We have all had terms where new class was given to us at the last minute, or there was a last minute schedule change. This last minute change can often put the teacher a bit off-kilter, especially toward the beginning of the term. I've had this happen before myself, and I've noticed that if I project a vibe of poor time management and poor preparedness, this rubs off on the students in a very bad way. One thing I make sure to do know with all of my classes, and make a very intentional projection of professionalism, good time management,… >>>

I teach in a program that is heavily technology-based, and I often find that some students have difficulty remembering HOW to complete a particular task on the hardware or in the software; however, they have no problem remember the loads of technical jargon that goes along with this field. The issue I've found is that many students have had it printed into their brain that studying is all reading and bookwork. What I do to solve this issue, and also to get the students learning at home, is give them short hands-on homework projects. Albeit many students do not always… >>>

The article says that allowing other students to grade tests is a good time saving method. However, it is time saving, FERPA prohibits teachers from sharing the grades and other private education related documents of another student (and rightfully so). The way around this is to have students write a reference number on the test that identifies the student who took the test -- the number can be kept a secret between the student and teacher. Personally, I don't use this method at all. However, it does save on grading time, it also factors in student grading error, and takes… >>>

The article says that teachers should avoid essay exams. While I don't completely disagree with the statement, I think that it is important to include essay questions when relevant on exams. I usually make 20% of my midterm and final exam essays questions because (1) it helps the student develop their writing skills and their verbal skills in terms of making strong points and (2) it makes the exam a stronger, more accurate assessment because you are not sticking with just one type of questions. I typically make sure my exams are a mixture of multiple choice, short answer, essay,… >>>

As teachers, we constantly and consistently need to update our course material and lesson plans to adapt to a changing world. Particularly if you are teaching technology-oriented subjects like I do. For the last 2 years I have kept an SD card with every single lesson plan for every class, and all of the course documents. (I'm not a big fan of paper). So my "folder" is my SD card. Because most of my classes are technology related, the market is constantly changing my classes. Software changes, new gear gets purchased, operating systems change, and some material become obsolete. I… >>>

In addition to using pretests to get an idea of where students are at on week 1 of a new class, I have also used pretests to aid in the curriculum flow of classes in a series. For example, at the college I teach at we have a series of classes: Digital Audio Specs, Intro to Audio, Digital Audio Workstations I & II. The four classes are taken in that order, and deal with a continuous flow of related material. There was a curriculum flow issue from course to course, where students felt bored in some classes because they already… >>>

As teachers we hope that every word that comes out of our mouth, is on a powerpoint, or a note on the white board is relevant; but from the students' perspective, this is just not true. One one way I have used to sum up the important points, that helps with the decoding/recoding/application process, is to create colorized flowcharts for many of the most important topics covered in class. Additionally, I try to demonstrate the relevancy of each box on the flowchart with either an in-class demonstration or hands-on mini project. Fortunately, my program is a very hands-on, software-based program.… >>>

I have three points here: We all already know that the best way to reinforce newly acquired knowledge is to immediately apply it in someway -- whether that be a short in-class project, lab, or assignment. The idea of a 20 minute lecture discussion + 30 minute project + 20 minutes of additional lecture and wrap-up is great if you teach a typical 1 hour class 2-3 times a week for 16 weeks. At one of the schools I teach at, we hold class for 4-4 1/2 hours ONCE a week. I have found it incredibly difficult to maintain the… >>>