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Keeping yourself motivated

I dont know how many times I have seen teachers at the beginning of their course start strong but wane off and end a course like it was a burden to them. I myself have been guilty of that as well from time to time. REFOCUS is an excellent way to keep myself excited about going into a classroom. Is there any other literature you can recommend specifically for teachers?

My student body

When i teach our vocational courses the students tend to be in the age 25-35 group. Most are family men/women that just got out of work to come into class, and most importantly paid good money to be there. Occasionally i get the younger students in the class mixed in with them and usually have their parents paying their tuition. I tend to notice that the older students that paid out of their own pocket are more focused than the ones that didnt have to pay for themselves (which seems logical). Would it be wrong to cater to my older… >>>

Approachability is a must but happens when...

I strongly beleive that teachers are sometimes looked at as confidants to a student. I dont know how many times i have been approached by a student with concerns...whether they are classroom-related or personal. I tend to draw a line with the personal stuff like "sorry i was not really into the class today, i had a bad argument with my girlfriend earlier and i don't know what to do about her." What are your ways to spin that so you dont sound like you dont care but to not get involved with their personal issues?

Life Experience

Life Experience Teaching at Career College is wonderful because most students bring their life experience to school which helps others with lack of experience. Some of my students have strong work experience that applies in my class. I take advantage of that by creating groups and name a student leader when working in projects. The student leader will help the rest of them and I just walk around to make sure they understand the material. It's amazing how useful that life experience can be if the instructor can take advantage of it.

Focus

Focus Focus is an important part of an instructor. I've been teaching for 6 years but I started to pay special attention to material preparation for just about two years. Now I think the students learn quicker because lectures and hand outs are ready when I get to the classroom. I also pay close attention to the course syllabus that way I don't miss subjects at all.

Cultural Diversity

It's a real challenge to me when I face students with learning disabilities especially in reading (dyslexia). I make them write the sentence or paragraph that I want them to learn for a few times then they get some ideas out topic. Can any of you advice me with another teaching method?

Is it unprofessional for an instructor to use money as a motivator?

Occassionally in class I'll have a student that is a little more difficult to motivate than others and I'll begin to mention what type of capitol they can earn in our profession. Is this wrong ?

Backfiring Surprise...

Dr. Meers, In numerous courses I have taught, I've restrained myself from using the element of surprise because of fear that it could backfire and completely cause the wrong effect. As a computer support instructor, I would find it fitting that computer technicians in training would benefit from ocassionally being surprised. For instance, one time I planned a drill that would have a student perplexed, encountering a computer that is malfunctioning after it was working perfectly fine before the coffee break. I've done this drill a few times with mixed success. One time, the students were able to succesfully fix… >>>

Having students show up for every class...

Sometimes I feel students generally feel very well about the course; nevertheless, there are ocassions where any given class has interesting lessons, and some that are not as appealing. In the past I have certain students that despite having this positive attitude of enjoying the course, ask me what objective will be covered in the next meeting... I would say 4 out of 5 times the student takes the topic into consideration and may decide not to show up for the next meeting (especially if the current class session maybe has been exhausting.) Often I may believe this is because… >>>

Instrinsic and extrinsic concerns

Hello Gary, I've considered using an initial student interview to find out what the situation of each student is, in order to better address their needs. In this initial interview, I may ask question about their personal situation, for example, I might ask students during this interview process, if they have special situations, such as being a single parent, or if they work, and can't get here on time. Whatever the situation, it gets it into the student profile. This way I have it on file from the begining, and can evaluate options, or alternatives that can be used to… >>>

Disabilities

I think that it was great to see the mention of Disabilities. I believe it is very important, as an educator, to be able to recognize the signs of disabilities - physical or mental - as most students are not aware they may have them.

How do you motivate students that come from working all day from 9am-5pm...

when they are exhausted physically and mentally? When teaching in the evenings...I find it necessary to give more breaks for coffee and leisure in order to ensure that they maintain their ideal level of attention span for maximum retention.

Is it recommended to create games to enhance learning when teaching a topic that...

doesn't exactly generate excitement or enthusiasm?

How do you provide personal attention to students who have language barriers?

I find it very difficult to provide instruction to students who have language barriers and would like to know what would be the best way to accomodate them.

Challenges

Hi I work with an institute that has monthly enrollment. That means ever month I get new students that I have to incorporate with existing students. One of my biggest challenges is not allowing the students who are just about to graduate, bring down the newer students. All the newer student energy is what I would like to transfer into the existing student. Does anyone have words of wisdom for me?

i think any time you can use more than one method to teach a student a new piece of information you should use every means too get that information too them where it be props handson labs video or instructor demenstration

ask a certian too repeat in his own words what you have just covered in a lecture

use a bunch of props too make the lesson more intresting

get each student to talk amoungest each other

being alert to what your students hear from you