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Ask a question from your peers to help you in your professional work. Seek different points of view on a topic that interests you. Start a thought-provoking conversation about a hot, current topic. Encourage your peers to join you in the discussion, and feel free to facilitate the discussion. As a community of educators, all members of the Career Ed Lounge are empowered to act as a discussion facilitator to help us all learn from each other.

Engaging students

To engage the students I ask them specific questions related to something they shared with the class such as there current job, and ask them for specific examples. This motivate other students to share their job related issues. This creates an active discussion related to the subject matter.

Student Awareness of Their Own Learning Styles

I am convinced that there are many students who are not even aware of the concept of learning styles - let alone which style works best for them. With every class, I usually have at least one or two students who are putting a great deal of time and effort into their studies at home and yet continue to struggle to try learn and retain material. Putting aside other factors (like learning disabilities, test anxiety, etc.), when I sit down with these students individually and ask them about their learning style(s), I have yet to find a student who could tell me how he/she learns best. What generally happens is that if I educate these students a little bit about learning styles; help them to determine what their preferred style is; and then have them try changing their study techniques to incorporate that style... learning and retention usually improves significantly. I was just wondering if others have encountered the same?

Classroom Groups

I am teaching the anatomy, blood flow and conduction of the heart and most of my students could understand it...but there were a few who just could not understand the information. After I tried several different ways of explaining the topic, I had the students get in two groups. I laid 2 long pieces of paper (about 15 feet long)on 2 tables and had each student illustrate they way they understood the information. It was amazing to see how each student came up with a different way to show their understanding of the material! I had the students that were having difficulties with the infomation walk around and pair up with a student who's illustration they could relate to. The students ended up learning from eachother and it was GREAT!

Test

What is the best combination of test type question?

CAT's

Can you explain CAT's better?

Deer's in the headlights

What can you do if you ask questions and you get "deer's in the headlights" responses or you just hear crickets?

Learning Styles

My students request hands on labs. When I provide these hands on labs they really like it and participation goes through the roof. Unfortunately, when I test them on the material they do not retain the information. How can I improve their retention

Social networking through smart phones

Social networking websites distract learners in the classroom. The school's network administrators may prohibit access to popular social networking sites and instant messengers but the threat still exists with students who own smart phones. How are you handling the use of smart phones in the classroom?

Grab the students attention

One important element when I am presenting my lesson is an attention grabber that is also relevant to the content. Research shows that the average attention span of an adult is about 20 minutes. Every 20 to 30 minutes, I use a progressive form of the attention grabber to keep my students motivated. But I also find that some students' attention span vary from 5 to 15 minutes and they need individual motivation to continue to work on the labs and exercises. I have to do a combination of group teaching and individual assistance to keep the class moving. I'd like to read other teachers' experiences on maintaining their learners attention.

GED

it is important to understand the difference between GED holders and high school graduates because it is possible to have a separate knowledge base.

Learning disabilities

Forunately I haven't had any student with learning disabilities like dyslexia but I know that I should be prepared in the future just in case I do. What is important now is the instructor's ability to recognize the presence of learning disabilities so he can adjust and do the proper management as a teacher. This training prepared me to handle this kind of situation in the future. Thanks a lot. Dr. Pastor

Motivation

I have had instances in the past where a student is a very slow learner due to language problem who has difficulty in understanding english. I have to spend more time with her and patiently repeat words for her to catch up and give more lengthy explanation. In addition I actually assigned certain students who speaks english and her language to help her out and do group studies. She just graduated and is currently working. I must have given her the motivation to accomplish this; proof that proper motivation really works. Dr. Pastor

Organizing student into groups

This method is really useful in the lab. After introducing a new ultrasound scanning protocol to the class I would divide them into groups according to their strengths and personalities to have a well-balanced grouping where the strong students are distributed to different groups where they could be the leader of the group. Also different personalities will have to be blended accordingly. Thank you for your very valuable inputs, it will help me a great deal. Dr. Pastor

movement and gesture

Based on my experience I realized that movement and gesture inside the classroom is a big deal in teaching. YES, I agree that you can catch the students attention and interest longer in the lecture by doing so. More so they will have a better understanding of your topic of the day,especially the difficult ones because they are more interested and focused listening to you. Have a good tone or well modulated voice and add your smile and eye contact to the students; all of them are important for student engagement. Thanks, I learn a lot in this module. Dr. Pastor

Keeping students on tract

I have found that by giving student several "mini" breaks it helps just be breaking the monotomy.

Remember students have other lives than school

I try to put this idea above the fact that my students are here for an education too.

importance of Lesson Plan

I can't make it without the lesson plan!

The first day of a new term

Nervous on instructors part as well as that of the students. The ice-breaker for me is after I introduce myself, it is the time for student's to introduce themselves to me AND other students.

Learning Groups:

Adult students learn from each other. A difficult concept introduced by the instructor may be better understood by one student if another student restates it. Group exercises are a plus in the learning experience and can be a lifesaver for the instructor.

Testing contents

We follow a chapters that are given to us by our managers. We teach students and then give them quizzes and test.