Barry Westling

Barry Westling

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Hi Cynthia: Pretesting is a tool that can potentially assist the teacher in understanding at what level their students are performing at in the beginning of a new class. Comparison to to beginning vs last day of class performance can be a good measure of both teacher and student effectiveness. Regards, Barry
Hi Cynthia: All students come with different perspective, past life and job experiences, and particular frame of reference based on cultural, ethnic, family, and educational training. Bringing the class to a common level of expertise along with an understanding of what's required should be among the focus a teacher brings to the class. Regards, Barry
Hi Cynthia: Goal implies outcome, and an important outcome is job readiness through academic preparation, professionalism, soft skills (work courtesies), and skills to get and keep a job related to the training field. Regards, Barry
Hi Cynthia: Prepared for me means ready. Ready with lessons, teaching aids, media, handouts, worksheets, etc. It also means ready by being there early to get class ready, greet students as they appear and possibly answer a question or two, and role model the benefits of getting to class on time. Regards, Barry
Hi George: Sounds like a good example. Back-up plans should easy to implement, require little preparation, related to the topic, low tech, and involve students in an active way. In this way, when all that was planned gets changed for whatever reason, or if there is unexpected interruptions or more time left at the end of a class, the back-up plan can be instituted with little difficulty. Regards, Barry
Hi Connie: I think students come to classes with all kinds of varied expectatations. When we are prepared, we are posed to set an example of being prepared, delivering pertinent content, utilizing relative media, and demonstrating personal expectations for our students. Although some classes have students that whine, I believe most want direction and guidelines. We can provide that in our readiness. When we're prepared, we're ready to provide what our students need. Regards, Barry
Hi Jennifer: Prepared means ready. And ready means there has been a thoughtful process that preced the class in order to gather resources, plan the lesson, make sure all teching aids are set, copies, handouts, and assignments have been readied. Now, when the student comes to class and sees the teacher has everything laid out, they're going to begin to expect being prepared is an important trait for the student because they see it is with the teacher. Regards, Barry

Hi Kristin: Sometimes reengaging can be simple, like just begin asking questions and having the class discuss the students responses. Or simple, like "stand up, stretch, okay, sit down and let's get back to it". Other times takes more effort, even including change ups -this where we swith gears altogether. So if lecture with PPT and whiteboard is not keeping the attention and focus, change up to something else, such as a class activity such as work sheets or written work, or if applicable, a lab or skill activity. In the middle might be sharing a story, anectdote, or work… >>>

Hi Kristin: Lab skill is a great way to make for adjustments in time. I don't think students really ever get enough time to really master all the skills their responsible for. I'm a believer in repetition, repetion, and more repetition. Projects, small group discussions, generally any course work or assignment that requires the student to perform independent work with guided facilitation by the instructor is more meaningful than lectures that simply require passive listening. The more variety we can add the better. Regards, Barry
Hi Kathleen: Well sounds a bit complicated but if that's the school policy and it's allowed or encouraged then the teacher is probably going to use it. I just think that the syllabus should spell everything out in the beginning of a course and all students expected to be accountable for all assignments in the same manner. Regards, Barry

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