I am a very fun loving ,sarcastic person so I tend to make a lot of jokes and have fun during class while getting the objective/subject being learned to the students. Students love it!

i tend to use a few different ways to teach topics in the first few days of class and then ask the students as a whole which way helps them learn best.

Knowing most student learning style will enable instructor ability to help a student.

I have notice that older adult are easier to teach than students 18-2, because non traditional student know what they what at this point. However, the tradtitional students feel that have all the time in the world. Great topic!

Developing a good rapport with your student is important for a good student to teacher relationship. This will give those students a great learning environment for a better learning experience.

It is important to create a comfortable environment to help students stay actively involved. They need to feel the instructor wants them to be there.

With such a diverse range of students in the classroom, sometimes it is difficult to understand an individual student's needs. It does take some time to get to know them and understand what they may need to be successful. But in time, assuming the student is willing to respond, those needs can be addressed on an individual basis.

I have found several veterans who have a difficult time focusing. Additional attention if required for them to have a smooth learning enviorment.

Getting involved in active demo's helps me to better understand each student.

Since I teach a trade school I deal with several age groups and found that different regions of the country.

I like to use real life experience so the student understands the importance of the material. It also lets the students get to know you better.

I like to ask questions to the students that do not participate in discussions, so they feel more comfortable talking in class.

If you show respect to others, you get respect from others.

It can be difficult to use examples that everyone can relate to.

It is so important to share your education, history, and job history. Students want to feel connected and they like to hear their instructors give real world scenarios and examples as to how they made it in their career. At most community and career colleges, instructors are working full time in their field and students really find they can ask questions. This gets the discussion going and the motivating look like one day they want to accomplish their goals and dreams.

Keeping the focus on student achievement and goals is the outcome for any instructor. It is so important for students to understand the key elements in staying focused in class. This is achieved through the instructor giving insightful information that students will come to appreciate.

Student retention is a challenge in itself. I think that as an instructor, your role is to be involved, keep the discussion interesting, and focus on goal setting. What I like to do is have students share what their overall end goal is, not just to complete the course. There is long term and short term goals and so often students need to see short term goals to accomplish their long term goals. For the most part students do not even define what they want in a career. They are so focused on just getting through the classes. If there was some way to channel these students with positive thinking and motivation then maybe schools would have the opportunity to retain them in the long run.

One thing that I can say about each instructor is that we have all been there. Most of us have completed a bachelor’s degree and a lot of us have gone higher. It is so important to know that the frustrations that students feel are the same as when we were students. Now that as an instructor you know the level playing field, it is important to communicate with students on the issues they are facing. Once they hear that you have tips and tools for success and share your educational experience with them they are more likely to listen on how to overcome certain frustrations.

I have been teaching for fourteen years and I have worked on this area a lot the past few years. I am finding out the more one student knows about the other and their instructor to real life situations the more eager they are to learn and challenge one another. They also tend to want to come to class.

I have a student that needed some additional one on one instruction and professional development. Shortly after she became very clingy and began to share very personal issues. What suggestions does anyone have? I suspected she needed therapy, but I am not a Doctor.