stressors
one stressor thet could be eliminated si deciding on the correct course text books,
many time there are books being used that instructors do not have confidence in, some use the book some do not some openly critique the book, this a stressor for the students
The teacher saying things like "well, the book sucks, but we're stuck with it" is a cause of stress all the way around. I find that supplementing the bad book with good other things I bring in from the Internet, personal experience or other sources balances out a bad situation, and really cuts down the stress.
Great idea Jeff! There are so many great resources on the internet. Some of them are more current than the information provided in our textbooks. So Leveraging these resources is a great way to build depth into your curriculum.
I agree that a "goog" instructor wil be searching several semesters in advance for that perfect textbook. I my situaton it is dictated what textbook I will be using, and it is below adequate for the subject manner. What I have done to make the textbook more adequate is to supplement it with a lot of supplemental information I have collected from personal experiences and resources found on the internet.
suggesting alternate reading to the students or even online journals or sites can help break down some of this stress with the materials for the students.
Is quite obvious that an instructor does not have confidence in the textbook that he is using in expecting students to use and understand will cause stress within the classroom. Obviously, the selection of the course textbook should involve more than one person and perhaps even a committee. Being realistic, I know this takes time and often times we are forced to submit our textbook orders in a very short period of time, which does not allow this to happen. A good instructor will be searching many many semesters in advance for a textbook that they will feel comfortable for use in the courses they are going to teach or for example, if they pick up a course which already has an assigned text book they need to accept that this is the book that is the best for the course and convince themselves and believe that this will work having such an attitude will convey to the students a positive attitude and cause a positive learning experiences in the classroom.
