I have found that body language is a huge indicator of what is going on with the student. It is no big surprise that if a student seems to be zoning they will be unable to provide a response to your questions. I would like to know any ideas of how to bring them back into the discussion (many times it is their third class of the day and they are tired). Unfortunately, what I do doesn't always bring them back into the discussion- it has to be their effort as well.

Interesting Mod. This is the first time I am teaching a class and hope to teach it next term. I am making notes as to what works in my presentation but I can't stop the students from giving more attention to continually highlighting test questions in the book. I am at the half way mark in the class and was thinking about a discussion with the class on how/if they are learning. The exam scores are good. Should I be concerned about attention giving to highlighting if scores are good? I am more interested in making sure the students learn skills they can use at a job than just pass a test.

I'm a first-time instructor and I have a student in my class who doesn't always come to class and when he does, he has a poor attitude and makes negative comments. What are some effective techniques to use in this situation? I want to motivate him and make sure he doesn't bring anyone else in the class down with him.

The best way to get student motivated, give them something to disassamble, in class , to assamble back , better then it was before, get involed, on the whiteboard?

I have several students in my classes who are middle aged and are pursuing re-training for a different professional career. They tell me they are not sure what their learning style is. We should investigate how to help these students and provide testing to assess their learning styles to increase their chances of educational success. I always ask at the beginning of my classes about my students' learning styles so that I can tailor my instruction to meet their needs.

Learning a new career or even new material for that matter is a difficult task for most. Trying to learn with a disablity (a set back)can prove even more challenging. If I had a student just let me know what I could do for them as an instructor to help, I would give it my all just to be able to see them suceed.

In presenting a lecture I have items to present to go along with the topics. (a mini show and tell, before the labs) I try to present the material so that hopefully all sences will be met for the difference in the way students learn.

I like to lecture for the first part of class and then move to a small group for lab. It seems to work for the hands on part of the course and the students participate more in lab. After a break (in which some become tired) my students appear more interested in the material.

Moving around the class room helped me with eye contact and interaction with my students. The 2-3 second rule is a good one to make sure they were understanding the material. Moving about also helps with interaction with students, I felt they participated more and were asking questions.

The first meeting is always the hardest for me, I wish I had an easy way to get past the first day.

I have taken a test myself that allowed me to see which CATs best helped my students achieve the course objectives. I think the CATs are amazing to use but it is helpful to think about what your objectives are when utilizing them.

How do we cope with a student who denies an obvious disability? If they are struggling and refuse help, how do we get them to relize they need it?

Motivation is tied tightly to solid, professional relationship building in the class. It is my experience that once trust is established and once there is at least comfortable familiarity between the instructor and the student, motivation is significantly enabled. How? first, a relationship of trust lends itself to the student choosing to respond affirmatively to motivational activities. there is more "buy in." Secondly, with an established relationship, the instructor is in a much better position to learn the specific ways and means to best and most effectively motivate the individual and the whole class as a group. Motivation works best when it's foundation is personal relationships of trust.

In the past, I have roamed around the classroom to keep conncetions with students. However, recently I have been teaching in much smaller classrooms and roaming is not as easy. In fact, movement around the front almost seems as if I am just pacing back and forth (only about 6 steps each way.) Any suggestions?

Just wondering if anyone had some good suggestions as to how to handle things when a group absolutely does not get along. I hate the thought of breaking them up and reassigning them. However, keeping them together leads to poor contributions and sometimes outright hostility.

Motivation and enthusiasm is important in the class room

I have found that PowerPoint is overused and presented poorly in instruction today. There are so many other ways to teach. I like to use mindmaps, discussion trees, guided worksheets, and case studies to teach my classes. By varying how I present the material, I am better able to keep the students engaged and keep the class fresh.

I find that ice breaking activities are helpful the first day. Unfortunately, we (teachers) often fail to continue using activities to create group cohesion and togetherness. Imagine if you are in a class that meets once or twice a week. By the time your next class rolls around, you've already forgotten most of the people in class and you may be experiencing apprehension anew. I find that a quick 3-10 minute activity really helps accelerate class cohesion. Doing this for the first two or three class periods streghtens the group. Taking a few minutes out of class is a small thing when we consider the long-term benefit for students.

I have taught in corporations, public universities, career colleges. My experience with planning and preparation has been different depending on the venue. One of the consistant parts of planning is making sure the time allotted for class matches with the current material presented. Students can tell if I am stretching or streamlining material. That is why I feel planning and preparation is so important as an educator.

Teaching a medical profession means using a lot of vocabulary with latin prefix and suffix. I try to point these prefixes and suffixes out with each term so that the students can become familiar with them and start to apply them to other terms-hopefully then they will be able figure out a disease based on the prefix/suffix. While I have found this helpfull with the majority of the students, I'm not sure how helpful it is to an ELL student