What I like to make sure that I do with my students is have them learn through demonstration. After my mini lectures I have them demonstrate the lesson back to me on the practice dummy. So they get to reinforce what they learned through action. Also, I have tried a round robin kind of approach. Where one student starts the process, then for step 2 the next student is up and then step 3 a new student and so on until all the steps are completed. I found this method to be quite effective

I am just starting teaching, but when I tutored bio and A&P, a really helpful tactic I employed was getting my students to realize that they carried their own model with them -- their own body. If you want to know the action of the bicep muscle, just flex your bicep! Which side is the bigger bone in the leg on? Just feel it, during the test, it's not cheating! Another cool group project that we did was assign muscle groups - arm, leg, back, etc - to a group and have them choose one person to be the model. (Hopefully a thin, more muscular person.) Then they used washable markers to draw the muscles on the person's body. It was highly effective and a lot of fun.

In clinicals, we have a pre- and a post-conference, where we talk about what we are going to learn, and then later, what we did learn or do. For the post-conference, I am going to borrow a tradition from a group I used to lead, and that is "one good thing." No matter how scary or frustrating the day has been for the students, I will challenge them to list one good thing about it. It can be some valuable (yet painful) lesson they may have learned, or a kind helping hand just when they needed it, or any number of things. But I think this is a great way to close out a meeting too, and some appreciation for others may be expressed as well, which is always nice.

I will be teaching nursing students in a clinical setting, so most of the environment is out of my control. What I can do is control the pre- and post-clincal conferences and keep the discussions reined in and focused on our learning objectives for the day.

I'm an RN with 5 years expereince in a variety of areas. I'll be teaching clinicals for nursing students. A former instructor of mine game me a valuable piece of information that I will pass on to others here: She said "No matter what they think, or how they treat you, just remember that you will always know more than they do." Not that I'm better than they are or anything like that. But I just have to remind myself that I do know stuff and I am willing and able to pass it on.

What are some ways to successfully accomplish making a first good impression when you are teaching an online class and will have no face-to-face contact with a student?

Having a solid plan for your class is very important

playing a group game while reviewing material covered.

should multi colors be used in a class room or should just one color be used

I know that we cannot plan for the specific unexpected events that crop up during class time. But what are some sugesstions as to handling them when they do?

During the '90s, when I was on the faculty at Texas A&M, with the Department Head's approval, I decided to change my method of evaluation for a course in astronomy to see if I could increase student class attendance and motivation. Instead of the standard midterm, infrequent quizzes, term paper and final examination, I substituted in the syllabus the evaluation consisting of 15 different quizzes randomly given within the 1st 10 minutes of class, the average of which represented 70% of the grade, a term paper on any subject remotely associated with astronomy representing 20%, the final examination representing 5%, and 5% based upon student participation/attendance. If a student had an "A" or "B" going into the finals, I would refuse entry to my examination room (cheers from the students in question); if the student had a solid "C", the final was optional. If a "D" the exam was mandatory, and if an "F", it was optional if there were a chance of making a "D". To my pleasure, the class average grade scores increased 9 points, attendance was nearly 100% each class day (mostly because they didn't know if a quiz were to be given. Missing a quiz resulted in a zero score), group projects participation and quality were superior to prior classes, and there was less than 1% of my students present at my final examinations. The quality of the term papers greatly increased, surprising me with the initiative shown in both the selection of subject matter and the diversity of research. More importantly, student morale went through the roof! As a result, again with the Department Head's approval, I used a similar method of evaluation for all my other subjects, with similar results.

Living in WV I rarely have to deal with diversification. Listening to this module has made me realize that when I move to FL next year that I will haveto be prepared for some changes.

I teach my students the same way I like to learn, hands on. I always try asking my students how they like to learn. Must of my students are hands on learners. Therefore having an item in their hand while I am speaking about it helps.

I am an instructor with a learning disability. Mine is due to an accident over 15 years ago, but I still struggle with some everyday tasks that most people take for granted. Thankfully, I recognized my issues, received help from others, and have been extremely successful by taking things slow and steady. One thing that I would like to share with others, is that most disabilities are not readily visible and many students have a "want to do it on my own" 0r "I need to prove I can do this myself" attitude. Personally, I think this is a great thing because independence is very important to one with a disability, but an instructor should still do certain things that would help everyone. With this being said, I never assign a routine task to anyone in the classroom. I always ask for volunteers. In my situation, I would have probably dropped a class if an instructor randomly called on me and asked me to solve a problem on the board in front of the class. Even though my hands look normal, I would have had difficulty holding the marker and been embarrassed. I believe volunteering is the way to go.

I have found that if I incorporate some technology into my lecture, I can assist students who possibly are not, at the moment, fully comprehending the material. I do this by making powerpoint presentation of the lecture materials available for students to download. I also do a summary slide for each section.

As an IT instructor, I have found that group work helps all my students. In teaching computers, I normally have a very diverse population in regards to student PC knowledge. There are always the ones who already have a strong skill set and others who have never used a PC before. I try to balance my group by my observations of skill sets and assign specific roles for each group member. This allows for the more knowledgeable ones to assist the others and gain experience in sharing their skills while the other gain from learning from their peers.

I enjoyed reading the material about engaging students through movement in the classroom. Through my teaching, I have found that students are more responsive when an instructor is not only passionate about a topic, but also lively in their delivery.

I taught a class called Student Success. It was largely focused on how to be a good student. In that class the students discovered their learning style and prepared an individual strategy plan tailored to their learning style. I have received feedback from students 2 years later from students that comment on how helpful it was for them to understand how they learn. I think every college/school should consider this type of assessment and learning strategy planning. Colleen

Lots of topics can be found on the web, Promotes public speaking, critical thinking, and leadership abilities. Students really enjoy these.

Hi! I'm going to be teaching an Intro to Veterinary Technology class this quater. My class is 2 hours long twice a week. I would love to break up the time by doing group activities, but I'm having trouble coming up with ideas, that don't sound too elementry. Does anyone know of any good websites? Thanks!