Training is the key to maintaining ~

When a course is for students beyond their 1st term or at the bachelor level in a "major area", considerations best include: Personality(influencer, dominator, conscientious,even-tempered), work experience, age, motivation, GPA(if known), etc. True group diversity will encourage understanding, acceptance, respect, and embracing the work effort for the good of all.

Adult learners and career-oriented students respond to the "reality" of humor. Whether using light sarcasm, irony, or spotlighting current idiocies found in real life, the students will relax and place credibility with the instructor. The actions or events spotlighted can be used as examples for teaching specific points being covered. In addition, students can share humorous happenings from their lives that shed a credible light on the subject being covered.

The primary reason for using a lesson plan is to keep you focused on how to prepare for each class session including the content and materials needed for the students.

I tried this with a Family Law class with mixed results. I started with a divorce complaint and then worked backward through the elements: jurisdicton/venue, grounds for divorce, prayer for relief, etc. While it still met the course objectives, it didn't follow the textbook sequence. Now that I see this is an extablished technique, I am going to try it again soon. Carl

Hello everyone I just wanted to start a chat about making tests in general. I've been teaching a while and I have seen so many teachers just use the same test over and over again. In my opinion it needs to be "tweeked" every year, things in my field continue to change and so do the students. All classes are different and what was easy for one group of students will be hard for another. Unless you want to just "scale " the test and make everyone happy including yourself. Maybe we should all look in the mirror and see that we need to think more about what we are doing. Remember the grades students receive on their tests are a true reflection on our "teaching". Yes I understand that there will always be exceptions to this. You need to be on the pulse of the class each year !! A test that works this years should be in the trash next year. Put the effort in to help the youth of today. I have implemented this type of thinking and I'm glad.

What technique's are best used with classroom disruption? One on one conference with student and follow- up meeting.

Attention span in an adult from 15-18 is mostly accurate. When you present a presentation keep in mind the lights is dim, the focus on how many slides should be limited (10-15)to avoid confusion, not focused on the subject.

Very important to be early and meet with your new class and give detail report about your education so they can gain assurance and willing to have an open mind to be successful in the program. Give examples and relate to the students.

Especially since I only see them once a week.

Once the student recieves the syllabus, which allows the student to review all contents and guidelines for the couse will give them accountability to understand what is expected from the student. It must be presented on the first day and continue throughtout the course.

When a student has many obstacles in their life and want to make the change to become a great student.

Encouragement and connectivity to the meaning of the content in relation to prior knowledge will encourage brain connections and relationships that will in turn foster storage in the brains long term memory.

How often do we as instructors enter the classroom and engage, or believe we are engaging, students with the wonderfully prepared lesson we are anxious to present without guaging whether our learners are ready to learn. Determining the state of the classroom and making necessary adjustments prior to beginning the lesson is essential to its' success. If a student is still mentally engaged with baggage they brought into the room they are most likely not engaged with the instructor. We have have to creatively and critically assess what we might do to create an engaging learning environment.

The best possible lighting we can offer our students is daylighting. Is energizes, has blue in it's spectrum in the main part of the day and energizes. The color temperature of the light sources, when showing videos and presentations, can be varied so the classroom doesn't seem fit for sleeping. This can be accomplished by bringing in some inexpensive lamps from a discount store and placing them in the back of the room. The halo effect works well and the screen is clearly visible. Don't be afraid to use colored bulbs for that "gone to the movie" experience for students.

I have found guiding students and making myself emotionally available by explaining what it was like for me to be a student helps them feel more comfortable and open up the classroom for discussion that is genuine and engaging. The days of instructors pointing to a student for whatever reason to make them a focus in the general classroom are as antiquated as "stand and deliver" methodologies for instruction. It is true that students "don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."

How do you support your fellow faculty and new instructors at your institution? I am finding institutions vary in the development of support for new faculty. I think once I get more experience, I will make an effort to extend my hand to new istructors and attempt to offer advice to ensure their success. This career is already challenging enough without the added stress of learning a new culture.

I found the fact that adults have an attention span of 15-18 minutes to be very interesting. I think I would enjoy breaking my lectures up into 20 minute sections. Maybe doing a question/answer section every 20 minutes or throwing an activity in there every 20 min. I think this will greatly help especially when you are teaching a class that is 4 hours long.

I find it very difficult to fit in introductions on day one especially with the amount lecture and chapters that need to be covered. I tend to cover the syllabus, go over rules, etc. then jump right into lecture. I will try to set aside more time on day one to implement some "get to know you" time.

I really liked the suggestion to keep a notebook handy to write down any questions and/or tasks I need to answer/do so that I am sure to remain on task. I will have to start doing this. With teaching well over 100 students it is hard to remember who needs what.