Teaching and Engaging Unprepared Students: Strategies for Promoting Success and Retention in Higher Education

Teaching and Engaging Unprepared Students: Strategies for Promoting Success and Retention in Higher Education

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

First I would like to thank the CETL department for allowing me to attend my first Teaching Professor Educator Conference. The exposure was astonishing and allowed me to have a broad perspective on teaching and various techniques to utilize in all courses taught within my discipline. Each workshop was unique in its own way, diversified and tailored made to fit any courses taught at Winston-Salem State University.Yes, I attended workshops that interest me the most, including workshops on topics that would enhance my teaching techniques and strategies; most importantly, I was eager to attend those workshops that promoted growth within my department and the university.

The following workshop titled: Teaching and Engaging Unprepared Students:” Strategies for Promoting Success and Retention in Higher Education; was one of several, that enhanced my teaching techniques and inspired me to introduce innovative ways to engage student participation, decrease absenteeism and assist with student retention rates here at Winston-Salem State University.Kathleen Gabriel, a presenter from California State University, Chico discussed how colleges have diverse students, with and increase first-generation population students who may be at risk- students with learning disabilities and those who arrive unprepared for the academic rigors of college. Indeed, this is the case at most universities, however; Gabriel instructs professors in this workshop, to be prepared to reach all the students in their courses. When dealing with unprepared student, professors must use Lerner-centered educational methods as well as universal design strategies. If these areas such as methods for engaging and teaching peripheral students are addressed, research demonstrates that they have a greater chance of success according to Gabriel.Since the student population here at Winston-Salem State University is growing tremendously, the acquired knowledge of an educator should be the same. I deem it necessary to attend workshops and conferences of this sort, in order to do the following: gain knowledge on the various educational methods and strategies, engage in discussions with individuals with the same or opposing views, discover more strategies on how to use critical thinking skills, the value of small teams in the classroom, gather insights on how to promote technology usage throughout the courses in which I teach in Political Science and discover new ways in which collaborative learning can assist with student retention rates.

Noticeably, this was the conference for me, bottom line. The objectives were clear; the research presented from various professors demonstrated reliability and validity and an opportunity for you (the professor) to explore your teaching techniques, add or subtract what’s not substantial in the classroom and advance with the 21st century generation of students and academics. Again, thank you CETL, for an unforgettable life changing teaching exposure opportunity and I certainly look forward in participating in more conferences to come. As mentioned, this was a chance of a life time, one that I deem necessary in order to advance to the next level of 21st Century education with students, faculty and staff. The Teaching Professor Conference 2008, a conference of inspiration, motivation and determination for all; one in which I look forward in attending again and conferences in the near future through CETL at Winston-Salem State University.

Yolonda N. Childs MPA Department of Political Science Public Administration Winston-Salem State University

