Has anyone found this to back fire while in class? How did you handle the situation?

I have found as an Instructor that the most important thing to concentrate on is organization. Sometimes it takes me longer to organize than to actually go through the motions of the class, but it flows better, with good planning. Also as I complete a course I like to make notes on the class to see what was successful and what helped the students learn as opposed to what did not work. It really is an evolving lesson plan that I add to and take away from in order to get the best results.

In the beginning when I started to teach I was very unsure of myself, even though I had over 25 years of experience in my professional field. Now as time goes by I feel more confident in helping my students get the most information and skills from my experience, in order to help them achieve success in their chosen career fields.

Ricardo Murillo

I have several students that are very quiet with such a low volume that it is difficult to hear their answers. I don't want to keep embarassing them by always asking them to speak louder. Any suggestions?

I have found that ice breakers can really set the day for your class. They help get everyone engaged and out of their rutt. I work with order students in business so teh mashmallow challenge, business card challenge all work well. We even do "Today in crazy news" all to get them engaged and interested in the class.

quick question: how do some of you all control the classroom when you see some students want you to go faster with the information then you have ones that are not understanding and you need to slow down what you are presenting. and then you have a student that wants to take over/  would llove to hear some tips and ideas as to how you are able to get the class back on the learning track and making sure everyone understands

How does an instructor deal with a student who has a comment for every topic that is discussed in the classroom setting without offending that student?

In general, emotions are contagious and stress has an impact on the quality of my interactions with others. The better I am at managing my own stress, the more I will positively affect those around me and the less other people's stress will negatively affect me. When I feel overwhelmed at work, I lose confidence and may become irritable or withdrawn. This can make me less productive and less effective. I feel if you ignore the warning signs of work stress that can lead to bigger problems. Beyond interfering with job performance and satisfaction, chronic or intense stress can lead to physical and emotional health problems. (Hypertension, High Cholestrol, etc..))

Coping with stress is an essential tool. I keep a stress journal. This helps me to identify the regular stressors in my life and the way I deal with them. Each time I feel stressed, I keep track of it in my journal, which I have on my IPhone. As I keep a daily log, I will begin to see patterns and common themes, which I write down. (What caused my stress, how I felt, both physically and emotionally, how I acted in response and what I did to make myself feel better.

Exams include many questions measuring only knowledge of facts. One of the most common complaints from students is the test content did not reflect the material discussed in class or what the professor seemed to indicate was most important. I base all of my exams off the content taught in class and all homework assignments. I will allow the students to use their notebooks during the test. I encourage the students to take good notes, correct mistakes on their homework and understand where they made the mistake, and to be able to use all resources available to them.   

Since there are a lot of demands placed on us (Instructors), it is important to realize that procrastination can severely hinder our academic performance. This is true in life as well. With this in mind, it is essential to have a realistic game plan for overcoming procrastination. Here are some things I do to help myself: 1) Assess the Task. I spend a few minutes thinking through everything that needs to be done, then, if possible, segment the task into various smaller pieces. It’s much easier to tackle smaller tasks than one huge task. 2) I believe once you start a task you are already half done.   I don’t try and shoot for completion in one sitting. This can be overwhelming. Getting started is the key and incremental progress will follow. 3) Progress, even a little bit each day, adds up, and over time increases your confidence that you can, that you will, finish. 4) Eliminate Distractions. I find a quiet place and concentrate. The most important concept I started doing is not to beat myself up about getting everything perfect. it’s more important that every project gets finished, not that every project be perfect.

A openhand gesture is always the way to greet your students to ensure comfort and security in the classroom.

Being extremely aware of non-verbal communication is held with high regard.

Cues are a great way to be in constant communication with your students

Learning about different options of elements will be very helpful communicationing during tests taking.

I am learning so much about different forms of communication.

I spent many years working with teammates who spoke a different langauge then me, Therefore hand gestures and pointing was all we could rely on. This is an essential tool.

I sincerely enjoyed this topic.  I find teaching styles do vary and as an instructor, we have to look at changing our routine to avaoid the apathetic teaching style.  It is so easy to comfortable in our ways of teaching because it works for "us" as instructors.  I am constantly reminding myself students learn differently.  When I start to loose focus and want to sit down at chair, I remind myself what example to the students see.  

I also change my lectures and try to make them different each time around.  I enjoy learning new teaching ideas from others and implement them into my teaching style.

How to help our team player cope with stress?

How do you think an instructor should behave and manage the students that perfectly know the schol's policies and always "walked on the edge" by misbehaving and be desruptive but  not crossing the line.

As part of my Communications Class I teach NV as an element of the Job Hunting experience. Do you have other relevent areas of instruction where you teach or observe and use NV?