I teach in a vocational training institute. My students are from different background and ethnic groups with uneven educational levels.

I normally started my class by sharing with them my own background, experiences and asked them to take turn and talk about themselves. Ask them to tell us about their background, experiences, what did they do before they came to our school, why did they choose to learn this trade, what do they expect to learn from this course and what are their preferred leaning styles.

I learned about the students througout these sessions and try to alter my approach in teaching them the subject matters .

I would ask them to read a leson, review it from the book, using visual presentations and then have classrrom discussions after lectures to gage what they have learn on the subjects

I'll then take them to the shop and demonstrate to them how to apply what they've learn in the classroom. 

I'll watch each student and give them the help that each one need to process the informations in their own preferred way.