As a teacher yes I do learn as I teach . I learn a lot about my students , how they receive the information and their ability to retain and utilize the information given and what I could do to make learning more enjoyable for them.

Remember that the students are adults and handle them like you would handle adults. Keeping adult learners engaged by noticing what they have accomplished well and give them praise for that but also challenge them to do the not so easy task that they may not like. Reward them when the except the challenge encourage them that  they are doers and achievers .

I learned the importance of connecting with students is through trust, expertise, confidence, relatability, and respect.

Think of creative ways to keep the class engage. Don't just lecture. Incorporate different learning styles into teaching.

Reading through many of the comments, I can see that others are very positive about gamification. For myself as a non-gamer, I'm still having problems accepting the idea of incorporating gaming principles into the classroom filled with adults. I don't play video games, so I'm not at all familiar with the gaming terminology, I don't play cards, and the only board games I've ever played are Monopoly, Parcheesi, Checkers, and Chinese Checkers--and those were all when I was a kid. Maybe I've played Monopoly once or twice as an adult. 

Comment on Cary Alburn's post: To add to what I said, I'm teaching paralegals in Colorado. If I use a case that is vaguely on point from another jurisdiction but which totally conflicts with Colorado law, that brings up the "so what?" factor. It's unhelpful. If I continually bring up such cases, not only is the "so what?" factor involved, but now my students are likely to find what we're studying to be irrelevant, boring, and quickly lose any motivation. But if I can bring up cases that dovetail with Colorado law and are directly on point, they can… >>>

To me, the biggest impact on motivation is relevance--how will what is being learned impact the student's future, both regarding employment and other aspects of his/her life. It's hard to be motivated when there seems to be no relevance.

Creating moments in the learning process to find a connection with students and to make learning fun.

Students will enter the classroom with their own personal experiences. My goal is to create a learning environment that can feel included while teaching the objectives.