Richard Parenti

One of the most important things I think I do is learn the names of all my students. Even when students' names are hard to pronounce, I make the effort to say it correctly because a person's name is the sweetest sound to them. At the beginning of a new class I promise them that I will learn their all their names and I keep that promise. I make plenty of mistakes along the way and I always apologize, let students laugh at me, and keep trying. Eventually I get it right and often the whole class will cheer when… >>>

I never sit down when I teach a class. I can't. When I'm in front of a classroom I feel like I'm on. It's my obligation to engage my audience for the next 1 to 2 hours and I take that seriously. Sitting down, to me, implies that class is a converstation. And while there will be dialogue, I want to ensure that the words go in the direction that is best for the material being learned. I rarely have behavior problems in my classroom because I seek out the students that aren't engaged in the work and do what… >>>

Some of the challenges from students comes from a combination two characterisitics. Aptitude and Persistance. Aptitude is the student's ability to grasp the material and persistance is the student's effort put forth for learning. A student with a high aptitude and a high level of persistance knows a lot and tries hard. We like these students because they make teaching easy. They get it the first time and they are willing and eager to learn. A student with a high aptitude and low persistance are the ones we view as "lazy." These students would be hard pressed to get an… >>>

In a world where televsion dominates our lives, we have become accustomed to "commercial breaks." Watching television as a kid I can remember RUNNING to the bathroom during a commercial break and feeling a sense of accompllshment when I got back to my favorite cartoon before the commercials were over. Back then it was a rare thing. Today, we can bake cookies in the time it takes for a television show to return from a commercial break and the breaks are more frequent (good for those with prostate problems, I guess). But the point is, this has affected our attention… >>>