The first day and meeting go along way to setting the pace of the course. Utilizing the first two hours of class for introductions and overviewing the course content provides the opportunities for both the students and instructor.

Section 2 covered the importance of the teaching environment as part of the delivery of instruction. I will be instructiing in a hospital setting (new nursing students in clincal rotations). I know the hoospital can be a place of anxiety especially for brand new nursing students. Any suggestions on how I can make the enviroment less intimidating for them? I will definately orirrnt them to the layout of the facility and introduce them to staff, etc. Any other ideas?

How does one approach a diverse class of many learning styles to achieve a successful delivery and reception of information? Should we divide in blocks of time addressing each individual style or do some styles blend allowing for a more reasonable time frame?

As an instructor I feet that it is much easier to keep the students focused, but what happens when the instructor get distracted? Are there any techniques that teach teacher how to regain their focus once there is a distraction?

I am being given the opportunity to do a short presenation for students who desire to become teaching assistants. The short presentation is to be about methods of any presentor / instructor staying on subject. I welcome any short personal experiences either good or the less than desired to be avoided. I will omit your name if I am able to fit your example into my presentation. Any ideas welcomed up to this Friday morning. My presentation will be this Friday at 9:00 a.m. California time. Thanks!

I am a new instructor, and I have taken over for another teacher that has recently gone to on-call. My first day with the students was a little scarey. I had to let the students know that these were my exceptations of them not there former teachers. Are there any others things that I can do to create a more "I am the teacher now" environment without being iron fisted?

If wanted to take a trip to New York, I would not just jump in my car and drive east. There are certain requirements that would have to be meet. That's when a plan comes into play. First, I would have to ensure that the car is running according to manufacturer standards, example are the tires in inflated to the proper amount. As with everything in life you have to have a plan if you want to ensure a successful venture. Teaching is not different. If you walk into the classroom with no guide as to what you are doing then students will know that you are not a prepared person and will use this to their advantage, and that is not the purpose of them being in class. The student will in turn their attention to finding your faults, rather than focusing on the course.

As a new instructors, we are subject to every "why me" story every student has to invent. How, as a new instructor, do I know when I am being feed rotten information verses someone who really geniunely does need extra help. How does condition themselves not to become complacent and jagged? Also, when there is a student that does really required extra help, when do you know that it's time to let go and let them develop without you?

When asking questions related to ANY topic - I try to form them in such a manner so that there is no BLACK OR WHITE answer. With an appropiate pause and the right inflection, the "what if" is heard even if it not spoken. They students themselves ask for more information about the conditions of the question so they can formulate an answer. These responses insure and identify exactly which students have been drawn into the discussion as well as exposing those that are not engaged.

When in a lab/shop situation and a series of tasks, measurements or observations are to be performed, especially where they must lead to a conclusion or a recomendation, I have found it to be most helpful to prepare and assign a "worksheet" that provides a directed and structured method of the tasks to be performed. The students individually OR in a team may work independantly of the instructor and decide and report their OWN observations/conclusions as directed by a well-prepared "worksheet". This has the added advantage of allowing the instructor to oversee the entire class as opposed to concentrating on any one group or individual and therby, leaving the rest of the class in limbo.

having a positive upbeat attitude can never fail in any enviroment

I believe that above all things, if you want to develop as an instructor you have to identify what you can and cannot do. We all have strengths and weaknesses and by knowing what they are and working within our boundaries and working to increase our comfort levels we become better instructors. Admitting our weaknesses seems to be the hardest of all the personal development needs we have. Once we swollow our pride and own up to our weaknesses I beleive we will ultimately find that we were not alone and enable others to better themselves as well.

we generaly have 3 test through the three week course and I feel that this gives both the student and me a way to gauge whether the students are understanding what is being instructed or if I need to change how i am giving them the information because they are or are not understanding!

Now comes the time where it is up to the instructor to develop a correct grading criteria to actually see progress in the students.

As class goes on, it is always important to quiz students about the subject matter as class goes on.

By asking any questions as per topic, you as an instructor get to see how well you had gotten thruogh to the students.

As I have seen in the past, there are some individuals that need visual. Along with some that need hands on. Very important to examine the class prior to projects to be comp-leteed.

I find that when a lecture is to last all day, If you break it up into 20 minutes sections then I usually have like a quiz off and compare each groups information retention to another groups, it tends to work most of the time because it institutes competion between fellow students.

Students love stories of our lifes experiences.I (I'm sure most do)incorporate at least a few different examples of my personal doings during any given topic/lecture.I have this "thing" I call stories with pictures.During lecture with my stories I'll show them the picture of what I'm talking about.I have a collage of several vehicles on a board with numbers on each picture.For extra credit or fun time burning,they match the picture with a question from a certain subject.I.E. A 67 Shelby stang the one that had a vibration because I didn't match the flexplate with a new one.(keep parts till the job is done.)

At our establishment, sometimes groups are not the best thing I found. I agree that some students learn better with their peers but sometimes the groups could actually cause a distraction. They have been a group for a number of classes and sometimes they are more intrested in their own social clique than the actual material you are teaching. These groups I feel should be monitored and possibly seperated so the students can think for themselves and not as a group.