While many of the other methods of dealing with stress, or better yet, eliminating stressors, are great ideas, I have found that I was crreating some of those stressors myself because of the way I percieved events at work, not the events themselves. For instance, when I first started as an instructor I would take it very personally when a student performed poorly in my class, to the point where it caused a lot of stress and I know I laid awake nights thinking of it. I was creating stress in my life about things that are not within my control. I now ask myself, did I offer all the help I could? Did I do everything I could to ensure the student's success? If I can answer myself honestly, with a yes, and the students failed to take advantage of what was offered to him because of a lack of motivation on his part, or if failed to grasp a concept after explaining or demostraating the concept using every learning style method I could come up with, then I am not at fault, and should not personally suffer stress because of something I am not in control of. Other things I can control, I manage, things I can not control, I simply dismiss. I will not allow myself to loose sleep or become ill because of things that are not within my control.

Some of the new lab sheets we have developed make it much easier to keep up with grading by providing designated spaces for conclusions based on the students tests. The most relevent measurements are in the right-hand column and the conclusions are at the bottom of each page. Rather than have to read the entire labs sheets with dozens of meter measurements, we simply scan the sheet for completeness and look at the two measurements on the lower right-hand column. Then be certain that the studnets's conclusion or diagnoses matches these last two measurements. This is especially helpfull for large lab tasks.

ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS WAS TO DOWN GRADE FOR BEING LATE WITH AN ASSIGNMENT. I ALREADY USE THIS METHOD AND IT WORKS VERY WELL. I DID NOT ALWAYS USE THIS METHOD BUT SINCE I HAVE IT WORKS OUT TO BE A FAIR SYSTEM.

This list idea is so simple but I think it might be a solution for me. I'm so busy some times that I find myself trying to do too many things at one time and forgetting things. Other times when I do have a free moment I find myself walking around in a haze wondering "now what was it I was supposed to do?", and accomplishing little, or focusing on the wrong (least important) things on my imaginary list. Now... where do I keep the to-do list where it will be handy? I don't have a "desk" and work in several areas of the building...

I like Michal Anderson's suggestion of having a hammock at work. Haven't you heard of the latest practices in some businesses that allows the massagers to come and give you a back-rub for blood circulation. I think that may be more therapuetic & stress reliever for the repetitives tasks that some of us have to do sitting in front of the computers. It will have less carpel tunnel problems & less medical expense, and less absentism, too.

The best test reliever is my quality time with my pets, running, playing, and jogging in the desert. It give me quality time with myself & my dogs, look at the sunset over the moutains, talk to myself & my dogs who wre the best confidants - what to talk about the fresh air the wonderful excercise. Kill two birds with one stone rather than run on the treadmill. When you run on the treadmill, all other chores are still waiting for you, like, walking the dogs. I find talking to other friends about your stress has leaks & you might face more ugly & stressful situations later for having spoken to someone something you shouldn't have spoken about. Pets are the best stress-relievers.

My experience in life has made me realize thatpriortizing tasks for teaching are the most effective way of saving my time for other relevant or regular things. I would like to know if anything else has worked better for others.

Be on time. Be prepared. Be organized. I have fallen short with each of these elements at one time or another. After 7 years of teaching several related courses to prepare students for our specific industry, I have made many mistakes. But if it is one of the essential elements above, it is more serious than any other mistake I have made. Sometimes my demo is not perfect. So what? I tell them that it is not, and tell them why. And during their production, I watch over them to make sure they are working toward not making the same mistake I did. It is always nice to have a perfect demo, but it just doesn't happen every single time. So I strive to work on the main things that will help me avoid mistakes: timeliness, preparedness, and organization.

We currently have a student that has many dibilitating problems, mostly mental, with documentation to be protected by the ADA. What I find is that this student is allowed to get away with so much because of our overly cautious handling that it has become unfair for the other students. It is actually distracting for them and they become discouraged. I appreciate any suggestions on this situation. elp

I teach the first lab class in a very exciting 'hands on' industry. Over the last six weeks, the students have completed several theory or preparation courses for this lab class. There is lots of information to review for my class and I find it helpful to break up the 'intro' over two days. I review the most important topics on day one, especially safety issues,so that the students have plenty of time to be active in the lab on the first day. Then the second day I finish the remaining topics. Also, each day is built on the last, so I review what the learning objectives were the day before and what the objectives are today and how they relate to each other. Therefore, the class is a constant flow of information that is visited many times.

Describe what you consider to be the biggest classroom mistake you have made. Describe how you have avoided and helped others avoid that same mistake.

What are the adverse effects of poor student monitoring skills? Do you think that you are effectively monitoring your class, why or why not?

What student traits/actions do you personally find most challenging? What do you do to help those students to be less of a challenge and become successful?

What do you do to maintain your status as an Instructional Delivery Expert? What areas do you think most instructors could use help with?

We often encounter students that have learning disabilities that they fail to disclose until they are in an academic tailspin. As an open enrollment institution, we know that this will happen and use a process that we call "academic triage" to attempt to identify these students as quickly as possible. By the sequence of our curriculum there are certain courses that lend themselves to assorted intsructional techniques. Students with various challenges are more easily recognized when some techniques are employed rather than others. By making certain that all students are exposed to and evaluated by several techniques within their first six weeks of school,we are able to identify potential problems. We then do a one-on-one conversation with the student and more often than not are told of a previously recognized challenge. We then respond according to the needs of the particular student. Often it is a simple as tutoring but sometimes it is extremely complex. In any event the early identification of the problem allows us to be proactive, even with a student that would rather we "didn't know." The key element in our process is that we approach our first twelve weeks with a student as a teem teaching activity. While we all teach our respective subjects individually, we compare notes and impressions on a scheduled basis in a formal setting. By giving structure to our meetings we maintain a professional atmosphere and accomplish our goal of employing the best resources in the most effective manner to satisfy the student's needs.

a number system helps tremendously

just watching the scenery go by is great stress releiver

excersize is the best stress reliever

its all so confusing to keep up with

I find using spreadsheets are most effective in the way I keep my grades organized.