Redirecting positive inputs—What are some ways that we can channel further discussion or use specific points in other ways to benefit other students in the class? For example, a student has some valid experiences or knowledge, but they don’t want to “hog the floor” talking about these points. Are there other methods to share students’ knowledge with their classmates without that student always struggling to “have the floor.” It could become a fulltime job just trying to use the great ideas or knowledge that all the students have or finding a way to still incorporate them into future lessons or discussions. Each new topic brings about new input, knowledge, and experiences.
“Encouragement” for quiet students—What should you do when you are often asking the same quiet student(s) for their input and they still participate at a bare minimum? Is there a point that the student may feel they are being harassed? How do you reduce the chance of other students feeling like you are focusing most of your attention on the quiet students and basically ignoring the rest of the class or those who participate? Should quiet students be penalized when participation is factored into a class grade? I struggle with these questions as I’ve used them in the past in my own classrooms. I have had students comment on the unfairness of participation points.
On-line discussions—How do you effectively utilize on-line discussions? What do you do when there isn’t a set time to be on-line? As an instructor, how do you manage your time trying to monitor and contribute to on-line discussions? I find myself either forgetting to check the latest discussion points or constantly glued to my computer monitor just waiting for the next post. How do you know your students are actually doing their own work with on-line courses?
Asking questions—How can we elicit students to ask more questions? Have we become an age where students are so used to using technology that they do not bother to ask questions face-to-face or in class? As an instructor, when and where do you draw the line on trying to pull questions out of students? Why do some instructors shy away from asking controversial questions or including topics that may lead to controversial questions? I believe that a lot of good can actually come out of quality discussions about controversial topics. By quality I mean monitored (no raised or threatening voices or other actions), guided, fair participation, etc.
Responding to the questions—What is the proper wordage when you’ve answered the same question multiple times to the class and it’s all spelled out in the syllabus? Students get offended when they are told to refer to their syllabus or when you type “per your syllabus.”
Effective use of pre-writing—Should you continue to use pre-writing activities if you have several students in your class who require more time than you have allotted for the activity? How do you address the students who are becoming more frustrated with an activity like this, but you can see the positive effect (focusing, re-directing attention) it actually has on the student? How often should you switch these activities around?
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