It is good to be organized. Before I became a instructor. I was disorganized everything was out out order/out of place what ever you want to call it. The point is that, when you are disorganized you may find that life can become l stressful in not having a handle on things your life. I lot of times, we tend to get frustrated when we cannot find somethings or we dont remember where we put somethings, we get a rush. That rush tends to lead to a state of anger and stress. Keeping things in order is a way of organizing, that way you can pretty much now what to do, where to look and a sense of remembering where things are.

Everyone of us procrastinate one time or another, but some of us take it to an extreme. I have seen where students procrastinate to that point of where they think that, whatever it is that they need to do will just take care of itself. What would you say to some of those people? I would tell them that it not a good habit to put off whhat you can today and do it tomorrow, because sometime you can create more problems that way.

Are there any publications that would help an instructor with planning some team building activities?

I teach a medical transcription class. The students and I go over the syllabus together on the first day of term. I explain in detail what the course consists of, and what is expected. I make sure that they understand the number of reports to be turned in and when. They seem to lose any memory of this within 2 weeks! How can I get them to remember? A very few have no trouble turning in all work on time. At the last minute I will receive badly done reports and thery wonder why they get a low grade. This is making me crazy.

What type of activities for first day can be done with my students. We don't really have any things to show around a play with. Please help!

I believe many times we impose stress upon ourselves that can be avoided. Sometimes our own high performance expectations can go unmet and when reflected on cause stress. It is important I believe to make sure that we do not expect too much from ourselves in our changing environment and to be realistic about what can be accomplished.

I have found that when I ask essay type questions I can usually scan the information written for key words or phrases. If I do not see them in a particular answer that leads me to read the answer more carefully and guide the student effectively.

I have found that if the productivity software Outlook is used it can be of great benefit for to do lists by using the tasks and calendar.

Has anyone tried using a designated time for answereing emails? If so, have you ever had complaints about a delayed response or have you ever missed a time sensitive important announcement?

I have a "no make up rule" or "late" rule the day of the exam. I clearly explain this at the begining of the class. The students clearly understand. I have the highest attendance rate on those days. The only exception is that if they tell me ahead of time, they may take it the day before, after school, or if it is an issue like they go home sick, but I have seen them that day. They may take it the nexy day. If their child is sick and they call and leave a message, I let them come sfter school or have another person in the school administer it, same day only. It works well, and there is no misunderstanding. Last week I had two ladies take the test the day before. My students truely respect the rule.

Stress is a big part of our every day lives. Being an instructor for many years, I feel my stress level is much less tha when I started this journey. 1. I am confident and well prepared in whatever I teach. 2. I put the objectives up every day for each class. 3. I lecture, review the topic and then I do reinforcement exercises. I also give the students their review sheets one week before an exam. They respond well to this and 80% of my class score 90 or above. Organization and keeping on top of your daily work is also key. When I get really stressed, I book an appoinment with our massage students for a full body massage!!!

In making To Do Lists I find myself procrastinating about what I have on my list and then sometimes I lose the list. Has anyone else had this happen to them and what have you done that has helped to overcome this problem to better prepare you for your class?

We have an instructor who has a policy of no make-up tests. However, she takes the best 2 out of 3 grades. That way if a student misses an exam, there is no consequence.

One of my instructors says he will not give essay tests in the future. He will rely on multiple choice and true and false.

My students are always my priority. I feel that I fail them if I do not promptly grade their papers or answer their e-mails or phone calls. I am a role model for them. If I don't care about the class why should they? Am I wrong?

Our school has three semesters per year and typically the staff has two to three days off between semesters. Any suggestions on how we can cope with the stress of wrapping up one semester and preparing for the next in such a short time?

How do we reconcile expectations of our administration, such as every student will pass the course, with classes comprised of low performing students? I feel stressed with the large gap between successful, high-performing students, and those who are unable to pass the exams.

I found this to be so true. The things that I cannot control are the things that give me the most stress. For instance, if you've ever had a student bully you, but the school won't let you tell him or her to stop, it can really put a strain on your well-being. If it weren't for situations like that, I think I would be relatively stree-free. I just wish there was something that could be done.

I have a student whom I shall name “Jane Doe”, she is approximately 50 years old; she is the only white female in the classroom (the others are comprised of 1 African Male and the rest African females and I am Latino). But she possesses the ability to become a good paralegal. Jane is always two steps ahead of the rest of the class and likes to assist the other students during lecture and during computer class time. The plus side is she can alleviate some of the directions I can be pulled into but more often than not she gives them how to complete the assignment without explaining why which then causes more work for me in the long run. This situation has added unnecessary stress to the classroom for several reasons. First, when I request that she hold her comments or opinions to her colleagues until break time, she feels that I'm picking on her. Secondly, she allows her “boredom” to be known to the class through loud sighs and paper shuffling. Last, she talks about her personal life out loud quite often, then thinks that the rest of the class is talking about her behind her back. Jane has gone to my supervisor complaining, that “I am picking on her” but could not give any specifics or evidence to support her allegations, my supervisor, Jane and I met and I allowed Jane to voice her concerns and I validated her feelings – I explained that I'm here to teach not judge and as her instructor my job is to teach all my students, leaving no-one behind to wonder what's going on. In closing, I must add that I will not judge her as a person and I will continue to teach her as my student. I will exercise extreme caution when grading her papers just to make sure that I'm not adding my personal frustration into her work performance – I believe in being fair. But I cannot wait until her graduation date. Any and all suggestion will be taken into consideration with great appreciation.

At the end of each module, I require students to conduct a 10 minute speech with outlines, presentation materials and a question and anwer session in order to demonstrate their understanding of the material that was presented during that module. This is an effective time management tool because I can evaulate them at the time that they are giving the presentation and there is nothing for me to take home to grade. Also, this allows students who have a hard time writing what they understand to show me orally that they really do comprehend the material. It also boosts their self-esteem, allows them to gain confidence in what they know and it reinforces the material for the other students who listen to the presentation.