Alex Estabillo

I believe responding to questions promptly is very important especially in media such as message boards or texts.

Attention spans in general are eroding, so catching a student when he or she is inquisitive is like a fisherman feeling a nibble on the line.  Setting the hook by guiding a student to an answer is where the inherent fun of teaching lies.

Unfortunately, online interaction is not an equal substitute for face to face interaction.  Its strong point is data collection.  Tests that monitor how long it takes for a student to answer a question and recognize problem areas are… >>>

Students with a lack of self-discipline really need to evaluate whether the career path they've chosen is a good fit.  Also, being a "student” requires skills that are not inherent to a lot of people.

If I find a student is slacking, I'll try to help them re-evaluate their commitment to the program, and make it clear that I'm as invested in their success as they are.  If the student puts little effort in the program, so will I, as their teacher.

Then I'll gauge “student” skills by asking how they can show me that they are giving an honest… >>>

Unreturned emails and text messages?  This sounds like either a technical issue in communication, or a statement of how committed the student is to the program.  Some things are more important than successfully completing a program, and the student is free to make that decision and accept the consequence.

Written questions or responses have an inherent buffer or filter.  Since speech is so easy, random questions with obvious answers are too easy to fire off.  I give my students 5 seconds to contemplate their question, and even repeat it back to them.  Often, the answer was right in front of them.  

Also, yes/no questions are too easy to answer and it will take longer to deduce that a core concept has not been understood.  It might take a student to verbally ask the same question three times before some red flags pop up.  However, on a written response… >>>

The forums are great for either directly or indirectly getting help as well.  Small schools that do not have a large teaching faculty can benifit from forum discussions since there aren't too many people to turn to.

Distractions are everywhere, and training to stay focused is very important.  Aquiring knowlege and skill in a sterile environment is ideal, but achieving the same level in the same amount of time while needing to filter distrations produces a stronger graduate.

Yes!  Asking a student a closed question opens an opportunity to refocus toward the key point.  If trailing to a tangent, I'll often cut to the chase and ask, "What is this leading to?”.

If the answer is connected to the key point, I'll get excited and use it as foreshadowing which adds suspense to the lecture.

A well rounded lecture is entertaining as well as educational.