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 new a big chunk of the material, and other classes where the students felt that the material was way over their head. Each of us developed a week 1 pretest to assess each student's strengths and weaknesses; and the strengths and weaknesses of the class as a whole. Not only did this help us to choose review material wisely, it also set a clearly defined end goal for each class in the series.

What is the best way to stay with in a standard but introduce new information, when it comes to state required standards?

Im looking for ideas to engage my students, hence why I took this course to add to my lesson plans any ideas?

Im a first year and trying to get a better grip on organizing myself any ideas?

Does anyone know if standards for homework vary by state ?

Having the students use technology to apply their newly learned skills helps with mastery of the subject matter. Again I teach accounting I try to always apply these skills quickly to real-world applications this allows students to see things in a much different light.

Hello: I teach accounting at all levels. First; as we all know that in accounting it is a building process from a foundation to various levels of understanding. So for me it is critical that the students understand debits and credits and the accouonting equation. With this they can start to build. To be sure that they do a firm foundation I quiz them on the terminolgy then test them on praticial applications of the concepts. In accounting I realte this to learning our times tables when we were young you just have to do it over and over to fully understand. Practice Practice.

Hello: The more details you have in your lesson plan the easier it is to prep for the classroom. You can embed urls and videos into your plan and use it to work through the concepts and principles being presented. It is critical that the objectives in the lesson plan follow the syllabus to the letter. When you bring all of this together we as insturctors have the job of delivering this to the class. How we do it is just as important as the message itself. We want to enguage the student as much as possible.

Hello: I have been teaching for a few years now. I try to have a little lecture and some role playing along with some short video or other resources to help support the concept. This allows students to stay active and to play a role in their own learning. Empowering the students goes a long way in the classroom. To much lecture they loose interest to much role paly the will get away from the concept being presented. To much video they will not comprehend the concept--they also look at it as if the instructor is letting someone else do their job. It takes some time in the classroom to find this balance. But it is a learning process for everyone. This is where getting to know your class will help. Each set of students are differnet I have found what I can do in one class does not always transfer to another class.

What are some strategies for bring students up-to-speed when general background knowledge is lacking?

Do you see a difference when using remote controls for change slides, etc.?

How do you feel about the use of the Myers-Briggs personality assessment? Can or would you use this to evaluate and "open" students?

Documentation of everything is very important as students will always question you regarding grades, attendance and practical exams. have a great rubric so that students can truly evaluate themselves. We sometimes have students complete a rubric on themselves. They are usually more critical on themselves than we are as instructors.

In culinary arts we see that most students are tactile learners. By offering extra practice hours we can help those students that struggle to become more confident in their skills and assist them in developing skills beneficial to them in the industry. It's not always the book smart student that makes the best cook, but one that is eager to learn and practices his/her craft.

When I started 3 years ago, I had a hard time coming up with ways of delivering the lesson at hand for my students. I would stick to the syllabus and teach all that was required for the day, but then hit a wall when I would start to talk about other things pertaining to the subject at hand; making them lose interest. I decided to go to my mentor and ask him for advice, one thing thing that he told me was to consider these three things before teaching a class: 1)What they should know 2)What they will know and 3)What they will know I found that when considering those three points, it made it easier for me to decide exactly how much information I would deliver, so that I don't lose my students interest. Thoughts on any of this??? -Gabriel

I have found that many students benefit from "learning how to take tests." How to treat first impressions, how to search for what the question is realloy asking for, being aware of key the "comanment" words and how to find answers to other questions in questions.

I prefer to use the white board for both my course outline, class time line and class objectives. By writing them out, I review them in my mind and provide the student with a way of organizing the material that works.

I always try and grade students work and hand it back to them immediately. I find that they know the class will be better engaged and understand errors they have made. Is it ever acceptable to not return grades immediately?

I have found that there are many ways to get students involved in classroom learning. The areas I focus on are using all of the different learning styles. What methods do you find best to achieve active student learning?

I use power points only as a guiding tool for my lecture or demonstration. I relate to my students by giving them real world situations that I've experienced throughout my career. I teach them that they will have choices for their career in hospitality and that not all avenues are for everyone.