To be able to motivate the students, I think the instructor needs to be motivated. If the instructor shows a desire to improve and is excited to teach,the students is influenced positively. Positivity invites positivity. An astute instructor tries to motivate his/her student every day.

I teach basic English classes and occasionally have students who literally cannot read or write. These students have difficulty doing even basic assignments because they can't read/understand the directions. Of course I always read the directions and do examples with the class but only five weeks to cover course requirements and twenty plus other students to monitor as well, I feel like there is little, if any, chance for these students to succeed. Does anyone else encounter this situation? What are your strategies for helping these students?

I teach in the evenings. How do you keep from loosing students attention as the night goes on.

What are some other ways to test when teaching trades. (HVAC Hands On)

you should always ask question in class, to see if the students are following you .. and to see if on are on the same page.

every students have there way of learning, and its up to the teacher to find that out to teach in there level

any ideas for testing but in a fun way.... ?

Sometimes I have a class that ends on a Thursday night. While grades are not officially due until Monday at noon, it is preferred that grades are in by Friday afternoon so Monday morning reports can be run. Under these circumstances, whenever I have given a test that includes a written component, I work frantically to "power read" and grade the essays. Then, I am upset with myself for not giving a Scantron test. Any ideas how to include and grade a written assignment under sever time constraints?

"That wasn't flying. That was...falling with style!" --Woody from *Toy Story* The Instructional Style portion of this module was particularly helpful. You can really pick up on the level of involvement from your students when you alter your Instructional Style (for the better). I have found that having a certain amount of flexibility and adaptability in the classroom will make the students more likely to learn what you are teaching them. For instance, I recently did a lesson explaining what a thesis statement is, how they function, why we use them etc. Well, the students nodded and said they understood the material. When I asked them to apply their skills, many of them couldn't produce valid thesis statements. To counter this, I wrote a "formula" on the board (position on argument + reasons = thesis statement). Then I asked the students, one-by-one, a variety of questions. They ranged from "Who is a better baseball team, the Yankees or the Red Sox, and why?" or "Who is a better rapper, Eminem or Lil Wayne, and why?" It took no time at all for them to come up with valid thesis statements with the formula and subject matter they were confident with. Once they realized they had the tools to complete the thesis statement assignment, they were all able to produce good material. It just goes to show that being able to make a unique and flexible Instructional Style is a valuable asset for instructors of all kinds. Has anyone had any similar experiences? Or have any suggestions on how to keep your Instructional Style "fresh"?

We are having more and more students coming out of high school with learning disabilities, as an instructor understanding how to address their special leraning need was not a easy task, but once I understood that not everyone leran the same method I talk you sit and listen, it became easy for me learning other ways to aide in reaching a level of understanding for each student.

By using life experience, in general life shoudl always be about learning, being that we all have different backgrounds

Putting studnts in groups is a great way to increase retention and motivate the students who have a hard time with understanding, or who just sit in class and don't ask any questions.

Good communication skills are the key to your students understanding, what the lesson is all about and what they should be learning.

The 6Ps expresses it best-purposeful prior planning prevents poor performance. By this the instructor is connected to the course material as well as to the needs of the students in relation to their learning styles. Planning and Preparation also aides in determining when to appropriately implement supplemental material that will keep the students abreast of their selected career field.

I realize sometimes we have very technical material to present to a class that can oftentimes be boring and difficult for students to learn. What do you do to hold students’ attention in a live class? I will, at times, make some kind of surprising noise, like ringing a bell, or blowing through a recorder or harmonica, especially before we take a field trip. I am not musically inclined, but this gets them laughing, as well as getting their attention. Then, I can proceed with the presentation.

Using formal assessment to measure student knowledge can come at several different points during your course plan. Assessments preformed before a course, while you are teaching the course and after you are finished teaching the course are all valid and helpful to a teacher, yet each serve different purposes. Understanding each assessment type is important to helping teachers fine tune their teaching skills. It can be beneficial for a teacher to give a student an assessment before teaching a new course. This will help the teacher know what information the students already know about the subject to be studied, and help the teacher focus her lessons. This type of assessment is generally done through class discussion.

Assessment is the tool that measures how well the students achieve the learner outcomes. What do you want the students to know and be able to do? Did you take into account your students' prior knowledge. Assessment should be seamless and ongoing. Are you evaluating continuously throughout the project? You will want to think of ways to assess the process as well as the product of their learning. Here are some things to remember about assessment and some resources to read about assessment. The most important element of performance assessment is engagability. To evaluate your project, you need to determine if your students were allowed: To be engrossed in challenging learning. To learn by doing. To be able to use the computer effectively when appropriate. To communicate their learning.

Using good questioning techniques in the classroom can help promote positive student learning. When utilizing questions in your daily lessons, you will allow the students to direct their own learning. Learning something through discovery is a more effective method of learning that will lead to improved memory and greater student involvement. Consider how to include questions in each lesson you teach.

provide examples so the students can understand

Learning styles of students include tactile, visual and auditory. Not all teaching styles align with the specific learning styles of their students. It is unlikely for a teacher to have a classroom full of all visual learners. Therefore, it is up to educators to adjust their teaching style to cover a variety of learning styles. Meeting the needs of all learners is important Read more: Learning & Teaching Styles | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7321092_learning-teaching-styles.html#ixzz1T8o5aLki Auditory Learners Students with this style will be able to recall what they hear and will prefer oral instructions. They learn best by doing the the following: *interviewing, debating *participating on a panel *giving oral reports *participating in oral discussions of written material Visual Learners Visual learners will be able to recall what they see and will prefer written instructions. They will learn by observing and enjoy working with the following: *computer graphics *maps, graphs, charts *cartoons *posters *diagrams *graphic organizers *text with a lot of pictures Tactile Learners Students with this strength learn best by touching. They understand directions that they write and will learn best through manipulatives. They'll learn best by : *drawing *playing board games *making dioramas *making models *following instructions to make something Kinesthetic Learners Kinesthetic learners also learn by touching or manipulating objects. These students learn best by: playing games that involve their whole body *movement activities *making models *following instructions to make something *setting up experiments Global Learners Global learners are spontaneous and intuitive *choral reading *recorded books *story writing *computer programs *games *group activities Analytic Learners Analytic learners plan and organize their work. *information is presented in sequential steps *lessons are structured and teacher-directed *goals are clear *requirements are spelled out