I have found that students will respect you as an instructor if they feel you are professional. It is important for you to model the behavior that you want your students to display.

I feel that you should portray yourself in a very professional manner if you want the students to do the same.

Prepared instructors make for learning students

On day one of class I inform the students to write me a brief biography of themselves, their families and any personal private information about themselves. This helps me to plan and prepare them on a classroom basis as well as a personal basis. This exercise gives me an idea of what I will be working with within the student as well as assest them and their outside interferance if any. This exercise will help me identify if the student will have any challenges during the course of my class as well as what they are dealing with on the outside world. It also helps me keep them motivated, encouraged and help them maintain a positive attitude, in case these obstacles arise.

When teaching a class of new students, I have everyone to gather in a circle and associate themselves with a action or activity that starts with the first letter of their first name. Everyone gets a turn in the circle. This gets the class engaged and they have fun by learning each others name.

I find it helpful to start the first day with a motivational topic and each day of the mod I allow the students to add to the motivational topics and we do this throughout the mod. This allows the students to focus on positive strategies of learning.

Most of the schools are planning to head into the new direction of offering classes online. I, personally, have taken some grad classes online and I still feel that we need to provide more assistance and develop better tools to our students as distant learners. What are your thoughts, ideas and / or suggestions about this?

When using the example given in the module such as " If you must write a negative stem, emphasize the negative words with underlining or all capital letters. For example, "Which of the following is NOT an example of the passive voice?" or "The LEAST likely of the following materials to occur on the Moon is……" I struggle with my ASL students being confused by the non direct questions.

Dr. Treshena Dixon would like to ask about something i have not heard discussed in evaluations of online instructors. We all have sounds that may irritate us or jarge less than favorable memories. Therefore my question is: are there frequent complaints simply about the sound of the instructors voice?

First I am present in the classroom at least 20 minutes before class starts. I write the objectives for the day on the board. I make sure I have all my handouts in order to pass out. Enthusiasm is a must! Since this is a nursing class, I highlight the body systems we will be concentrating on in the class. I review the syllabus, and discuss how the class points are broken down by tests, midterm, participation, attendance, projects and the final. I encourage questions.

Making the jump to full time instruction has been surpisingly more challenging than I anticipated. The emotional tax of student is one that must be managed at all levels, like life you must have balance to get recharged for the next day.

It is important to provide additional resources to students with learning disabilities to help them succeed.

Students with reading challenges can benefit from visual representations that they can correlate to the material.

It is important to observe group dynamics to make sure each member has a voice.

Maintaining eye contact with the student will show that you are interested in their learning. It also helps you observe facial expressions to see if they are understanding the material.

What is the best way to write a syllabus for a course that has not been offered before at your school.

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.