If you are having trouble bridging the gap between the front of the classroom and the students in their seats...what are some effective ways of constructing that bridge?

I appreciated the 4 points that were stressed in regards to what you want your students to walk away with after the first meeting. Those will help me greatly in my own teaching. Many of my professors did not make it obvious that they cared about our learning and it affected how we learned within the class.

I think that one of the most important things about a textbook is the authors approach as mentioned in the discussion. It can really make or break the direction of the class. But how do you know which author is going to be the most effective? Is it trial and error?

Where do you draw the line of being a manager and being authoritative?