Hi. I teach anatomy that is designed to have 2 hours of lecture in one location and then 2 hours of lab in another. I find it really difficult to keep them interested in my lecture for the full time. Lab seems easy because I have all of these activities planned that are fun. What are some suggestions to integrating the two together when they are held in separate classrooms, and keeping the lecture portion relevant and as exciting as lab time?

I always go over the grading scale with my students and let them know that class particaption is 10% of their overall grade and a quiz will be 20% of the overall grade and an exam will be 30% and their final exam is 40%, if they do a project it is usually 30% of their overall grade, then at the middle of the course I go over their grades of where they are at that point in the class, so they have an idea where they stand and what they have to do to either keep their grade where it is at or maybe bring their grades up.

I ENJOY A FIRST DAY ICE BREAKING SESSION OF INDIVIDUAL INTRODUCTIONS.WE GO AROUND THE ROOM STATEING AGE,WHERE WE WRE FROM,MARTIAL STATUS,KIDS,HOBBIS,SHORT TERM GOALS,LONG TERM GOALS ECT. MAKES FOR A GREAT ICE BREAKER AND ALOT OF LAUGHTER.

What I have found helpful is putting together study groups. We all meet once a week and I am there to oversee and answer any questions that may come up. I have found that my student's test averages have gone up and (I feel) there confidence has increased. In doing so, my student retention has gone up as well.

Before new lesson to be taught, I have students read the lesson and jogged down questions. I focus on main points of the lesson plan, stay on subject. Allow enough time for Q/A at the end. If students that have many questions have them wait after class.

I like using the chalk board, and I agree that the best thing is to write the information as you discuss the information. I think this is a more effective way of re-inforcing, too, what I am saying, as I discuss, then write down my point, and review the point afterwards.

As an instructor, lessons are key. If you don't have a lesson then you set up the class for chaos. There may be too much time left with no instruction and that tends to lead the students to believe that either you don't care or you don't know the material.

I think it is important to have the students either take an assessemnt or just quiz them on the objectives at the beginning of the course to see who knows what and which direction the instructor should go.

I think that if an outline or objectives aren't in place before the start of a class, I wouldn't teach it. You have to have a syllibus as well as your direct supervisor in case something happens and someone else needs to teach it for you.

Keeping the students engaged in the classroom is very important. I always be sure to be real, up front, and to the point in my classes. To me that clears the air for any misunderstandings in the beginning.

I usually have two versions of the test so if there are any absent students it lessens the chance of answers being shared. I also send the student to take the test in the library while using an instructor proxy, this lets the student have quiet time instead of trying to take the test while in a noisy classroom since all other students have taken it already they will be on other tasks.

I find pre-tests useful when you have a very diverse group with multiple learning styles. It can give you an idea of where more of your time needs to be spent and keeps the student from being bored.

I have many tactile learners and need to find a balance so that my tactile and my audio/visual students can co-work at the same time. I find one group gets distracted when we are using the other styles of teaching.

I try to make sure I use many teaching styles per class as to catch everyones attention and make them successful by playing to their individual strengths.

Lecture notes are most important to me the second and third time I teach a particular class. The first time is exciting, the text might be new to me, and the butterflies surrounding that always makes the class exciting and terrifying at the same time. The important thing for me, if it's going to be a class I teach multiples times, is that I take my lecture notes from the first class and build from them. Simplify, add things, try new angles. The class should get better every time you teach it.

The basics of a writing class can underwhelm an instructor with the simplicity of the goals. However, if one takes the time to explore the function and levels of the knowledge imparted in the class, the strategy itself can turn the class into a much more exciting endeavor.

I always like to add extra bells and whistles to the lesson plan if I have a substitute instructor for the day. A little fun guidance, what works well, what they should stay away from. A lot of times I think it puts them at ease with the task in front of them.

I always couch my lesson plan with some activities that we might not get to. Never the lecture or pertinent information, but some extra writing or fun game, just in case the lesson plan speeds past. If I write a long agenda for the day on the board, then they are never surprised when class doesn't get out early, and I'm never stuck with 20 random minutes at the end of class.

I have learned that there is a very good reason to have a “back-up” lesson plan, in fact an instructor should have a back-up, back-up plan for those days where none of your AV aides won’t work, and you cannot get to the internet and all else just plain fails! There is nothing worse than standing in front of a million pairs of eyes with nothing to say or do..

There are subjects that we teach in our Veterinary Technology course that are difficult to translate into a lab for hands on learning at our campus. One example is the subject "Large Animal Medicine". It is physically impossible to bring cows to the campus for students to work on. In these cases we have a contract with an outside facility where the students are able to interact with the animals. They are each given specific tasks that they must complete in order be signed off for the field trip.