I am an experienced instructor, I have found it difficult to instructs of various age groups and experiences. Some of my students are right out of High School and then you have the 40 year olds. When communicating with them and setting the class rules. I have found my younger students to be more defiant. They do not expect to be held accountable. Also I have students who are already working in the healthcare field but are continuing their education for promotions. with these students, they challenge you on a regular basis and at times gets a little frustrating. What is the best way to work with these different groups?

I find that I can motivate students by demonstrating my expertise, but not in an intimidating way. My course is about music theory/composition/MIDI production. As I demonstrate at the piano, or through listening analysis of audio examples, I find that students will be encouraged to duplicate my skills. This must be handled carefully, to prevent discouragement among those prone to it. Any thoughts on my method?

Quite often my subject material can become very complex and foreign to most of my students. My constant challenge is to tread very slowly into deeper waters, continually checking with each student that he/she is tracking with me. These slow steps are the only way I've found to ensure that most of my students will succeed in grasping these difficult concepts Thoughts?

I find that little rewards throughout the class lecture/interaction keep the students engaged and excited about the next chance to get a question correct. Quite often an "attaboy (or "attagirl") will go a long way towards student fulfillment and sense of achieivement. I try to keep a sense of humor about me, as we enter difficult topics, as this keeps most students engaged... Comments?

My course involves music theory, song writing, lyric construction, MIDI systems, and properties of a great music production. Most of my incoming students have little or no background in music, so my challenge is to present the entire course on schedule, without leaving any student behind. What are some techniques I could use to pull up lagging students, while not dragging the others along with repeated lessons on old material?

I am a big beleiver of videos and animation type teaching. It helps student to learn more and quick.

I find the most difficult dealing with students have no goals and they are not focused to the studies.

Upon reading this chapter, I came across 'Tell students what they need to do to succeed in your course,' I have gone as far as highlighting different topics in their book, and they still don't grasp the information. I have tried working one on one with particular students and they don't get it, what do I do???? Macy

I motivate my students by writing quotes on their completed assignments or aharing quotes with them to encourage them throughout the course. What is another method, which I could use to motivate my students?

What is the best method, and words to use to invite students back in a conversation when they have strayed away from a topic?

How do I engage non-verbal, extremely shy students to participate in open classroom discussions?

How do I integrate ESL students comfortably in the lesson plan?

One of my biggest problems is remembering names. Does anyone have any suggestions or tools for this? Thanks.

One issue that seems to plague the school that I teach is getting students in the class on time. It seems that it is an issue within the whole facilty and that the students (mostly 18 - 25) are not used to being made to be on time. Is there a way to get them in and keep them motivated to come to class on time without being to aggressive in enforcing this measure?

One of the issues that I have is trying to motivate the class at the beginning of the course to get a head start on projects that will be do later. It seems after multiple classes of trying to put an urgency on this matter, the results are always the same. Most wait until the last moment to do the projects and simply rush through them and it shows in the work. Any advice on how to help with this problem?

I instruct an entry portion of a 3 week certificated vocational course. Every week I am meeting a new class. Suggestions on staying motivated and handling the stress are appreciated.

The school has set up multiple Lab projects for the students to do during the course but it seems that they are hardly ever turned in on time or not at all. How can you motivate the students when the guidelines are set forth by the school?

Where's the line between the two. Is letting a student take a quiz several times until he/she passes help the student to learn or is that "coddling".

Any other ideas on how to discourage excessive participation (talking) from the "talkers" in the class. I always have some students that are thankfully very enthusiastic but take up more than their fair share of the discussion. I want to be able to discourage the excess without hurting someone's feelings. Any ideas, Dan.

Is there such thing as too much attention? Coddling? Where's the fine line between coddling and the right amount of student attention. In my experience, some students are very needy, like a dog that can't get enough petting. Dan.