I have a lot of life stories that I use to get my students involved and interested. They need and I think want to hear what life will be like in the real world after college and I have a lot of experience to supply to them.

I am a fan of the empower assignment with the 3X5 index cards. There are a lot of students that are not able to expredd how they feel and for that matter even get to answer questions about what they have learned because so many others plow them over with what they have to say. This is a great idea to get everyone involved and slowly work into getting the quiet ones to hopefully contribute!

Hi everyone, Occassionally I will have an online learner who will report that they are taking 27 credits!!! These are people who are working full time, have families and all kinds of committments. They are totally motiviated to finish. It seems that these learners are indeed internally motivated. However,their intentions speed them through class with little time to reflect or really integrate the knowledge. I often wonder about the wisdom of allowing learners to enroll to earn so many credits.... Does anyone have some thoughts? How do I ensure that this super achiever is really learning my material?

Create a positive environment with authentic communication. Authentic communication is when non verbals and verbals match and understanding of the senders message is acheived through feedback.

At the Career College that I work with, midterm grades are a requirement actually before the midterm spot of the course. I think this is a GREAT idea. This is one way for learners to see how they are doing at the present time and what they may need to do to improve. For me, it offers a chance to reflect on who is doing well, who do I need to encourage more, etc. For all learners, I also add a personal note with the grade. A "great going" for those with a solid A to "it is not too late to improve; you can still earn a good grade" for those with D's and F's. It is surprising how many learners have no idea where they are in the course!

In the vein of getting to know your learner, I think getting the name right is very important. In the online environment, we see the name listed in the courseroom. However, the learner may go by their middle name or a nickname. I try to pay special attention to this during the introductions in Week 1. I keep a little list of those learners who use a nickname or different name than those diplayed. This seems to be one way of showing that I care, and that I am paying attention to the learner's personal needs.

I always try to point out the little things that students do well because most of the time they don't take them into consideration. An example could be kneading bread. If a student that has been having trouble with it finally gets it I let them know. Again something as small as that can really make the student feel better about themselves.

Every student one way or another gets frustrated about certain things in class. If a student has an issue I usually take the time during a break or after class to address the issue so that it doesn't get blown out of proportion. Also it shows that the instructor cares about student needs and are not trying to ignore them.

As an Instructor, I like to engage the students in some of the topics that I have practiced in my career before becoming an Instructor. The students become more interactive when I have "life stories" that they will be seeing in practice, they become excited about their schooling and become more talkative and interested in what we are learning.

I keep a log and send out occasional emails after a quiz, assignment, or lecture that individually compliment a student and let he or she know that I noticed some sort of superior effort, even if it is just active involvement in a discussion. This seems to go a long way.

I have had many students comment on the fact that I learn their names so quickly. They do notice, and I am not good with names. I actually have to work at it, but I think it is the best first step to building rapport with them.

It took me several years to find ways to add interest to some of my classes that contain 'less than exciting' content. Business Writing has been more difficult than Interpersonal Relations when it comes to finding engaging interactive activities. It took time to find little side exercises and things that students enjoy.

I think our school does a great job when it comes to providing for students with disabilities. The fact that we have an actual protocol shows the students that we respect their needs and are most focused on their success.

I have a great deal of difficulty remembering students' names, especially within the first day or so. I find it helpful to review the roster in our campus system which posts a photo of the student. Therefore, it is easier for me to have a pretty good idea of who is who on the first day, and students are sometimes surprised to find that I already know who they are. Some students do not want to be photographed by the instructor, and it kind of makes me uncomfortable to ask them. This is a memory technique that doesn't make either of us uncomfortable.

I find and it really pays off to spend the time to in the begining of a class to not only get to know the students, but to have them get to know each other. Even though this take up time, I find that the class is more engaged and that students participate more.

We do get a lot of age diverse students in classes and I see the fear in the older students. I think it is a joy to work with such a range of personalities and ages. It makes the real life stories interesting for the younger students and the older students enjoy hearing stories from the younger ones. I feel that most of the time in working together, the older students fears are gone after a few hours of getting to know the class.

Using case studies in a veterinary technology class is a very appealing idea. Does anyone have more specifics on how much information is given to the students and at what rate? Has this worked best for intro level classes or those further along in the program?

I'm always willing to listen to my students. After all, I usually have many fears brought in by my students, followed by tears in my office on any given week. I've learned that if I set-up the expectations of an "appointment", that many of the concerns are handled in a professional manner and the student usually has time to reflect on the situation. They are also aware that I'm not certified to give advice, but have two ears and lots of resources and may be able to lead them to the correct person.

Many learn in a variety of ways, I have even used crayons and modeling clay in class.

As a gen ed instructor, I have to find ways of keeping the topics a bit more lively and I always think that competition is a good way to do this. I bring candy in for the students (raisins, too) and toss a piece across the room for a correct answer, a good try or even just because they haven't had a right answer yet! I also do a surprise "Bonus Point of the Day"--for anything from being the first student in class,helping out a classmate, being prepared or even making me laugh out loud. The students respond since they never know what it will be that day OR how many bonus points will be given out.