In my profession students have to have knowledge on the subject on hand, but also be able to apply it to a hands on setting. It helps them learn how to utilize the content when they use it in a lab setting. This helps with the visual learners, but also my textbooks learners. Both learning groups are covered.

After seven years of teaching, I find that I am a completely different instructor from what I was when I started. Though that sounds obvious, I also see where my instructional methods still change from term to term. No two terms of the same course are identical. No two terms are identical based on the challenges of previous terms. Ultimately, I find that the shorter lectures followed by immediate hands-on work - in my profession that means legal drafting of court-ready documents - appears to be the most effective method of instruction. However, I find that it is difficult to get students to apply what was learned in previous terms to new material in new areas in subsequent terms. To remedy this, many instructors are now working on projects together to better demonstrate how skills and knowledge flow from one area of law to another.

When I first began teaching I was a rules follower and had no deviations. After attending a Master's course with Professor Hughey, he showed you can maintain the rules and standards; but also be an approachable and compassionate educator. I became a better instructor, positive report with the students and my final course evaluations increased dramatically.

I'm curious how instructors use reflection after a class session to enhance future planning for teaching the material from the session. This, obviously, would mostly apply to a class you teach more than once. I try to take notes after each class about the content, what worked well, what didn't, materials used, etc. I then try to use these notes when I teach the class again so that I can better plan. Any other strategies for reflecting or recording after class to better prepare in the future?

Is there any sample test to define which type of learner your student is?

I come from a background of LD problems. I know how it is to over come a lot of these things in life. I have a heart for those who share my problem and want to help them. I have done a lot of the things said here but I know the most important thing is having a teacher or instructor at your back for support and chering you on.

Learning English and its phonetics remains a challenge on a constant basis.This is the largest challenge to the adult learner.

According to several experts in the industry, most notably,Joyce Pittman, Ph.D. Students of diversity will need access to new learning and technology tools and methods to improve literacy levels required for success in higher education. Building knowledge and skills through human-to-human communication provides diverse learners to have access to authentic materials in problem-based environments to help draw connections to new language context and content usage. In the past, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) was used to support language learners in education. Now, especially in higher education learners’ access to Net-worked based resources have moved beyond CALL to placing more emphasis on the need for more caring, competent, highly qualified teachers who understand the importance of Active learning and teaching, home and community involvement in meeting the needs of learners with new technologies to improve global competitive positioning in education and in the world of work.

I believe that the following is true; especially in the group setting. Research has shown that good everyday teaching practices can do more to counter student apathy than special efforts to attack motivation directly (Ericksen, 1978). Most students respond positively to a well-organized course taught by an enthusiastic instructor who has a genuine interest in students and what they learn. Thus activities you undertake to promote learning will also enhance students' motivation.

In whatever class I teach, I do not sit down except when I am instructing using a computer during my lecture. I will still get up and walk around periodically to check the progress of the class. I find that I can manage my classroom much better while I am up circulating the classroom. It gives me an opportunity to be aware of what the students are working on, to talk with them individually, and I have found that students will ask me questions if I am involved in the class.

I think that it is essential to be prepared for a class. The students are expecting everything to be in order and to fully understand what is expected of them. The syllabus should clearly outline what they will be working on and what they will need to know by the end of the course. Shelly Baker

I have found that student's love storie's about the subject matter,old racing storie's that relate to your lecture.

I am curious if any of you actually rehearse a class period from time to time. When we assign students to do speeches or presentations, we always emphasize how important it is to rehearse, but do we ever rehearse and evaluate our own performance as instructors? Obviously, this isn't something we would have time to do for every class period every day, but I do sometimes rehearse my lesson plan for the day to ensure preparedness and check on the accuracy of the times I've allotted for each activity/lecture.

I would say that I have diverse learners in my classes. I mainly teach computer classes, so there are younger students who have been using computers all of their lives, and then there are older students who have never seen or touched a computer before. It makes teaching very difficult. Some might suggest partnering the ones who know with the ones who don't, but I often find that the ones who know just get frustrated with those who don't (as if they should already know these things, or wondering why they don't understand their explanation...). Does anyone have any suggestions for me? (For example, in Keyboarding we did a brief unit in Word - basic things like changing the line spacing and font. The students who have been using Word forever were bored out of their minds, while others struggled to keep up. Exhausting for me!)

I've been adapting a method of lecture and hands-on assignments in all my classes. Showing an example on the projection screen, then allowing the students to perform the same task in class not only keeps them focused but gives them a sense of accomplishment of the task. I don't feel just talking about it effectively works, but let's do it together attitude shows the student they can do it as well.

My method introduces uploading a digital version of the course outline and syllabus to the students prior to the first day of class. On the first day of class, we go over the material on the projector and discuss it in class. I really don't see the necessity of printing thousands of pages of material to students possessing laptops with the ability of using technology and downloading digital files.

I rarely use group work in my classes. This is for several reasons, including one main reason - I never liked working in groups as a student myself. I teach technology classes (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and find that each student needs "hands-on" time to grasp the concepts. Other reasons I rarely assign group work include a very small number of students in classes (sometimes 2 in a class) and it seems that every time I assign a group project, there are more problems than it's worth. "So and so isn't helping, so and so wasn't here, and on and on." I would rather each student just be responsible for themselves.

I realize in every class there are a lot of different learning styles. Is it appropriate to survey the class to see who is what learning style? My thought is, if I find I have a lot more visual learners than hands-on learners I will cater the class more to visual. Also, do you think most students know what kind of learner they are?

I am teaching for the first time and I’m looking for suggestions on how to keep the attention of the class from start to finish? I want to have good participation and interaction with my students. I plan to do a lot of group work, but looking for others ways to make the classroom a fun learning experience and keep the attention of my students.

We all hand out syllabi and the like on the first day of class. I also include a course calendar (something recommended in the module) and all of the homework assignments that will be collected during the quarter. In addition, I email each student all of the homework documents. This has proven to be a GREAT help for students that need to miss a class when homework is being collected. In addition, I KNOW that students have received the assignments and have the means to turn them in on time.