Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Making field trips and guest speakers a part of instruction

Nancy, I agree, these experiences are invaluable. Planning and coordinating seems to be the biggest obstacles, with occasional student transportation conflicts being another less frequent barrier to conducting these sessions. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Informing students of status in course

Margaret, Good old fashioned "sit and chat" is great! Many teachers don't do this for the obvious reason the extra time it takes. Others may not because it never occured to them this would be a valuable way to assist students in their learning. Any time we can spend quality, personalized time is terrific. As a group good, but personalized is best in my opinion. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Mistakes made when selecting course content

Margaret, I learned quite a while back that if students didn't see or understand how they could use the informatyion, or how it would apply to them in the workplace, they would lose interest. This makes general education classes particularly difficult. So even in these GE classes, I try to have applications to my profession whenever the use of examples comes up and it's pertinent to the GE content. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Using pretests as planning tools

Jodi, Great! Most teachers pretest for this reson, as it helps planning, knowing what is important and what can be minimized. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Organized and prepared to teach

Jodi, You're right, when students are paying, they are a consumer, and want to know their dollars are "worth it". So each day and hour is valuable. At least, that's how we should prepare for whether students appreciate it or not. That's our mission and comission as teachers. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Informing students of status in course

Jodi, Reviewing as soon as possible after exam is good because it clears up misunderstandings right away, and helps reinforce correct information. Visiting in person lets us convey we care and want to help the students achieve successfulness. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Selecting evaluation methods

Samuel, Great. I agree about "no surprises". Evaluation should measure the degree to which a student has (or hasn't) learned the needed information up to that point. The process should be fair, accurate, consistent with what was taught, and aligned with the course objectives. Essays that provide for critical thinking can be assessed by rubrics, but even these have some subjectivity. Practice helps students learn how a teacher is likely to grade. So, although it seems conterintuitive, more frequent quizzes, homework, tests (practice and real), and similar evaluation activities help teach students how to prepare. Pre-tests, or exam preparation are… >>>

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Informing students of status in course

Donte, When we spend (valuable) time sharing course progress, it gives an opportunity to share grade status but also to encourage, support, listen, and convey that we care about the students learning and successfulness in the course. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Mistakes made when selecting course content

Donte, I always try to remember the "what's in it for me" principle in order to keep interest. If that thought is continuously reinforced, students will pay attention. My mistake early on was assuming what I thought was important was paramont and became frustrated when students didn't embrace my presentations with the same gusto and enthusiasm I displayed. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Developing instructional backup plans

Randy, Great. Also, many teachers use pertinent websites that follow a theme, small group discussion, class presentations, writing exercises, and using the textbook study quide exercises. Some will use videos or DVD's, which I personally avoid. Unless it is exactly applicable to the course, I find these take a lot of time and are less useful. Also, they're just static, allowing students to "tune out". I would rather use an interactive back-up activity (even one that can be used as a regular activity if time allows). Barry Westling