The appeopriate resources usually make a difference. But empathy for the subject is more important to the solution.

Teaching that taking a time out and reflecting on your actions are vital in your chosen field.

Showing the student that good evaluation of actions plays an important role in making the right choices in life.

Students should be given an opportunity to show how good judgement plays an important in life and the educational process.

In the crminal justice field this is an important aspect of being successful and making the right decisions

I personally believe graphic organizers are an excellent tool. When used, I find that my students are able to retain the information better. The simple,straight forward visual allows one to remember just what's important while eliminating any extra information that may not be useful or unnecessary to memorize.

I try to maintain the autonomy of my students by frequently requesting their input. Whether it be a choice between two forms of review or choices between which assignment they would like to complete in class vs. homework. I find that with a predominantly adult group, this sense of autonomy is important to them. Many already feel a little insecure about becoming a student again. I am also a younger educator and I think that sometimes causes older people to resist asking for extra help. However, making them feel like they are part of the process it helps them become more comfortable and open to being taught.

I find that it is sometimes difficult to identify the different learning styles in my classrooms. Many of the students we serve have been out of school for a long time. Therefore, coming back to school, they are sometimes unsure of how they learn best or where their intellectual strength lies. Therefore, it becomes difficult to address these differences and reach everyone. Many of them are also very independent and resistant to working with others that may share similar strengths.

Being that my classes are fairly large and time is fairly limited, I incorporate several different tools for memorization and learning in my lessons. For the lectures, I use an outline with fill in the blank slots. That way students are engaged and participating in order to complete their outline. I also use many real life examples to show them how information can be applied outside of the classroom. Prior to exams, I also develop flashcards. Lastly we also do review games similar to Jeopardy. This way, there's a tool for everyone.

How do you address multiple intelligences in a classroom in which personalities are strong as well? Sometimes the discussion can overwhelm the presentation of curriculum when there are multiple intelligences combined with several strong personalities. How do you stay "on task" with the subject matter?

I always tell my students, "you don't know my story" or "you don't know your patient's story" so you have to address all learning styles. A patient or a student can be nodding in affirmation and still not understand what you are saying. As educators we have to be diverse in our approach.

I have theory heavy classes such as ethics and political science. I've been incorporating more group discussion, film clips, current news internet clips, and anonymous surveys into class, but I'm dying for new ideas for other group or individual activities that are not so discussion oriented. I want to maintain a balance between discussion and other types of lessons. I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thank you, Melville

When working with adults, there are several things you can be doing to ensure you meet their learning needs. These are a few best practices: • Take an inventory of your students’ prior knowledge and experiences. When instructing students, make efforts to acknowledge students’ experiences and build on what they already know. • Determine why students are motivated to be adult learners. Work with students to meet their personal goals. • Identify your students’ learning styles. Use a variety of teaching techniques that will work with a variety of learning styles. • Consider memory-building techniques, such as advanced organizers, that may help older learners organize the information they learn in your class. • Provide students with opportunities to self-direct, or at least plan, their learning. • Provide students with a supportive environment for learning. Once touching on the different techniques, which is best to tailor or gear the course towards because one may not be able to execute more than two.

Is anyone aware of good materials and resources that can be used to teach critical thinking ?

I also find that age contributes a lot to the way a student views discipline. My younger students still don't realize the value of discipline because they have yet to discover how it affects lives in a positive manner as opposed to the older students who already know.

To me is the ability to think, analyze, rationalize, conceptualize, take a step back and see one's own mistakes and learn from them. I do not believe intelligence is the ability to just memorize things, but the capacity to solve problems through sound well-informed judgement.

Motivation is usually the key to achieving. Those who haven't experienced self-discipline often also exhibit a lack of motivation. However, this must not be construed as them not wanting to have motivation. On the contrary, students thrive on tasks that perk their enthusiasm and make them feel that they are actually accomplishing something. Once they accomplish, motivation starts to build-up and with it self-discipline.

One other way I have found to provide a scaffold is to reduce the amount of information, or the number of skills, that must be learned at one time. To use an example from the course material, learning to ride a bike was discussed. The use of training wheels is an example of the scaffold used so that the learner could practice repeatedly until the scaffold was no longer necessary. Another approach would be to remove the pedals from the bike so the learner would push along with their feet. Once they achieved the balance to push and coast for distance (skills of balance and steering), you could reattach the pedals and introduce the skill required to pedal. Steering and balance would have been already mastered and the learner could then focus on learning the additional skill of pedaling.

I like the emphasis on relevance. Students have so many choices on where to devote their time and attention that they will naturally disengage from learning that they don't think is relevant. A teacher who strives to make lessons relevant is naturally approaching their teaching in a student centered way. When you consider how something could be relevant to students, you must have an understanding of who your students are and why they're in class.

Teaching the California Certified Emissions and Diagnostics program requires Logic and Critical Thinking in every aspect of it. In this program, students start the process of becoming Diagnosticians, something one can not do without logic and critical thinking, which are essential to problem-solving. Problem-solving is the result of logic and critical thinking.