Casey Roten

As an instructor, lessons are key. If you don't have a lesson then you set up the class for chaos. There may be too much time left with no instruction and that tends to lead the students to believe that either you don't care or you don't know the material.

I think it is important to have the students either take an assessemnt or just quiz them on the objectives at the beginning of the course to see who knows what and which direction the instructor should go.

I think that if an outline or objectives aren't in place before the start of a class, I wouldn't teach it. You have to have a syllibus as well as your direct supervisor in case something happens and someone else needs to teach it for you.

Keeping the students engaged in the classroom is very important. I always be sure to be real, up front, and to the point in my classes. To me that clears the air for any misunderstandings in the beginning.

Our Team is in the field the majority of the day with limited time spent together. How can we tackle all of these issues in one meeting if we meet once a week?

In the workplace, there are many types of people that have many different types of personalities. One may have soft skills and display a character that another that has soft skills doesn't understand. Many people become offended too easily in the workplace. Many have underlying emotions that are brought to the workplace and taken out on other people. Soft skills are very important to have in any area of life especially when teaching. Being able to approach someone and be approachable are keys to be a successful instructor.

I believe that being truly genuine in everything you do especially in your classrooms to your students is the key. If an instructor doesn't have enough time to prepare for class and or know what they are going to teach ahead of time to prepare, then the school is setting them up for failure. Curriculum is changing a lot and instructors are trying to change their material with it. Being honest and upfront with your colleagues will smooth the road and make the instructor actually like coming to work and teaching.

We have what we call Grad Prep and this is actually orientation for new students. They have already enrolled and will start in a few days. I would like to get to them before hand, not to discourage them but to let them know exactly what they are here for as in their program choice because many are getting false information about their program of choice and its not right.

I think that it is so important to keep the students focused on the big picture and why they are here. Going back to personal stories and or experiences lets the students share their experiences in life whether it relates to the current field choice or not. It will keep them motivated to keep on going and realize that everything they have learned in life does actually apply to their current field because it has led to this decision of choosing a new career path.

I believe that anyone can get into a teaching rut. Making every class time a fun and informative event can make the students want to come back and learn. Everyone learns better when they feel that they belong to something. Changing up the way you teach your class on a weekly basis can help keep things fresh and different not only for the students but for the instructors.