I address the "Now I wonder who THIS guy is?" student pre-conceptions of the instructor in several ways. One way is to demonstrate practical--and recent, if possible--professional applications of my experiences and/or skills in the *real* world. The second way to present an on-going image is to use humor, and self-deprecation when applicable.

I teach an English class in which the students are required to write at least 4 essays in a 10 week period. The issues of plagiarism and the *easiest way out* methods of compiling the necessary information and documentation is always a challenge that I constantly try to head-off with examples of correct--and incorrect--ways to achieve their goals, regardless of essay format.

I make it very apparent to my students that I am not a stereotypical *lecturer" teacher; in fact, I address the reticent students by using small groups and/or ask them specifically to pose their own questions.

I think that, in this *instant gratification* culture of our students, in the classroom it is imperative that as teachers, we make our teaching and presentations as relevant to the 21st century as we can. Technologies abound that can vastly improve the old "teach from the text" approach.

I find it helpful at times to get a massage to deal with the physical effects of stress. I feel the benefit for weeks and sometimes months afterwards.

It very importatnt to act on what we teach because our students will be able to see us through our gestures and our way of communicating the information in the class and in the clinical settings. We need to show the studens the way, and be a good role model to our students. It is very importatnt to be consistent with what we teach and relay that information to the big picture and apply the concept to the clinical settings. :-)

being a master at your trade teach what you know sub in classes your qualified to teach.

here at uti we have a system the holds the student liable for there actions that affects there class grades.

As an ex-military pilot, we lived by "check lists" in order to go flying. If you skipped something on the "check list", the results potentially could often be very bad!! I live by "To Do" / "Check Lists" now-a-days. Prioritizing is just good practice!! It is something we learned in the military and is always a good practice.

Let them do it there way to see whats like they say the easyer way of doing the task?they need to find out the hard way before they take the instructors advise now can we try do it the way its done in the industry.

I have used Engrade as an online gradebook. It allows students to see and monitor their grades as well as communicate with me. I have found it really useful.

Sometimes I find that my "to do" list grows as a faster pace than I can complete the tasks and cross them off. Any suggestions?

Should all Ice-Breakers be in a group setting?

This will be my first course I've ever taught. I know the material and am confident that I have the ability to teach it. I'm just not sure I can handle the lecturing part of it. And answering random questions doesn't thrill me. How do I handle this??

Some of this module was a little too much for me. I mean that if you're teaching adult students at a college level, they should be responsible for their own actions. This is college. These are grown-ups. There is no need to baby them. They should be able to comprehend what is expected of them after the first day of class. If they can't, then their grade will reflect that.

What are you supposed to do if students keep challenging you because you're a young teacher and much younger than those students being taught? How do you deal with that and fix the problem?? I need to gain the respect of my students, but I don't know how to accomplish that when all they do is judge me for my age...

If you decide to be so strict at the beginning of your class, in order to scare your students out of screwing up, will there be more class participation in the long run, or less, than if you were playing "the nice guy"?

I am human, I know I will make mistakes in class. I have been teaching for 5 years now and still check to make sure my fly is zipped before entering the classroom. That would be the worst! Humor is the answer, everytime. It is important to teach the students to laugh at themselves as well. I am the perfect example. If I miscount handout copies, I blame my secretary by rolling my eyes and saying sarcastically, "my secretary can't count"! My students know I don't have a secretary. I feel redeemed in their eyes if I can crack them up. They also forget your mistake.

We get quite a few of these, so we have developed some methods that work well. I teach Culinary Arts so we have to have them controlled because we give them knives to use! If I have an angry student burst out in class, I sternly ask them to meet with me in private during break or after class. I do not allow them to disrupt class for more than an outburst. When I meet with them I let them vent, and I explain to them that I will help them find a solution. Our student services department has a "counselor" who is trained to deal with these situations, and she has helped us tremendously. So if I feel I can't help the student, I assist them in making an appointment with our "counselor". We have had a drastic reduction in continued anger from these students, even some successful turn-around stories.

I have found that small group discussions or group debates in the classroom tend to keep all types of students "awake" and motivated. I typically will have at least one small group discussion included in each of my class periods. Some of the small groups formats I use include having various groups debate an issue or topic I present to them, answer end of chapter questions, etc. I just wanted to reiterate some of the information discussed in Module 2 on how groups in the classroom can help motivate students and help the inattentive students pay much more attention and be more excited about class!