Heather Clifford

I love this section and it is something I always do in teaching.  I believe there is no stupid question.  I tell my students to ask me anything.  I also tell them, "I am not a textbook", so I do not have all the answers and that is okay.  I know where and how to find these answers and that is important.  I do ask a lot of questions to the students, but this section helped me understand how to ask better questions.  And I believe that students should never be put down.  Positive teaching is essential to learning.

I really learned more about preferred learning styles and some good examples to include in my teaching.  I did not know kinethetic learners benefit from moving around more or chewing gum.  They like music when they learn as well.  I always uses different types of learning preferences into my class.  Now, I teach online so I have some difficulty with incorporating this learning style into my classes.  

I think that changing up the lesson plan mid way through a term or semester can help stimulate the students.  It is true, that midway throught a term, the students are exhausted and they have difficulty with motivation to learn.  I liked learning about the "crisis game".  Very interesting and I will also incorporate this into my teaching tools.

I make it a point to get students prepared and comfortable for class.  In my nursing classes, I find that they are usually very stressed and I like to build a good rapport with them in my class so they will engage more in the content.  I play introduction games or games in general.  I have seen a lot of benefits for doing this and the students seem to enjoy class overall.  I also tell them "there is not stupid question", and to ask me any question on the content.  This really helps.

I think that it is interesting to learn more about how to retain students in your classroom and help them to be more successful.  I liked hearing about the two different types of learners, non-traditional and traditional, and understanding their perspectives, fears, ect.  This section also provided necessary information on how to manage your classroom when dealing with student's frustrations.  Students do have frustrations, and when they bring them to the classroom, it interupts their learning.  Listening to their frustrations will go along way and then provide direction and advice is a great response.  I want to make all my… >>>

This really helped me to understand different teaching methods to include in my classroom.  I also will tape my classes so I can review myself teaching and fix any issues.  I have also started to practice teaching certain concepts before I incorporate the content in the classroom setting.