By the time I finish with my five classes, four preps, grading papers, working with students, taking care of my six year old, and everything else that comes my way during any given workday, I am exhausted My to-do-list is crammed with priority 1 events. I don't seem to have enough energy or time to deal with everything in my job and my life.

In my class there isn't an empty seat in the room and instructors don't have the freedom to create their own exams or have alternating "A" and "B" exams to keep wandering eyes on their own papers. Besides zero scores and monitoring for unusual behavior indicative of cheating, what techniques can prove useful given the above scenario?

Sometimes when I'm stressed i do tend to eat more than usual. Lots of chocolate! Which is sooo unhealthy. It causes you to gain weight for 1 and the sugar from the chocolate causes me to feel very hyper but when that sugar is gone I crash. Well I use to! i have found other ways to channel my stres and 1 way is walking/exercising.

I like to take at least a 2 mile walk by myself to just free my mind of all the negative energy and things that have caused some tension on my brain (causing a headache). Listening to whatever wildlife that's around is soothing as well while I'm walking.

I can not work efficiently and effectively with lots of clutter on my desk. It has to be neat and clean so I can find whatever I need when i need it.

I do my best not to get stressed in my working environment. It does cause long-term health issues. I wanna live a lobg prosperous life so, stress is not my friend! ;o)

Students have a tendency to study for the test instead of studying to learn the information. They will cram for a quiz/test and then immediately lose all of the information at the moment they turn it in. This turns an assessment of progress into an assessment of short-term memory. One solution I've found is to schedule time in class for the students to "convince" me that their answer makes sense. They put more effort into studying their books this way. They want to know where the answers are. This actually works as a time saver for me, since it reduces the amount of in-class review time I need per quarter for my cumulative finals.

They say necessity is the mother of invention. I developed a to-do list accidently. Years ago, I started keeping track of what money my roommates owed me from month to month. To make sure we all knew, I started writing it on the bathroom mirror with a dry-erase marker. Soon we were leaving each other notes like "Went to see a movie, be back at 6pm." Then it became a running list for food shopping. Now, even though I live alone, I still use that technique to keep myself organized. It's much easier to lose a sticky note than it is to lose the whole bathroom! Now I just need a mirror on my desk at work...

At the start of every course. I do assigned seating. I create a grid that corresponds to the classroom and write the students name in the box. That way, I can call everyone by their name and have a good way to put a face with the name.

The concept of having an angry student write down their issues is great. Not only does it allow the student the opportunity to clearily express their issues, but it also gives them time to reflect upon the issue. I think this will help them have a "cool off" period versus "bustin' into your office and cursing you out" mentality

I have experienced students who are overly chatty and those that routinely sleep during class. I agree with the course that a good way to deal with both sides of the spectrum is to split the class into small work groups.

After working in IT management for 12 years before starting to teach, I feel as though I bring something special to my IT students. The first day, I discuss various job opportunities and discuss the skills needed for each one. I even go into what companies in my area are currently hiring certain positions and discuss salary and the working conditions. I realize that a very small percentage of my students will pursue IT for their careers, but I do find that everyone gets excited when they hear about various jobs that are explained by an actual hiring manager.

I'm the type who likes to have issues resolved now. If I can not resolve them immediately, I push them to the side and eventually have a pile up of tasks that take time to complete. A to-do list would remind me to check the "in-progress" pile more frequently and follow up on these items on a more regular basis. I sometimes have a "need to be done now" mindset so strong, I completely forget to write anything down. I need to take the time to make out a list because this would greatly reduce my "Sorry, I forgot" responses.

How can you keep balance between maintaining a professional distance and creating a friendly environment in class?

Hi all, It is nice to be here with you where I can get valuable and practical tips for teaching. Here is my problem: What can you do if half of your class in Math is at the higher level (example at calculus level) and the other half cannot add? The content of the course is in between the aformentioned levels (pre college algebra). Thanks

In one part of the module, they mentioned putting ourselves in the student's shoes. I think its very important to remember how we felt when we learned the materiel, when framing our lessons. By doing so the lessons will be more educational and the students will know that you care.

Finishing a class at 12:30 AM, then having to begin at 5:30 preparing for your 7AM class with just a few hours sleep can cause stress and difficulty sleeping. I become stressed worrying about performing while being so tired.

With the increasing sizes of my classes, I have found it necessary to use efficient test grading systems.

I am great at making a to do list. Unfortunaly, I do not have a chance to finish the list by the end of the working day, because of many interuption, and it seems to be important at the time. How would you handle the situation?

One of the most important things I think I do is learn the names of all my students. Even when students' names are hard to pronounce, I make the effort to say it correctly because a person's name is the sweetest sound to them. At the beginning of a new class I promise them that I will learn their all their names and I keep that promise. I make plenty of mistakes along the way and I always apologize, let students laugh at me, and keep trying. Eventually I get it right and often the whole class will cheer when I do. One of the reasons learning students' names is important is the obvious reason that each student will know you care about them. But what is also important to realize is that the process of me learning about them allows them to see how the process of learning occurs for me. It allows me to show them that it's okay to make mistakes and it makes me "human" (without having to involve them in my personal life). It sets the stage for them to be okay with making mistakes and for a safe learning environment. My goal in teaching a class is not only to relay the subject matter of the course. It's also develop and nuture a group dynamic that accelerates learning. By being able to immediate say a student's name I can subtly build trust or quell a disruption. Names are valuable. It's the most important word to the person who owns it and it has a lot of meaning for the student. So why wouldn't I want to have that connection? A student's name is just one more access point to their brain; one more way to teach them what I want them to remember, and one less obstacle that might get in the way of their success.