To All:

The lesson I was required to partake in was ED109 and it was in reference to Time Managment and writing the Lessons Plans to suit the students.  Understanding before hand the type of learners you have in you classroom I have discovered is vital to the success of the student body Great Job on educating me on the importance of lessons plans and how they play a vital role in the success of my class.

Sincerely,

Ms. Ginell Agnew

Though I am relatively new to the field of collegiate teaching, sometimes I reminisce on how my traditional college classroom setting had a certain aura about it; and if asked to describe what it was which gave this personification to it, then I would say, the stories, experiences shared through the professor but more importantly the way it was told, with excitement and vigor.  As a retired military serviceman, I have tried Stanley’s notion and several others, though sometimes in the military class they may have felt captive.    

Maya Angelou’s quote of “people will forget what you said and… >>>

What are some ideas for teaching students that come from completely different generations?

Many students who aren't earning a passing grade will often times just quit coming to class, and give up. I always call my students and encourage them to come to class, get tutoring, and stick with it. So many of my students do not have a good support group outside of the school, and without instructor encouragement, tend to feel inadequate. Even if my efforts inspire just one student to keep coming to class, it is absolutely worth it.

I have used fun in my lectures for several years. The students attendance , grades and grasp of the material were never better. We should all try to get students to interact with open ended questions and add fun to our lectures.

I agree with other teachers that the use of power-point can be an added tool but teachers who use it 100% of the time this is "Death by power-point". Have FUN with the students don't put them to sleep ZZzzzzzz.

I have learned over the years that students are most appreciative when instructors share examples with them.  Students get an "I can-do-attitude" when they see an example.  Students can see exactly what is required of them and great clarity is added.  Students are more motivated/excited to get started on an assignment when they feel they have a FULL understanding of the requirements.  Some students need to see it, to get it!!  Let's give our students visual!!

A simple smile and hello mean a lot to students.  Instructors can be friendly to students.  Students love being greeted warmly and genuinely!

I found this course put too much emphasis on teaching in areas that are not at all similar to teaching medical lab courses.  Auto, Electrical, and Computer Labs are much different than the clinical lab and the questions on the final quiz were specific questions about auto shop, computer lab, and electrical labs and not clinical.

As a review for exams I put the students into two teams to compete against each other while using review questions for the test. The students love to compete.

So, I decided to play a game in my class. I played a matching game, the students had to actually get up for it. It worked, quiz scores were great!

It often crosses my mind how can an instructor mark a student tardy when the instructor is not on time for class.  As educators/professionals, we should certainly practice what we preach.  Punctuality is of the utmost importance on a job.  Let's lead by example.  Instructors, if you expect your students to be on time for class, you must be on time for class!

I utilize repetition in my instruction. If I review it over and over I am hoping to move the required information from short term memory into long term memory.

Are you the type of instructor to remind students of assignments, quizzes, tests, etc.?  I am! I have been told that I am too reminding by another instructor. I feel guilty when I do not remind my students about assignments.  I typically remind my students about work two to three times.  When we were in college studying to become educators, our professors surely did not remind us. I have had some instructors to say that they  only remind students one time, otherwise they begin to feel like a parent.  I do understand in the real world employers are not going to… >>>

I recently completed EL 105, an online class which focuses on communication in the online education forum.  I am impressed with how concisely and clearly the class was presented.  As someone who has been an English professor for 13 years but an online "real time" synchronous instructor for only two years, I found this class quite beneficial.  I learned some online jargon that I had not known before (such as the restrictive meaning of the word "transparent" and how it applies to the online communcation world), and I became aware of new social networking sites, such as Ning.  While I… >>>

Do you believe you get from students what you expect?  I truly believe you get from students what you expect.  As instructors, we need to set the bar high for our students and make them rise to the challenge.  We should not accept mediocrity from our students.  As an instructor, you should know your students potential level, and if the student's potential level is high, you should push the student to the max.  For some students the best that they can do is a "C" and that is their maximum level.  Discover each of your student's potential level and push them to the… >>>

This course suggested that there be a pretest for students to get an idea of the level of knowledge about the subject. This is very important in understanding the diversity in the student's level of learning.

It is crucial to have a good working relationship with other instructors.  Instructors do not have to be best friends or even socialize after work hours, but a good professional working relationship is a must.  Students can tell when there is tension amongst instructors.  Let's lead by example and show our students what a healthy working relationship should be.

Students are the most important people in an educational institution!  Faculty and staff need to provide extraordinary customer service to students.  Extraordinary customer service is simple; treat others the way you would like to be treated!  Remember, students are the reason we have jobs!

Do you sit or stand when you teach?  I stand when I teach, and when I teach I am all into it.  I am extremely mobile.  My students know that I am all over the room.  When you are teaching, you should project energy!  Energy is not projected by sitting behind the desk nor is much energy projected while being stationary behind a podium.  The instructor has to get into the lesson in order for the students to get into the lecture.  Stand and teach, and project and abundance of energy so that you can excite your students!

Instructors work hard at preparation prior to class and this effort pays off with enhanced student engagement and learning.  Often though in the process of this planning instructors focus more on the delivery and less on the content.  This can happen for several reasons, one of which is that they are teaching a standardized course using content from a corporate source.  They can see how the course is broken down into sessions so they follow those session recommendations.  This process works in general but sometimes students don't see how the sessions fit together to create the total learning experience.  This… >>>