I find it a difficult balance between maintaining control of my class and wanting to maintain control of my class. Let me clarify. On the days that I get frustrated with my loud mouthed student and I am on a constant lookout to steal back the conversation I get really frustrated and it changes the whole feel to my class. On the other hand, when I listen and engage with the loud mouth student I find it much more organic for me to sway the conversation and pass it off to another student or use it to ask the whole… >>>

I really like the idea of having multiple class activities to pull from. I can see how this would be so helpful because class dynamics change a lot from term to term. Sometimes I have over 30 students and sometimes I have 8. There are some activities that are really difficult to do with 30 students and vice versa. Not only is the number of students important, but the personalities as well. I really liked the airplane activity and I am wondering what other class activities instructors in the forum have done that have proven successful in helping the students… >>>

I thought it was interesting how this course mentions the difference between being a friend to the students and a pal. Clearly, I agree that it is not appropriate to be a pal and break the teacher/student relationship, but I do feel that it is crucial to many students to feel understood and that is done by being a friend. When a student is struggling we can do so much to help them see that there is hope, but we can only show them there is hope if we understand their situation. I have had students who were not coming… >>>