Well I loved the ideas for the first class meeting. Defiantly some ideas I want to use for mine. But one has me puzzled if I could even use it. The school I teach at the curriculum is very structured to the point where students must take these assigned courses at certain times. Anyone have any suggestions in changing that part around in this scenario?

This is my first qrt. teaching a hospitality law class. Although I may be able to keep a judge's attention, I'm having a hard time keeping studnets engaged in complicated legal theory. Any suggestions?

It is very important for instructors to start their class on time. It gives structure to the students and also students can ask questions about any concerns they might have.

If time permits, I always like to finish my class with a quick recap. We discuss how the day went, what went right, what went wrong and how they could improve their skills. I also like to do an overview on what to expect the next day so students can go home and prepare for what is about to come.

I thing frequent testing on smaller amount of material that was covered in the previous lecture does make the student retain more as they hear the lectue and then they study this material for the upcoming test and get assessed on it, before I go to new material. They do have a midterm and final exam which is more comprehensive. By then they are more confident since they have been studying the information a little at time.

I like to use multiple choice and true and false, as they both test a wide range of objectives and easier for the students to understand and follow th edirections. Since I teach science classes I also use a lot of labelling of diagrams along with questions.

Before starting my new class, I always tell my class briefly about myself including my academic background and teaching experience and then I ask them to introduce one by one. This has always helped me to enjoy excellent rapport with my students.

Encouraging students to present different topics in classes not only help them to improve their communication skills but it also enhance knowledge .

Speaking as a librarian, I would encourage all instructors to use the library as a resource for their classes. But please keep us in the loop! If I know ahead of time that you will be assigning your class a paper on the Tuskegee Airmen, I can prepare some research guides on the topic and place the books we have on reserve. Otherwise the first student through the door will check out all the materials we have and the rest flounder about as I race to do some research and put together a guide for the students. We love to help you, but we need to know what you are planning.

I find it very important to survey the class room before class and eliminate any light, heat, or visual distrations.

I am a first time instructor. Is there a good step by step process for building your lesson plan and lectures from a topical outline? It seems to be a difficult task as my lectures seem very long and I am worried about overload. Too much information!

how often should you be evaluated & by whom

how do you handle a situation if your the only instructor trying to create a positive learning experience...faculty is not being managed

when you meet a class for the 1st time you may always get students that don't like class or ask why are we taking this course..how do you handle that

from day #1 there is no consistency is school rules or polices

I have learned through experience that my student have a lot to do with what type of instructor I am going to be for them. After observing students during the first day of a course and solidifying of observations after the first quiz, I quickly develop a strategy of how my course delivery will be.

I find that students have always been curious about me even before they meet me. That curiosity begins with my name as they all try to guess what my origin is and such. When they meet me for the first time, their curioisty tends to carry them throughout the course again, curious about my knowledge of the subject matter I am presenting. Fortunately for most of them, their curiosity leads them into understanding the subject matter and then later investigating how far the acquired knowledge will get them.

I usually have a general plan for each course that I teach, however, the real plan is sealed once I have idea of the avearge competence level of the students in the course.

I think it is a very good idea to have a post test review. It is not always convenient to do this during the class time as that takes away my lecture time. I do suggest to the students to come to my office and look at their test so that they know what they missed and that it is one way to make sure that they do not repeat that mistake again.

I give the students a quiz every week. The quiz is mainly on the material covered the previous week. I feel that when they are preparing for the quiz that does not include enourmous amount of information, they will study it in more detail. At mid quarter I do give them a more comprehensive test which includes all the material that was covered up to that point. The students say they are better prepared for the comprehensive tests because of the prior quizzes.