Hello Everyone: I think at times all (4) apply to me. There are days when I have everything under control. Then there are days when I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. I do have list and notes on a note pad and I go over it everyday. I add and delete task all the time. I then use this as a future reference as to when things happen and how I resolved issues. I have times when I just have to many things on my plate and I feel hurried to complete them. I have to take a look at them and start to just put out fires and see where that takes me.

Listening to angry students is definitely a must.I have encountered students who are angry at the world, not at what just set them off. By listening you are more aware of what they are capable of doing. Also, when they want to vent, they come to you, not another student who might become uneasy speaking to him. Usually their vent has happened to you and you can make light of it and let them know how you handled it or let them know there are more important things to focus on.

I see students every now and then that are in my class just for the certificate,and not in class for the knowledge,because the student feels the academics will not as be useful in the real world as is the lab portion. These students have to be recognized, then brought into reality,on how the academics help understand why something functions as it does. once the student sees if he/she has the understanding why it works, the labs are easier to make it work. I also remind them when it is time for their state exam, it is all academics.

I think the example of turning in a late assignment was too lenient. In the real world you will not get e week to accomplish a task. I set a deadline for my homework assignments for the beginning of class on Monday, if the homework is not handed to me when I collect them, a zero is given for that assignment. I feel this is more of a real world experience. Bob

I oftentimes purposely find ways to draw the students who are the least interested in the topic by making them contribute to conversations through the sharing of real-world professional experiences. Most of the time it works as planned.

Discipline for adult learner should be place on learning adults like to know what is expected of them.

Most students understand the value of education today. Almost all can not afford a 4 year school because of the time involved or expense there of. In a class with multiple personalities there is always a student or more that feel they have paid the tuition so a diploma is deserved no matter the involement or attention givin to the subject. I have heard it from them (I paid so much to be here I should be able to do what I want). Most are very excited to become more educated and attentive to their work. Yes they would like to say " I went here for this and I received this grade" I have done it myself. What is it we can do to bring them from this mentality to I need to receive a certain grade That reflects my work.

It is difficult to balance being liked and being respected. Instructors must stick to moral decisions when it comes to course content in order to be respected. Student pay to learn, not for new friends.

I had a student a term ago take a picture of things in her textbook and notes and use them to complete a test. I only found out because she completed her test in 5 minutes and it took everyone else over an hour. I learned that I provided the opportunity because at that time i let students use the calculator on their phones. Now students must have cell phones away during class.

At the institute where I teach, external variables are real for the majority of the students. This hinders attendance, focus, apathy, and completion. Sometimes, while it is tough, instructors have to encourage and support students on improving their lives through different channels in order to be successful.

I have learned that both a hard copy and online copy of syllabus are important. Most teachers give a hard copy which leads to students loosing the copy and using that as an excuse. An online copy serves as a back up plan, however, even though they are college students, they still manage to find excuses as to how they can not access the syllabus.

the instructors I most valued in school were those who taught me new things, more often than not they were also the ones I personally liked, but not always.

Instilling pride in each student and his or her sense of honour will mostly eliminate cheating. It has worked for a long at the Naval Academy.

Each classroom is made up of separate and interesting personalities. the fole of the facilitator is to meld these into a unit which is receptive to instruction.

Dealing with divesified students can be challenging but its never boring. I try to be active and teach to all. I try to employ different medias to get my Objective across and consistently do formative asscessments. I like the idea of Minute papers. It keeps the sleepy head distracted cell phone users on their toes and appeals to those that are in the groove.

You only have one chance t get the attention of your students. I believe that the course must be interesting and motivating from the very first.

Sometimes I will set aside an hour or so to play a video game. I understand not everyone is a gamer, but to me it's a great way to relieve stress after a day. Facebook has many games on it - often ones you can do in simple sessions sometimes even with friends. Nice way to unwind - doing something that exercises your mind - but doesn't TASK it as much as teaching. Listening to music or soundscapes helps too. Youtube is full of long compilations of "Waves on the Beach" or "Rainforest Thunderstorm" type of videos that are great for meditation or just relaxing.

I was brought on about a year ago to work in a new department at our career school. Because it was new at this location, there weren't many instructors and virtually no precedent when it came to creating a course beyond the learning objectives. This means not only teaching twice a week, but also developing a completely new course every five weeks. This, combined with a long commute and lackadaisical and uncooperative students has caused significant stress. Though I'm sure that this has been discussed over and over - I did find the pacing to be much better for both learning - and teaching - back during the days of the ten-week terms. However, working through the stress is itself a reward. Always could be worse right?

As primarily a computer art instructor I find grading can sometimes be much more difficult when I'm grading things that aren't quite as cut-and-dry as right or wrong. Art being as subjective as it is, is harder to grade than an exam on terms or topics. The working method I've come up with to make sure there are no questions asked when it comes to WHY a student received a grade is to make and include a detailed grading rubric and include it with each assignment. I can't necessarily grade your art style - but I can grade whether or not you applied the proper technique (oftentimes program-specific) in the creation of the art. Therefore the method becomes what is being graded, rather than the final product. Don't get me wrong, I DO grade the overall gestalt of a piece of art - but it's usually the technique that carries more weight in individual assignments - as there are right ways and wrong ways to use the software, but who can say what is good and bad when it comes to art?

After reading through the module I came to a realisation - that this Obstacle really affects how I tend to view certain students and colleagues. I tend to be a person who wants the reply right now, and always works on completing a task as soon as possible. The opposite of procrastination. However this can and has jaded my opinion on some others who tend to take time in the responses, having mistakenly believed they were procrastinating, but in truth were only pacing themselves. Perhaps a hold-over from OCD? Is there any others who feel the same and how did you overcome it. The scheduled tasks list seems to be a good idea - but when cursed with immediacy (or perhaps impatience!) it can be difficult.