The first day of class is so vital in assessing the needs of the individual students, especially with a new enrollment. The first day of class and the first week of a new semester start is so important to me. In addition to giving the course overview, syllabi etc. I take the time to have each person introduce themselves, share their backgrounds and state their expectations. I share my expectations about the progression of class to hopefully establish some common ground with the people that I am just getting to know. Any suggestions or ideas? Yolanda Pope

Recently, a problem was brought to my attention by some students, the problem was with a co-worker. The student's were reluctant to to speak up, so I did. I made my boss aware of the problem by addressing the issues of the students by giving the facts of this situation as I understood it without making any personal comments about my coworker.

I am a Business Technology Instructor, and I often find that the more I encourage my students to be creative when completing assigned work, the less they copy from each other. Secondly, I notice that I don't get as many moans and groans when I assign individual projects.