From my experiences as a trainer, i have seen many contract trainers just come in and teach and deliver a very BORING class. Boring as in just coming in and doing whats required as far as delivering course material. I guess for some instructors, they really dont care if the students are learning/enjoying what they are being taught, but it would drive me nuts to know that a student thought my classes were boring and i was uninspiring... My keys for motivation: 1. Encouragement: always keep your students postively reinforced. 2. Mentorship: make these students think "man, i wanna be… >>>

In a vocational school I am responsible for the very first class and new student takes. Fortunately everyone in the course is interested in the subject matter. The challenge is this. There is such a wide range of learning compentency. I've got students that may have at least some college education and did very well. I have others that struggled to graduate from high school. 1) What are some good strategies to make sure all the students are appropriately challenged? 2) What are some strategies to help those students that have a strong interest in the subject but have never… >>>

At my school (technical/trade) we have to do a mixture of lecture and demonstration. I also add problem solving, power point, transparencies. My question to you all is this... when the students begin practicing their lab work with each other, I often loose control of them and they are talking, chit chatting and laughing. I know there is a balance there, because i want it to be an enjoyable experience for them, but I worrry it gets too casual of an environment? Any suggestions on how to control this without constantly saying "SShhh, you should all be working without much… >>>

Hi - I work for a small trade school - we lecture and do hands on skills in my class. It is an accelerated program, so things move fast! I often have students comlaining becasue they aren't "given" all the information on the tests... although it is in their assigned chapters. I make study guides for my classes, that are quite thorough! Sometimes I get so frustrated becasue I feel they don't study the material... any suggestions on how to motivate them, help and not enable them to study the material? I find that those who aren't studying often don't… >>>

Teaching in a trade school I am quite often faced with the dilemma of identifying what my final product should be, the fully trained student or a completed product, in this case a boat. I realize through careful planning I should be able to realize both objectives but two factors often make this difficult, the varied skill levels and needs of the students and the complexity of the varied designs on which we work. I have erred in the direction of providing an experience for the students but sometimes it is at the cost of the experience of completion. Any… >>>

Maybe many or most of you do this too, I will actually take the test that I'm to admister before I give it to the students. (they are premade tests that never change). Usually we have 5-7 tests in period of 5 weeks. I try very hard to do it well ahead of time as I'm preparing lectures. This really helps me to 1) find errors! 2) know what points really need to be highlighted for the students and 3) determine the level of difficulty. Then I check my answer ket with another instructors answer key. I have found when… >>>