James Haynes

Discussion Comment

I have always been rather a disciplinarian with inattentive or unruly students in my classes. I found, however, in the sections of ED104 a more successful and longer lasting method of maintaining a relationship and respect by and for these students. The other day, the first time I tried what I learned in this module, and it was very successful; thus, it changed my attitude and and desires to use this newly gained teaching technique.

James Haynes

Blog Comment

Getting Shy Students Comfortable When Presenting

Many years ago, as a brand new 2nd Lieutenant, I had to brief the Wing commander and his immediate staff about how my department was preparing for an upcoming inspection. I was so nervous my notes visible shook in my hands, I stuttered, and I could not form complete sentences. It was a horrible experience.

The commander gave me a direct order. "Lieutenant Haynes, next Tuesday night the Toastmasters meets in downtown in the Ocean View Restaurant. You will be there and for the next three months attend each meeting and fully participate in their acttivities. I will receive a… >>>

James Haynes

Discussion Comment

Basis for Evaluation

During the '90s, when I was on the faculty at Texas A&M, with the Department Head's approval, I decided to change my method of evaluation for a course in astronomy to see if I could increase student class attendance and motivation. Instead of the standard midterm, infrequent quizzes, term paper and final examination, I substituted in the syllabus the evaluation consisting of 15 different quizzes randomly given within the 1st 10 minutes of class, the average of which represented 70% of the grade, a term paper on any subject remotely associated with astronomy representing 20%, the final examination representing 5%,… >>>

James Haynes

Discussion Comment

Using a PDA to Prioritize a "To-Do" List

I use my PDA to prioritize my "to-do" list, by listing in time increments. I place a date/time listing my priorities in descending order, and engage the Pop-up feature with an audible alarm to remind me when to start on that item. Of course, I can always start earlies, or delay start by revising the date/time associated with the item. This allows me to revieew and revise the list as necessary.

James Haynes

Discussion Comment

Lack of Communicative Skills

I find that the most important problem involving post-secondary career schools such as ours is the very poor verbal and written communicative skills of our students. The great majority of our students graduated near or below the median percentage of their class; most barely made sufficient progress to graduate. The first difficulty I have to overcome is to make them realize just how important correct grammar, verbage and sentence structure are to their ability to be hired and to progress in their technical field. I am pursuing a curricula change proposal to include basic technical report writing skills and verbal… >>>