Todays students have been brought up where all media tries to give as much info as they can into as small a time spot as possible. It almost seems that they are trying to give us a subliminal flash of information to get their point across. Wouldn't that be fun to try! It is no wonder that the students can't listen or sit still for more than a few minutes. We have the job of trying to slow them down and get the information into their heads. Short lectures, followed by demos and hands on practice takes the main points to them and helps them understand the subjects we are teaching.

Every course starts with a reading of the class SOP's. Students have to hear these every course and people wonder why students miss the first day. I hit the basics. I tell them this is like any other school and they all know how to act under these conditions. I hate to brow beat them by carrying on about how they will be downgraded for everything including breathing. If you can appeal to their mature side and treat them like adults, there is no need to read them the riot act. I have had no troubles with classes using this approach. Stay respectful and treat them as adults and they will confine themselves to the accepted norm of the school.

we will be learning about each other all the way through the class.. but remember the first inpression rule.

videos & movies cover a lot of stuff.

I find that giving a real good presentation to the class will keep tem alive until the end. Asking questions before the lecture starts is a good way to get their attention. Focusing questions on real world situations tht involve class room lecture can create a open question through out the class time. Also in the middle of lectures, asking open questions to students will also keep the alert and focused on the lecture which detour them from sleeping and playing in the class room. Finally, go back and ask the questions through out the lecture to see if anyone have obtained any knowledge from it.

We have recently had an extra work session and have found that students still complain about the instructor being too hard.

In order to have good preps for your class, I fill the good training aids in the classroom is a good key to helping students undertand the subjects better. Students will have tendencies to ask questions to aid them in undertanding what is being taught and the ycan and will retain more information. At times expalining how the training functions with the subject gives a student a more broader prespective idea on how it works.

at the beginning of each new course the instructor has to set the tone for the class. He or she has to come prepared with knowledge, experience and a plan to set the class to a new start. Introducing the class with your knowledge and experience will let them know that we have a roll model leading the class and he or she is going to set the tone. By bringing the material, course outline and items thay will need on the fisrt day, will let each student know what is exepected and what they will receive out of this course.

lab planning oftn to me pose a greater problem because of the unexpected? Often having to work thru breakdowns of equipment or student issues, so I have learn in lab is to plan for the unexpected.

This is something that should be brought with the instructor,and should not be on the job training? Crosstraining is not sufficient enough to make a person a Respected or qualified athority on a skilled subject matter.

We must realize that the student are more apperhensive then us, and that they are out of their element. It's up to us as instructors to prevoke a postive atmosphere for learning to occour,it doesn't occour by happenstance.

In the past, I would have a teacher that would give one or two questions quizzes and even final exams! To me, this was an extremely unfair assessment of what I learned in the class and gave me even more anxiety about the test(s). To me the absolute minimum number of questions is 10. I use at least 20 for the quizzes and at least 50 for the final. This is the only way to determine a fair assessment of the students' abilities.

A concern I am having is dealing with students with different technical levels. Some are present with no experience while other have 3 years or more experience. Attempting to divide my time and motivate the more advanced students without losing the beginners.

In our steel welding class we have several skill based application projects. We had a problem with the scores on an industry based welding test. It had clear timelines and procedures. We starting doing part of the course lab required welding projects in the same formart to reduce the "test pressure" on the students. This has increased the industry test completion rate by almost 20%.

There are times, when we have our lesson plan laid out to the minute, and then disaster. As Instructors, we need to be prepaared for these times. If we are not, our credibility can be compromised, and the students most likely are deprived of the total content of the course, which means they have a bad experiendce. This is not acceptable in our profession.

After taking this course I received a number of fresh ideals that I've forgotton or never knew. Although my teaching style is about 90% of what was taught in this course,it's always good to try new things and reinvent yourself. A student will remember certian instructors by their approach to the class. When you think outside the box it will leave a longer impression, they just might retain the information a bit longer.

In my test questions I stress the things I believe are most important for my students to remember. In my Business of Music class it is more important to understand copyright and publishing more than learning music history.

What do you look forward to has your main reward in your role as an Instructor.

the best way i have found to get them involved is to have they answer my questions. then have them to ask other student questions.

From what this course teaches, it goes right along with what we've been doing all along. I don't agree with giving out personal info. as in phone numbers to students, this could open a can of worms that can't be closed.