and I was trying to think of a kind of field trip that might be applicable to my students. My classes are considered general education courses, so I teach a variety of disciplines. A colleague takes her students to a local art museum and then it becomes a writing project. Any other suggestions?

Being in front of a class is not easy, we can make it look as if it is though. Proper preparation is critical to optimal engagement of a class. We all know the best plan should always have a backup just incase things go curplooey. I have found making sure I have devoted time to organizing not over analyzing the lessons I plan to present things go much smoother. I usually try to follow a 15 minute review what you know, show me what you remember, and then lets add some new material, and end it with what do you know now that you didn't when you walked in the door? It helps me move the lesson around the students and keeps them engaged. Anyone else have a way the make it look smooth they want to share?

I believe that the grading is a critical piece of the learning process. You need to give feedback on wrong answers when correcting homework assignments, as this will assist them in studying for their test. Either make the wrong answers a lecture the next class period or make sure they are seeing their assignments in a timely manner, is an important tasks that some times is not taken as serious as it needs to be.