Building Scholarship of T&L Communities

JAMES ETIM
Posted September 30, 2008

I attended The Teaching Professor Conference held on May 16-18 In Kissimmee, Florida. There were very many interesting sessions which I attended, including “Building Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Communities: Methods of Engagement, Assessment and Reward “ and “To See the World in a Grain of Sand: An Approach to Educating our Students and Ourselves about Globalism and Diversity”. These presentations were lively, informative and engaging. In this section, I will discuss two papers that I found very interesting: the three person presentation by Dr. Ngoc-Bich Tran, Dr. James Baker and Patricia Petty titled “How to Succeed in First-Time Online Teaching: Top Ten Tips” and the presentation by Joan Flaherty “To See the World in a Grain of Sand…”.
In the past, I have done web-assisted instruction using Taskstream. However, given that I am trying to develop an online course, I was open to absorbing the information offered by the three educators who had moved from being novices a year or so earlier to being very adept in providing workable online courses for their students. Below, I present some of the things I took away from their presentation.
They began with the ten tips which are-
· Be open minded and enthusiastic when committing to teach an online course
· Be organized by planning and developing the course early
· Motivate your students
· Use available online resources
· Provide enhancement materials
· Provide clear and consistent instructions and feedback
· Keep open lines of communication
· Be patient and considerate of students
· Offer student support
· Enjoy it
In looking closer at these ten tips, bullets 2, 4, 7 are very useful as I begin thinking about my online course. Bullet 2 says- “ Be organized by planning and developing the course early”. This simply means that the course to be taught should be planned and developed at least one semester before it is taught, that the structure of each learning unit of the course must be designed and followed consistently and that students should be presented a calendar to follow as soon as the course begins. In terms of Bullet 4 that states that developers should use available resources online, this is a good advice since it will be easier to hyperlink or refer students to those online resources. The burden of copying materials, scanning them and or seeking copyright permission will also be lessened with this approach. Finally bullet 7 involves the following- set online hours, answer e-mails within 24 hours and be tone friendly in your e-mails since these are public documents. During the Question and Answer session, they pointed out that faculty must work closely with the Instructional Specialist in the college/ university to ensure a smooth process. These are useful as I begin thinking about using Blackboard to expand what I am currently doing.
The second presentation on globalization was equally interesting. To begin with, part of UNC Tomorrow states that “UNC should educate its students to be personally and professionally successful in the 21st century and, to do so, should enhance the global competitiveness of its institutions and their graduates” One way to implement this goal is that “UNC promote increased partnerships between its own campuses and international universities and enhance the global awareness of its faculty and students”. To enhance such awareness, I attended the presentation by Flaherty on globalism and diversity. The presenter began by defining globalism and diversity and pointed out that the world is now interconnected because of technology, economics ( free trade, oil, currency) and demographics( easy movement of people). Given this situation, there was the need for schools and universities to encourage “cultural intelligence”- the ability to adapt to a new and unfamiliar culture – so that graduates can possess the skills to be able to interact with others in the global community. The presenter also suggested that there was the need to internationalize the curriculum through encouraging students to travel internationally, bringing in international scholars and joint programs with universities in other countries. According to Flaherty, there were some obstacles to achieving the goal of internationalizing the curriculum- faculty resistance, finance, time, and administrator buy-in etc. However, she recommended the following for each faculty as he/she worked towards globalism and diversity in the curriculum-
a. Honor and listen to different perspectives
b. Include multicultural literature and texts (as applicable)
c. Honor other peoples background by having them talk about what happens in other cultures
d. Allow for journaling
I would say that there were many interesting presentations and the Teaching Professor Conference afforded me the opportunity to interact with others involved in the kinds of scholarly activities I am interested in. I would highly recommend that faculty from any discipline in the University attend one of these conferences. I guarantee they would learn something from the many presentations which will help in improving their teaching

One-Minute Papers

One of the most valuable skills I learned was the One-Minute Paper. Students are asked at the end of any given class to respond to two questions: What did you learn today? and What do you still question?Responses to the first question allow the instructor to guage student comprehension of the lesson. In other words, students should reflect the teaching goals for that particular class.In addition, responses to the second question prompt students to ask a question that they were perhaps apprehensive to ask in class. The instructor may then respond in the following class (raing it as an anonymous query), via email or in person.

Structuring courses to maximize deep learning

The Teaching Professor Conference
May 16-18, 2008
Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center
Kissimmee, Florida

The Teaching Professor Conference is a special opportunity for all those who care deeply about teaching and learning to network, to discuss and to attend sessions, workshops and exhibitions. It focuses on The Pedagogies of Engagement, Technology, Teaching Large Classes, Undergraduate Research, Faculty, Learning and the Scholarship of Teaching. If you are ready to be successful in academe and to educate, to engage and to inspire, this gathering is surely for you!

