ED 105
I have just finished the course ED 105 and although I have been teaching for a while now , realize how valuable the information is in these courses.Planning and organizing course work for students is important but more than that I have leaned that being flexible and alwsy having a back up or plan B ready is critical. Classes do not always go as planned and sometimes you may finish early and need to fill in time, so it is handy to have bonus projects or work relevant to the course that you can add which I find the students love especially if it is a fun project.
One of the challenges I have found is when I have a group of students who are at different skill levels. The challenge is to make sure that all the students progress at the same time. I now do an assessment test right at the beginning of the course, so I have a clear picture of the level of my students skills. For those students who are lacking basic skills I give them chance to do extra work or practise in their own time, they can either do this at home or come to one of my classes to practise and have guidance from me. I see this works very well and helps keep the course on track without slowing us down to wait for everyone, which can be boring for my more advanced students. The main thing I have found to keep them interested is keep challenging them and help them grow, as long as the items you are covering are relevant the students respond well to the added incentive.
