I teach students for readiness in the building industry. Our problems are complex and require big picture and divergent thinking. Many of my fellow instructors give simple and finite problems with simple solutions and are quite rigid with their submittal and grading policy. I have taken the approach that student learning requires space and freedom to explore the ideas and to make big mistakes in our laboratory environment. Often I let project deadlines slide because I realize that a student may be on to some serious learning that I don't want to inhibit. Question: How do I accomodate student learning with my approach with set and defined deadlines and project requirements as discussed in this lesson?

Under the “Managing Student Behavior” module, the angry student section says that “hostile and angry students will almost exclusively be male.” I would really like to see this wording changed. I don’t have qualms because I’m offended as a male. But I work at a school with about 95 percent females, and they make up 100 percent of the “angry” students. I think the current wording can be a disservice to beginning instructors. Having read this, they could be caught off guard when that first “angry” student turns out to be a female. Any chance you can make the change to the wording?

After the course I understand even if organized, having anything out that is unnecessary can lead to a loss of perception as to being prepared and organized. Learning to control perception of image I can see is not only important but mandatory even in subtle ways to manage, teach and be effective. Nice, like it.

This was awesome categorizing the different student / learning types. I have 2 students in the same class, for lack of a better word they "appear" burdened. They aren't silent, not angry and participate well, they are capable and motivated but become loners during breaks and both look like they're carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. After this section I have new ideas how to observe and tactics to apply. Talking to them, they say job is fine, family is fine, and have clear career objectives. Does anyone have any input to increase my effectiveness with these students?

I have learned from experience that when stress isn’t contributing to my greater emotional and physical health, it’s time to find healthier ones. There are many healthy ways to manage and cope with stress, but they all require change. You can either change the situation or change your reaction. When deciding which option to choose, I find it helpful to think of the four A’s: avoid, alter, adapt, or accept. Mainly, I try to focus on what makes me feel calm and in control.

When I become overwhelmed and stressed my eating and sleeping habits tend to take a backseat. I find that when I am overwhelmed with tasks on my plate, eating a healthy meal and taking a short exercise break will re-energize my mind and calm my nerves down to focus on the task at hand.

Grading definitely takes up most of my time. I think it's critical to make sure that each student is thoroughly comprehending the course material so I spend time (sometimes too much) analyzing assignments and providing feedback. I have found that there are some great programs out there that help with cutting time when grading. One program is Grade Assist. It allows you to create suggestion boxes to add to the corrections based on the given assignment. Rather than having to type out the same correction multiple times, the comment is saved to just click and add immediately.

Sometimes I feel as though I may not manage my time effectively because I take on too many tasks to please or help others. I then find myself putting my important tasks aside to give time to something that should be dealt with at later time. I have a fairly large and very close family, and sometimes I feel as though I go out of my way to assist with their tasks, which then causes stress for me later when I need to complete my own tasks. My important tasks on my list then become urgent and I feel rushed and stressed to do them. I need to prioritize my time better and make sure to complete all of my own important tasks before assisting others.

This is a great topic for the different student profiles. I found I had someone that tended to nap. I pulled them aside and asked about life, job etc., to determine what I needed to do to help. Fits all the profiles found here, younger, needs stimulation. The answers were, "i don't stay up late", "my job isn't a problem", I was puzzled. I have changed my tactic with the student to engage, call on them randomly, use them in a way I now know from this course is an "observer". The observer position works fabulously and I highly recommend it for these students. I will apply it with more confidence and effectiveness after gaining this information.

I have found teamwork assignments to be effective as I'm sure all of you have. Being a web design instructor I have found that it is effective and popular to allow students to come to the computer and do a brief presentation using the projector of a discovery they've made during class. It engages each individual, they find it as compliment, it builds presentation techniques, confidence and morale among other things. Has anyone else found success using the same?

I am a new instructor, teaching my first class. It's also the first time this class has ever been taught at my school, so I have been creating all class lectures, in-class activities, homework, and class projects from scratch. The time from accepting this offer to the first class period was only a few weeks, not long enough for me to compile everything for each class period. How should I handle this in the syllabus, if I don't know what homework I will be giving them 3 weeks from now because it hasn't been developed yet? I know the general topics of each week's lecture but not the in-class activities or homework assignments.

This sounds crazy... I get stressed when I do not exercise, when I plan to do so and I fail to.

Students are very technology saavy. it is important to include this in the classrooms.

It can be easy to get caught up in the daily tasks and get off track. It is important to prioritize your time.

I love the concept of a stress free life... but it will never happen. Stressors are around us and around every corner. Learning what helps you face and deal with the known stressors in your life is the fist step in combating stress. For me the best place to start in identifying my stressors is to talk with my peers, they see what I cannot and it works like a reflective mirror. At the same time of these talks I also seem to locate solutions and coping ideas at the same time. it is helpful either way.

As a career changer I entered the teaching profession to reduce my stress. I went from being a firefighter/paramedic to working in the culinary arts industry, now I teach. The 20 years of stress encountered prior to these changes was horrific. The funny thing is... it is still there, just with different names, faces, and situations. Stress can be a good motivator but it causes more damage then good. One must become one with the stress, take a deep breath, let it out and accept the process of dealing with a situation. For most in the teaching industry this acceptance of stress is just prioritizing the elements associated with the event and take one element on at a time. There is a saying... "you can eat an elephant if you take one bite at a time". When my students stress to me that they are in crisis I remind them that it is best to identify the stressors and face them head on. And since the career change I kind of do it in a light-hearted manner by stating: "if you burn your product (remember the kitchen setting), it's not like someone is going to die". It took me 20 years of stress to develop the patience to look stress in the eye and make a split decision whether or not it will affect me or not, either way... it is my choice.

amazing isn't it... this was the exact concept behind my last post... you have to make time... it is not given to you. Structuring your time does take practice and it must also take a close look at how you can plan for the unexpected. We have all encountered the day of teaching where you are running from one corner of the room to the other and half way across, you get stopped to answer 3 to 5 questions! Frustrating isn't it. Well it does not have to be. Structure your day based off of weeks or preplanning during your course development. Once the course is written then critically evaluate the materials and be honest about available time. Once you think you have the correct allotments of time, remove at least 10% of the time you gave yourself. This builds in the cushion needed for "one of those days". The second part of this is to then have ready instant lessons that can be done ad-lib style should the time cushion not be needed. Students see this as "added value" over and outside of the traditional learning environment. It also provides the great opportunity to link the lessons to real life situations through teaching about your experiences in the real world.

There are time in an instructors day that only an essence of time is visible. A brief window to just sigh and breath in a breath of relief. Does this sound like your common day? For some it is, and this thread is directed toward those who have that giant clock ticking away behind them pushing them harder and harder to get things done. One of my earliest technical instructors gave me a saying that to this day fits this situation. His saying is "you don't get time, you have to make time" in order to achieve the necessary and substantial outcomes to your event or project. It is all about good solid time management and establishing the directive goal of prioritization to tasks and then setting out controlling said list. For some like myself who tend to over prioritize things and has fun while doing it the saying "time flies with having fun" reflects just how much you DO have time for in the day.

I get nervous when lecturing at times and find myself talking very quickly. What are some ways to overcome this?

Just kidding, The only management techniques I know when engaging in life is getting enough sleep. Without it your creatiivyt goes. followed by your judgement1