The following pre-workshops, sessions and panels were noteworthy at the Teaching Professor Conference:

“Structuring Courses to Maximize Deep Learning” facilitated by Dr. Barbara J. Mills from the University of Nevada (www.millis@unr.edu) was a special pre-conference workshop that I attended . She emphasized that faculty must “learn some key learning principles and some practical applications in the area of “How People Learn” and in “Deep Learning” in order to design better courses that foster inquiry and analysis , critical and creative thinking, written and oral communication, teamwork and problem solving.” Dr. Mills also illustrated how Deep Learning Research and “best practices” converge in the classroom and utilized specific classroom techniques based in cooperative learning and writing across the curriculum. Participants were encouraged to gain insights through modeled practices in the classroom and to reflect on their own approaches to teaching and learning. Her primary goal was to make it easier for instructors to think about teaching through cooperative learning and course design. Citing L. Dee Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning in Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses, this presenter underscored how research has shown that we learn best by teaching others and that Deep Learning connects with deep foundational knowledge. A solid workshop; however, the title could be modified to reflect a very strong emphasis on cooperative learning.

Dr. Barbara E. Walvoord (www.walvoord@nd.edu) delivered a plenary on “Saving Time in the Grading Process.” Realizing that college professors just have too much work to do and too many papers to grade, she advocated reducing major assignments to one or two and brainstorming about other ways of achieving your instructional objectives. The key for Dr. Walvoord is to demonstrate mastery.
She emphasized that instructors should utilize rubrics, clarify criteria, guidelines and course standards to students, ensure commensurate student effort, offer more guidance, find out what the student knows and manage grammar and punctuation issues. Additionally, the speaker stated that instructors must change their paradigms and utilize time and space more effectively in the classroom and not edit student work since research indicates that it has little impact on students. Teachers should also count informal assignments, claim student time, tape lectures outside of class and only do major work in class. Finally, Dr. Walvoord affirmed that “the most powerful source indicating student learning is “student work.” The aforementioned plenary session was informative, especially for new and overworked instructors.

“Documenting Effective Teaching in a Scholarly Manner: Why and How” was presented by Janice W. Denton (Janice.denton@uc.edu) and Lesta Cooper-Freytag (cooperlj@ucrwcu.rwc.uc.edu) from the University of Cincinnati. These presenters concentrated on the importance of documenting college and university teaching as if it were traditional discipline-specific research and shared their model for this endeavor which is based on the work that originated at the American Association of Higher Education (AAHE). They noted that their model was divided into three parts: (1) strategy; (2) model; (3) product which include the following components:
• faculty peers
• three (3) prompts of faculty self-reflection
• faculty scholarly teaching committee
• written student learning outcomes
• syllabus as a learning tool
• Action Research in the classroom
• teaching artifacts
• formative feedback from peers

The presenters summarized their presentation by emphasizing that the model was very successful at their institution and that the most important aspects were the three prompts for faculty reflection, teaching artifacts and formative feedback from a peer. Great session! I strongly recommend it for individuals interested in creating portfolios.

Margo Bowman (man@wayne.edu) from Wayne State University and Debra L. Frame (debra.frame@uc.edu) from the University of Cincinnati presented a discussion on “Going Beyond Expertise in Content: Encouraging Instructors to Become Expert Educators.” This session was profound in the simplicity of its premise “Expertise in a content area does not necessarily transfer to expertise as an educator.” The presenters explained information storage, illustrated how novices (students) differ from experts (teachers) and gave examples of effective learning experiences. They noted how differences between the novices and experts can greatly impact learning and that students should be taught in a manner that encourages the neural networks of knowledge. Hence, information about the brain and how it functions when it comes to memory ( the mind can only retain seven items at a time) is essential for effective teaching and learning. The audience was engage in several exercises that demonstrated how the brain functions. The facilitators ended their presentation with several teaching implications: (1) Teachers should provide multiple experiences that encourage the recognition of meaning and patterns; (2)Teachers should organize basic elements into a larger structure; (3) Teachers should focus on a global context and patterns; (4) Teachers should make connections for their students; (5) Teachers should chunk their information; (6) Teachers should engage in peer review. I highly recommend this session. It was outstanding.
The Teaching Professor Conference was a great experience. Instructors can continue to stay abreast of all the latest developments in teaching by subscribing to the Teaching Professor Newsletter.

The Teaching Professor Conference - Kissimmee, FL

Having attended my first Teaching Professor Conference in May really made me think...

Why didn't I know about this conference before now?

