Barry Westling

Hi William: I believe the more confident an instructor is in their subject matter and themselves as individuals, they're more likely to be open to others ideas, creative "out of the box" approaches, and other innovations in their classroom that may stray from traditional approaches but result in greater student learning. Regards, Barry

Hi William: I agree. I think we have to be willing to deviate from our established curriculum and traditional classes in order to modify, adjust, or retool our lessons so that both institutional goals for student learning outcomes and student goals for unit objectives are met. When we focus on the specific need of tyhe student we are customizing their educational experience for optimal learning opportunities. Regards, Barry

Hi William: Notable post. I think the most important fact is that in a student centered teaching environment we have to be willing to abandon our planned activities and substitute some activities to accomodate the special needs and unique teaching requirements of these students. Regards, Barry

Hi Mary: I like your wording of "glamour" as many students probably feel this way about the experience. There is no substitute for this enlightening and real world experience and classroom activity. Regards, Barry

Hi Emily: I think grading ribrics are wonderful tools to assure objectivity and fairness, It helps when the students know up front how they can earn grade in the class. I also like your 1-10 scale because of the smaller increments. My experience has been that 1-10 scales offer a bit too much work to define each category, but it's worth the efforth once completed. Regards, Barry

Hi David: Great comments. I agree our personality mnakes a diiference, Students are attracted to teachers that are upbeat, entusiastic, confident, excited, and motivational to their students. Regards, Barry

Hi Isaac: I'm sure many programs, such as yours, require more than running some scan-tron's through to derive a final grade. Email works good if everyone has access to retriving messages. Surprisingly, some students don't have internet access (but at my school, they all have it through thier student accounts as enrollees). I would add that if a teacher is going to send an email, that's a great opportunity to add a bit of commentary, encouragement, praise, or suggestions for the student as they move forward in their career. Regards, Barry

Hi Clifton: Nice sentiments. I think most instructors would say that's what they're striving for. I think student centered conveys the suggestion that being student centered commannds the teacher to look to the specific needs of their student while attempting to accomplish the institutional goals or programmatic objectives. It may involve mere tweaking existing course curriculum, to performing comprehensive student learning styles assessment and modifying the curriculum to align with the results of the assessment. Regards, Barry

Hi Isaac: You've got a good point about putting in the effort to form a good solid foundation up fron t, then tweaking it to meet the anticipated needs or adjustments that are needed for a specific class. Regards, Barry

Hi Issac: One way to view this question is to think about ourselves as subject matter experts. Our relationship and purpose with our students is to try to impart as much as possible the knowledge, skills, and expertise we've gained through education and work experience and transfer that to them through lessons, resources, and planned activities. Regards, Barry