This should be an ongoing thing in the classroom. The student should get an update at least every two weeks to monitor their grades. This assists them in feeling that they are in the loop of everything. This not only assists them with having a little control over there grades it also allows them to see what they need to study and work on more.

Prestests are incredibly valuable when it comes to evaluating the level of knowledge in your classroom. With pretests you are able to use compare and contrast to see which type of lecture would benefit them as a whole. This in itself creates a big difference in the students learning environment.

Preparation of your instructional content should be done at least a week in advance. This will give you time to make corrections if needed and also evaluate your students to ensure the content is adequate for them to learn from.

God stuff here...........I am going to revaluate my syllabus when it comes to assesments.....

I like the plan B ideas.......and just good ole Be Prepared and into your students,,,,they are the customer.....

I love my power point......could be however that the ole school items can also project here.....simple and clear what ever the media.....less is more now and then....cheers...Chef Dan

I did not actually find this section very helpful.....however it is a good review.

I feel that Powerpoint has been misused since it was introduced into the teaching/instrucing media aides. Some instructors will use it as their main teaching aide where I think it should be used for making a bigger point to your sudents when instructing on certain subjects. Powerpoint is not a class baby-sitter but rather an attention getter. Instructors will a lot of time make this much longer than it should be so that students start to fall asleep in class and then it becomes a disruption to the class instead of an aide. Powerpoint should be a brief, colorful, illustrated, depiction of what the students should be learning. Making them take notes or fill out a questionaire during the presentation is also very benefitial to the students. It makes then pay more attention and stay awake even if it is sort of boring to them.

I want my students to know not only what is going on in the classroom, but also in the world. In previous classes, I have asked students to read newspapers and write a short essay on a current event. Should I continue this or stick to the text book?

I feel that when reading about using colored handouts that it is a wonderful idea. Using colors helps me able to get the students attention and keep it when passing out papers. The brighter the color, I find is more eye catching so they tend to go longer with being quit and looking over the information. I have noticed also makes the student think that this piece of paper is more important than all the white papers that had been passed out. White is so dull. It is also very helpful when refering back to a paper that has been colored. I use the fact that it is more colorful to be able to show the importance of the information that is on the colored paper.

I teach at a local technical school that has a very diverse group of students. Many of my students have issues with English skills. This class I am instructing now has the whole spectrum of learning capabilities. What are ways you can address the needs of your limited students, while not frustrating the others who are beyond that.

I like the idea of colored handouts, but is there another way to express the material to catch the students eye. My institution does not supply colored paper or color printing.

In a recent class I was teaching I was told I would have access to a projector. I prepared a significant portion of class material using power point as it was a medium I felt comfortable with. However, shortly before the term began my room assignment changed and I no longer had access to a projector for media. Instead of scrapping all of my ppts I printed and handed out the notes pages (3 slides per page with room to write to the side) to students to help them follow along with the lectures and to give them a visual frame of reference. My question is if this practice is robbing them of the experience of picking out and ascertaining relevant and important information. I continued this practice through the first 2 weeks of the term and then (with warning) told my class they were to continue taking notes on their own using the skills we had already learned and that I wasn't going to continue handing them notes. Did I do the right thing? Could I have approached it in a more effective way?

It is very important to be prepared and ready to teach because students are watching you. I had one student to come to me about an Instructor not being on time and always trying to get prepared while class is in session. The student was concerned about his/her grades being missed placed due to the instructor not being prepared. For one never discussed what will happen with the instructor to the student, you can tell the student that you will check into the situation and for them to continue their work until you get back with them. Now for the instructor, that instructor will be given the option for improvement because they do have students watching and looking up to them for assistance in their career field. Instructors should know that our assistance/behavior affects how the students learn and behaves.

School policy currently prohibits extra credit. Whereas in the past I used a few extra credit questions to balance against potentially difficult questions or perhaps questionable questions within an exam. There are a few occasions where I might be testing difficult subject matter. I will create a 20 point quiz. Each question is worth 2 points, but there are fifteen questions on the quiz. No student can score higher than 20 points for the quiz. The extra questions provide an opportunity for students to make up for poor answers elsewhere within the quiz. In addition, students strive to answer all the questions.

Years ago I received two of the best instructional tips to use during a lecture: modulate your voice and move your face. I've found I can keep students attentive during lecture by changing the volume of my voice from loud down to a whisper and back to loud. In addition, I use exaggerated facial expressions as I speak. Students effectively stay focused on my face and concentrate on what I'm saying. I combine these two actions with moving around the room and direct Q&A with students during a lecture. Students stay focused, actively participate, and ultimately retain the material.

One of the most successful "tools" I've used to keep students focused on PowerPoint presentations is rather abstract. I'll randomly insert images not relating to the subject material. The effect is similar to having the wrong slide in place. For example, I might have a dry history lecture interrupted by a photo of a llama. When the slide airs, I might yell, "LLAMA!" Although it get's a bit off subject for the moment, I've found students stay awake and pay attention. Students look forward to the little comedic breaks and tend to hyper-anticipate when they might arrive. In the end, students are more alert and stay focused on the presentation.

We have to be prepared for our students everyday. No matter how our day is going we cannot let it effect our teaching. Students expect there Teacher/Instructor to come to class prepared to teach them the subjuct at hand.

scope the class well and prepare yourself for the class. structure yourself and your class for the material you want to get aross. try to always keep it interesting and fun so they will not loose interest...BE PREPARED !!

At Concorde in Miramar, Fl. Our program uses other program for field trips. For example, the Pharmacy Tech students host an open clinic. This allow students from other program to walk through the PT lab and learn how other programs and can affect their profession.