Recently, I have had students from all over the country in my courses, and I have enjoyed this thoroughly. Each student brings unique experiences and stories to the classroom, and whenever I talk about specific landforms, weather conditions, etc (I teach Earth Science), a student often has a first-hand experience to share with the class. Very enjoyable!

My wife has her PhD in educational psychology and always gives me advice to improve my teaching. One of her easiest suggestions concerns passing out the syllabus. She never passes out the syllabus first; too boring. Rather, she piques the students' curiosity by presenting some particularly interesting material first. Only later does she finally pass out the syllabus. This way, it gets the course off on a positive note...