What are some of the ways that you assess students' prior knowledge of a subject on the first day of class?

Part of active teaching is body language and facial expressions. Simple nodding of the head with some arm movement can enforce the importance of a point to be made, or, credence is given to the importance of a point. Smiling then can further underline group approval of the point being made.

I usually have students tell me a short story about themselves that relates to one of the objectives of the course. This helps me to remember the students' names and the other students enjoy hearing a story which gives a more in-depth picture of their classmates.

Practice question/answer lecture technique to involve whole lot of students

I teach Math and some of my students have said "I get it when you're teaching the class, but when taking a test I'm lost or freeze up." I give alot of examples in class and homework for them to practice, but I still get these responses. How do I deal with this and change their attitude to a can-do, no-problem before taking an exam, particularly the Final?

Just a note on applications. I have found that in 38.5 years of teaching that the rate of student appreciation of applying the subject learned is inversely proportional to the complexity of the course. That is in many extremely difficult, complex and challenging courses, students will often get engaged just because of the difficulty of the material. It is in the basic courses where students often have to take it just because it is mandated or a "gen. ed" course using applications can increase interest, show relevancy, etc. Therefore teaching a basic easy course should inspire us to do even more applications.

Some students follow the Course Outline to the letter. As a former student, I relied heavily on the Course Outline. In my preparation for my 4th quarter of teaching, this is what I plan to focus my efforts as far as mapping out the class.

An Instructor 's personality should be magnetic and leading the class.

Establishing Milestones in your syllabus

It would be nice if the course had more emphasis on clinical lab instruction, we do not have auto nor shop training for our students.

The class I am currently teaching is of 5 hr duration. I use to have problems regarding student engagement. I am fully aware of the attention span of an individual. However, I try to navigate around this by doing mini-lectures. Afterwards, we will discuss a case study pertaining to the topic which is very much an interactive exercise. I find it to be working much better this way.

Introductions are excellent ways to calm the nerves when starting a new course. I found out that students feel great about themselves whenever they are given an opportunity to share something about their lives that the rest of the class are not aware of.

I definitely try to plan and prepare for my class. It begins with coming to class at least 10 minutes before the schedule start time. It also includes reviewing important concepts you are planning to discuss in class the night before. It helps with delivery and better prepares you to answer any questions that the students might have.

What is the best way to have students ask questions to not feel afraid of asking.

As an instructor, I feel as if the students perceive me as a model when I am in the classroom. They will always make comments like "You are here on time unlike the others" or "I like the way you explained this by giving us practical/real-life examples". It is very gratifying but at the same time it is a challenge for me to live up their expectations all the time.

I use a variety of these discussed methods so I don't lose anyone, do you?

The question always crosses my mind, I personally do not launch into the material because as a student I felt it was a bad practice, how do you feel about it?

With the idea of academic freedom, do you think that the instructor should choose the textbook and not the school?

How often should you use your past work experiences in the classroom to further a point?

In my class setting I've noticed that a lot of my students have formed cliques. At times,I've noticed some inappropiate behaivor (rudeness, attitudes) This term I actually assigned partners in our lab. How do you handle this problem?