make sure you have enough work for your students so the do not sit around on their cell phones

I struggle with determining how to set the appropriate expectation level for a 400 level humanities course at a tech and design school. I have adult students with a variety of life challenges. My students range from a few highly vigilant A students to many more "I just need to pass" D students. There are usually a few students in between who are pleasantly content with a B or C. How do we combat the attitude of "I just need to get by?" I want to give assignments that challenge my students beyond just repeating concepts back to me. At the same time, many of my students don't "see the point" of general education classes and just want to focus on their "core" requirements. We are required to assign sixteen hours of outside classwork a week. I strive to fill that with engaging meaningful projects, but my students historically either don't turn in the work, turn in piece meal work, or turn in half-hearted efforts. I feel like I have to consistently dial down my expectations and scale back on assignments. This inevitably feels discouraging and counterproductive to our profession. I saw this sentiment echoed the other day when I read a quote to the effect that we used to teach our K-12 students Latin and Greek, now we need to teach college students remedial English. My concerns are along these lines. So, how do we set our expectations to accommodate a variety of learning abilities and needs, while maintaining the integrity of a college level assignment? Thank you, Melville Petrosky

Whenever I have a student who is absent for a quiz, not only do I give them another version of the test but I also deduct 10 points from their score as well.

It took me a while to realize the benefits of breaking the course contents into smaller units. In doing so, the student tend to have a faster means of accomplishment which ultimately can be very motivating.

Often times, many people make the mistake of giving too much details in a powerpoint presentation. The most effective way is to keep in short.

I have found field trips to be an important component of the learning process. Students are delighted that they do not have to be in a classroom setting and above all, it gives them an opportunity to see the practical aspect of what is being taught in class. I always felt that students learn more through these learning strategies.

Generation Y students do not seem to (and I'm generally speaking here) value memorization or retaining knowledge. I get the reasoning "I can always look it up." I have to drive home the point that in an industry where time is money, you won't have or be given the time to look it up; you'll be fired. It's a very difficult concept to get them to understand. In this industry you really need to KNOW it.

Teaching at a career college relies heavily on the Taxonomy of Learning, specifically where I teach, the ultimate goal is correct application of learning. Students need to know what things are, what they do, and, the huge practical portion of our course, how to use them. Career Colleges have to emphasize all three levels in order to get a complete understanding of their field of study.

Time to create lessons plans is always hard to come by. However, I have a 40-60 minute commute just to get to the college where I teach, and then have that same commute going home. I have found that I can maximize my time by mentally planning out my lesson plans during my commute so that I can very quickly and fluidly type them up when I get the chance. This has been a huge time saver and I actually think it makes my lesson plans better because the commute makes me think about them longer.

I have found testing should be done in a quite area and a review should be done before the test.

I have been fortunate to teach at the college level for several years now and have found that even when teaching the same course, no two lesson plans are identical. They might be close, but never the same. Each class is a different make up of students. Each semester, I find myself adjusting the rate of content delivery for specific areas and having to review or reinforce some areas more than others. There are trends, and my lesson plans usually don't change drastically, but it has been enormously helpful to be fluid and dynamic when pacing a course, even if I've taught it a few times.

Typical pre-tests concentrate on academic skills, particularly math and reading comprehension. Yet so many of our adult students are significantly lacking in all of the soft skills that constitute professionalism. Does anyone have a handle on screening students for soft skills?

What are some of your preferred presentation materials? Does anyone still use an overhead projector? I knew quite a few teachers who did when I was in school. I started seeing powerpoint more when I was in college. Do you like cartoons/animations to get your point across? What about posters?

Should students have a copy of the exact power point slides to take note on, or will that make them pay less attention?

My class was having trouble focusing, and people were chatting a lot. Some students complained that they were being distracted. I decied to assign seats, and the class has become better behaved. Was this a good idea, or am I treating them like kids?

Materials should be ready prior to class start.

Instructors should shadow another instructor if they have never taught a particular subject. This can give the instructor more confidence in teaching the material.

lesson plans should be in relation to the books, materials needed to teach the course.

Preparing a lesson plan is a huge positive working tools that all instructors should have for every subject.

In my self-analysis, I realized I coming to class five minutes early does not allow for all of the preparation required to set up for the day. I like to have my class topic and objectives written on the board before students arrive, and most days I am bombarded with questions before I get a chance to set my books down. There goes my five minute lead! I also take my 18-month old to daycare every morning, and it is not always a predictable process. I need to create more time in the morning, so I will try the 30-day behavior to habit rule and get out of bed as soon as I am awake every day, instead of hitting the "snooze" button. What are some successful techniques that you use to carve out more time to prepare for class?