Brian Reeves

Discussion Comment

Alot of times the first day of a new class is a little scary for some students, especially if its a tough topic. After the introductions of the class and the instructor I have a little bit of story time. Tell the students of some of the experiences I had in this business and some of the funny things that they might experience. This usually breaks the ice. The students start to understand that this is a good business. I also talk to them about pay! Alot of the students have no idea what kind of money they should command… >>>

Brian Reeves

Discussion Comment

tests

We use alot of pre-made tests. They work well because alot of other instructors teach the same courses so using those tests kind of keep them on track to make sure that every class that comes through that course has the same information and are assessed on the same level as their predicessors

Brian Reeves

Discussion Comment

Pre-set tests

Sometimes it is good to create your own test to support the curriculum along with the pre-set tests that we give them throughout the course. Sometimes giving the students a "thinking assignment" rather than just a memory or knowledge assesment sparks their interest more. When they use their imagination on handling a certain concern rather than just spitting out information that they memorized seems to keep their intrest more.

Brian Reeves

Discussion Comment

Quizzes

I have noticed that frequent quizzes work great to keep students on their toes, also when students have trouble with a particular quiz they usually take it personally and strive to improve imediately. It usually spurs alot of good questions so that student fully understands the material for the future.

Brian Reeves

Discussion Comment

Questions and the power point

I have found that if you don't use creative and thought generating questions during a power point presentation, alot of times you lose your audience. If you don't ask questions, the students will form their own opinion on the slide which could be totally different that the point you and the presentation is attempting to put across. By asking questions you are channeling their thought process to the specific topic at hand.

Brian Reeves

Discussion Comment

level of Questions

I have noticed over and over again that yes-no or true-false questions are usually useless to keep the attention of a class and to further the learning potential. You can see on their faces that close ended questions are no challenge and very little want to participate. I found that layered questions that cause students to create their own answer keeps their attention and sparks atleast a general interest into the subject.

Brian Reeves

Discussion Comment

power points are just a start

Most instructors agree that a power point alone drags a class down really quick. If performing hands on demos and putting components that are related to the topic at hand can cover all of the learning styles rather quickly. Frequent breaks from the power point to actually perform what they are reading about kind of sparks the senses and keeps the students more involved as a whole.

Brian Reeves

Discussion Comment

Hands on

I have noticed that performing demonstrations then having the students performing the action encompasses several of the learning methods. First putting the directions on the board helps the written person, performing the action is for the visual and auditory, then having them perform it covers the kinesthetic person or hands on person.

Brian Reeves

Discussion Comment

Lectures

I find that when a lecture is to last all day, If you break it up into 20 minutes sections then I usually have like a quiz off and compare each groups information retention to another groups, it tends to work most of the time because it institutes competion between fellow students.

Brian Reeves

Discussion Comment

MEET and GREET

The initial meet and greet to me is very important. I gives you a chance to oversee your students coming in and gives the students an idea of how your class will be run because they see that you have atleast a general concern for them to be in the class. Also it gives you a chance to make sure the rules are being followed and nip the violations in the bud before they get into your class and could possibly be seen by other students. They might think its ok by you to bend the rules.