@scmeaux : I have a Ph.D. in a Tech. Collage, so the students automatical think I am going to teach over their heads. I try to alleviate this from the begining. I tell the that they can call me Dr. Smith, or Ms. Smith, but "hey you" does not go over too well. I am very quick with a pun or a dead pan joke. Depending on the class, sometime this works, sometimes not so much. Sometime you just have to lighten the mood, don't forget though, you are still on a knife's edge. I have found that once a student has had me for one class, they get it and are more relaxed. I have been put on the spot for concepts so many times, quick think on you feet, often comparing the synthesis of a protien from DNA to reading a line in a book, then a paragraph, then a chapter, and by the end you know what protein you have been coded for, because you read the story (mRNA, tRNA, etc.) Another thing, the students think think I am crazy, when the light bulb finally goes off in their head (I can't believe they can not get excited about science) and the GET IT, I physically get excited, for them, I literally jump up and down and give them a high 5. This is the greatest part of teaching and sometime the only way to not get discouraged. Sorry I got a bit off topic.
