Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary, The points you made in your response is exactly what is needed to reflect the requirements of your industry. If you or your lab is not current then the students are not receiving the maximum training for their dollars. In addition they will not be as competitive. Through your reading of tech manual, magazines, trade journals you are keeping yourself on the cutting edge. I commend you for this. I know all of this takes time, but I know you find that this effort helps you to maintain a professional edge that is necessary for personal satisfaction as a… >>>

Hi Kane, This is a very challenging question, because there are so many different components to the type of learning difficulty the students may manifest. There are 6 major areas of learning disability with the two most common being dyslexia (reading-language processing deficiencies) and dyscalculia (numeric processing deficiencies). The first step is to identify the exact processing difficulties the student has and what supports have been given previously. If the student had an IEP in high school, there will be a complete listing of supports and helps that were given during the high school years. The student can either secure… >>>

Hi Kane, Well said. To teach effectively, you have to know your students. By looking at their needs, unique characteristics, and career goals you can develop an effective way of reaching them. In the career college setting, it is a challenge because most of the students are nontraditional students so they bring to the classroom backgrounds that force the instructor to work very hard to meet their learning needs. I find this challenge exciting. It helps me to keep my problem solving skills honed as I approach each student and each class. I trust that you find this challenge exciting… >>>

Hi Joseph, Everyone seems to want to see someone that is successful in order to have a model to follow. By having successful graduates come back and share their stories with the students inspiration is being shared that hopefully will lead to excitement about course completion. I also strive to find out what each student's individual goal for taking the course is. I know in many cases the course is required and the student only sees the course as such. I talking with the student I try to explain and illustrate how the course is a building block to their… >>>

Hi Joseph, By letting the students know from the very beginning of the class what the expectations are and the work that they have to do to get through successfully you have set goals for the students. By using the individual approach you are enabling the students to learn within their comfort range while developing the their skill in the area of polishing. I am interested in your comment about each person developing his/her own stroke or pressure in polishing. In your field is this a characteristic of a top polisher? Do student develop stroke and pressure skills that set… >>>