I rarely use group work in my classes. This is for several reasons, including one main reason - I never liked working in groups as a student myself. I teach technology classes (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and find that each student needs "hands-on" time to grasp the concepts. Other reasons I rarely assign group work include a very small number of students in classes (sometimes 2 in a class) and it seems that every time I assign a group project, there are more problems than it's worth. "So and so isn't helping, so and so wasn't here, and on and on." I would rather each student just be responsible for themselves.

I realize in every class there are a lot of different learning styles. Is it appropriate to survey the class to see who is what learning style? My thought is, if I find I have a lot more visual learners than hands-on learners I will cater the class more to visual. Also, do you think most students know what kind of learner they are?

I am teaching for the first time and I’m looking for suggestions on how to keep the attention of the class from start to finish? I want to have good participation and interaction with my students. I plan to do a lot of group work, but looking for others ways to make the classroom a fun learning experience and keep the attention of my students.

We all hand out syllabi and the like on the first day of class. I also include a course calendar (something recommended in the module) and all of the homework assignments that will be collected during the quarter. In addition, I email each student all of the homework documents. This has proven to be a GREAT help for students that need to miss a class when homework is being collected. In addition, I KNOW that students have received the assignments and have the means to turn them in on time.

I have had difficulties with one of my students that this quarter, she consistently misses class. I am having a hard time trying to not get too personal with the student but yet I feel I need to be semi-involved because of the level of absences is having her fall behind. However, I know that I am not a tutor and coming to class needs to be a priority for the student, which I don't think it is, but I don't want to see someone who could do well, not. Another issue I have is being fair to my other students. I feel I might be bending over backwards trying to help one student and does that hinder the rest?

It was wise to review what an instructor should do when meeting the class for the first time.

I understand the importance of planning. I have used the "making a list" and I find that it serves as a reminder to cover all the information that I wanted to.

I will use these tips to make a great first impression.

I will implement 10-15 mini-lectures in the future to keep my students' attention. I will also incorporate other learning styles to reach all students.

Do you find the soft skills training needs of traditional and non-traditional students to be different, and if so how do you manage their different needs in a mixed class?

As disscused in prior module, after the first couple of days in class you will learn which students could use what type of teaching can be assessed.

This type of individual learners may need some extra assistance. Depending on what type of student you have in class. That's why the first day or two is very important.

Tom have a class size where it is very important that all the students get involved, individual groups do make a considerable difference in what the students wiil come away with.

When introducing a new subject, using all the types of contact (eyes, verbal, body motion, etc)may assist you as an instructor of what types of different individuals you have to be invloved with during cl;ass.

My greatest challenge thus far has been working with a young lady with Dyslexia. Not only does she have problems with reading, but that spills over into her writing as well. After discussing with her previous successful techniques, we decided to practice reading aloud together to build her confidence and focusing on short, simple sentences and editing those sentences several times before moving on. Her content is always fantastic and she is a smart girl, she simply needs more time and intense focus than the other students.

This past quarter, I have dealt with two particular students that required extra attention for two very different reasons: Learning disability and ESL learner. Actually, I was able to confront both issues with a similar fix. For the stduent with dyslexia, we work on forming short, simple sentences that that student can focus on and not get distracted. I used a similar technique with the ESL student who has also improved in writing over the quarter.

I've noticed that the amount of student cyberstress is directly proportional to the quality of the course design. I teach an introduction to computers course for two online universities each with its own standards of how the course should be set up, the number of assignments, grading rubrics and late assignment policies. At University A, which could use a little more work on their course design, I get quite a few emails every term from frantic students who are trying to finish an assignment and the instructions are unclear or the submission method is not evident. Since I can’t change the course design, I try to anticipate potential problems in announcements and discussions. I also create some quick online tutorials using Jing – a free screen / video capture tool. If you haven’t used Jing – it’s a great program when you need to show a student how to do something. You capture a video of your actions on your computer, it automatically gets uploaded to screencast.com, and you can send your student a link to that video. Did I mention it’s free? I know I’m digressing but I can’t help evangelizing some of these incredible software tools. At University B – which has an excellent system in place for course design and review, I hardly ever get emails from students; the course interaction focuses on the discussion topics because the students know the mechanics of the course and all instructions are very effective. Also, the university has a very good student orientation course which plays a key role in reducing the amount of “cyberstress.”

Hello Everyone, In addition to teaching traditional in-classroom courses with a Blackboard component, I also teach totally online courses with universities elsewhere. Therefore, I wanted to discuss the importance of building a learning "community" within the classroom in an online situation. I believe building such a community with and among students is, of course, essential within the traditional classroom setting, it is critical to the success of an online class. Online education, when it is done well, links students with teachers and other learners who may have not otherwise had the opportunity ever to meet or exchange ideas. However, I think hearing or reading about other perspectives is not all that is important. Critical evaluation of what is being heard or read is part of the educational process. I think a large part of learning communities--whether online or in-classroom--is discussing and defending ideas, as well as evaluating and responding to what students learn from others. I think this type of interaction is vital in both online and traditional situations, however, because online students can often feel "isolated," I feel it is particularly necessary for them to feel "included" in the classroom--this is where an instructor can play such an important role as a facilitator and communicator. Renee Weeks

I love using group activities in my classroom! For some of the classes that I currently teach, many of the students are freshmen and still getting used to college life. By putting students in groups, many shy or unconfident individuals have more confidence in their own answers and speak up! As much as I love group work, I ALWAYS have an individual assignment so that I can hopefully reach a wide variety of learners.

As an instructor, I would really like to improve my communication skills in the disciplinarian arena of education. I think my biggest weakness is dealing with discipline issues. I welcome suggestions!