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Deanna Curtis
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Hi Michele,
I too have a very diverse population in my classrooms. I have students right out of high school, or who never finished high school. I also have students in their 50's (older than me) who have many life experiences that they want to apply in the classroom.
I had been finding it very difficult to reach both sides at the same time until I realized that they were all going into a field that is new to them. They are all on the same level in some respects.
Discussion Comment
Hi Michele,
I too have experienced the dangers of using technology in the classroom that I don't really understand. One of the classes I teach is Microsoft Office. I thought I knew MS Office really well because I use it all the time. Boy was I wrong ! I had to rely on the younger students to show me some of the special stuff. That was really embarrassing. Now I have taken a course myself in MS Office and feel much more prepared.
I have to say that this forum ED 104 was the most informative and most pertinent to my learning experience. So many of the examples applied directly to things I come across everyday in my classrooms. It seems that teaching adults has a whole different set of things to consider.
I found several topics and answers that are going to be used in my classes now.
I was really interested to read about the use of color and peripheral learning in this course. I am working on my BS in psychology and this integrated very well with my current curriculum.
I brought up to my supervisor at work that we may want to use soothing music for the stressful testing times and he said that he knows about the effects but that we can't clog up the band width on our work computers ! So I am going to see about just bringing some kind of radio to class to see if it can help.
Discussion Comment
I have been looking for different ways to make A&P and Med Term more entertaining, and I got a log of good ideas from this class. I am a firm believer that if you have fun, you will learn difficult stuff more easily. The problem is that I have to be able to keep control of the class while introducing fun. I also have to be able to stick to the syllabus and cover a lot of material at a time.
It would be nice, I think, to be able to make my own assessments and lesson plans. The reason I say, I think, is because the corporate office governs what we teach, in what order, and our grading. They tell us we can't give extra credit, we can't round scores, we can't change the grading policy.... etc.
Because of this, I have students going out in the field, who have passed every class, but never passed an assessment ! This person is now representing me and my school, and it won't be a good impression.
I realize that there is… >>>
Blog Comment
One thing I found interesting was how many of my students responded right away when I talked to them about learning styles. Most of them already had an opinion on which learning style they were. I encouraged them to let me know if I wasn't meeting their needs with the style being used; and they HAVE !!
Discussion Comment
I think I have learned a lot about organizational skills in ED 101. I became a career college instructor without any formal education in teaching. I have felt comfortable and competent in my skills because I am teaching what I did for a career for 18 years. However, I have felt unprepared to prepare for my lectures or anticipating questions from the students. I hope I will apply what I learned here and feel a little more prepared.
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Hi John,
I know what you mean about having to recharge your enthusiasm batteries. I have been teaching the same course for 5 years and had gotten so bored with it that I took a term off, just to review all of the curriculum and come up with new ideas on how to present the material. I think my boredom was starting to show to the students.
This was the perfect time to take this class ! Now I have more ideas about how important the enthusiasm is and how to bring it back. I do love my field and… >>>