This conference was extremely interesting and helpful in so many ways. First, let me start by saying that the hotel - The Gaylord Palms - was extraordinary! The rooms were spacious, the decor was breathtaking and the service was first-class. The only problem I encountered was that it was a resort hotel. Being a resort hotel, it was in a fairly remote section of Kissimmee. If you wanted to save the $26.00 for the buffet dinner by grabbing something quick, you couldn't unless you wanted to catch a cab to the nearest grocery store.

Getting past the high prices for the food and shopping, we move to the conference.

The conference itself was very well organized. The conference staff was couteous, kind, obedient, cheerful...almost like Boy Scouts.
I attended a session on Friday titled "Saving Time in the Grading Process." I thought, "Hmmm...this should be interesting." It was facilitated by Dr. Barbara Walvoord - the same Dr. Walvoord that will be here at Ol 'SU in August. She talked about how to handle assignments students turn in and how to quickly return those assignments so the students receive timely feedback. She really confirmed many of the practices that I use in my classes.

On Saturday, I attended a few sessions. One was titled "Youtube and Facebook in the Classroom." Once again I thought, "Hmmm...this should be interesting." It was facilitated by Kathy Yamachita. More than anything, she explained terms to us that many of the participants were not that familiar with such as: Web 2.0, Metatagging, Viral Video, etc. Her presentation was very well organized, but did not seem to speak to using youtube or facebook across other disciplines. She gave us tips on how she uses youtube in her Art courses, but just using that example made it difficult to see how my colleagues could use the same technology in English, Landscaping, Engineering, Chemistry, etc.

The next session was titled "Integrating Technology to Engage the Student." If you can't see it by now, I am all about the use of technology for effective teaching. Upon reading the title of this session, I thought...well, you know what I thought. The facilitators were Kristina Drumheller and Gregg Lawler from West Texas A&M University. The bulk of this session focused on the use of a software called "Camtasia." This recording software allows instructors to teach in more of a virtual setting. Instructors can demonstrate how to apply certain concepts by recording the actions on the computer (along with voice) and even highlighting or creating tips for the students as they are watching. The information was good, but the session title was a little misleading.

The final session I attended that day was "Increasing Student Participation." This was yet another session that dealt with the use of technology in the classroom. The session was facilitated by Dr. Ken Alford of the National Defense University. The bulk of this presentation focused on another piece of software called "QuizShow." This is a Jeopardy-style application that allows instructors to hold review sessions, do concept quizzing, and invoke class participation by making a game of it. The class got a chance to participate and it was very entertaining. This was by far the most beneficial to me as I visualized how I could used this in my classes.

I was returning to Winston-Salem on Sunday, so I did not attend any sessions Sunday morning. Overall, the conference is something that I would recommend that many professors/instructors attend. It may seem as though the conference is for teachers who have not yet defined their teaching philosophy/strategies or that it is for teachers who seek guidance in their careers, but it is not that. If anything, it acts as reinforcement for beliefs and strategies you already employ. Particpants of this conference have the opportunity to get away from the stress of work, learn some new tricks, and be able to overly utilize the phrase "Hmmm...this should be interesting."

DMCureton
English & Foreign Languages

Online Teaching

This was my first TLC conference. On the up side, many intersting topics. On the down side, too many concurrent sessions -which meant I couldn't attend everything I was interest in.

The sessions I did attend included Teaching and Engaging Underprepared Sttudents, Supporting Online Learners, Top 10 Tips For First-Time Online Teacing, Classroom For Clickers, Using Card-Sort Activities, and Simple Movements To Revitalize Teaching And Learning.

The sessions about online teaching will be helpful when I develop my first online course this fall. The session on clickers has motivated me to incorporate the use of our clickers into at least 2 of my classes. I have requested templates from the Card-Sort presenter and believe there may be an application in some of my classes. The Revitalizing session presented several simple exercises that actually improve focus and attention.

As a first TLC experience, it was enjoyable and informative. I hope to fit more of these into my schedule.

Managing difficult dialogues and confrontational moments in classrooms

Last month, I had an opportunity to attend The Teaching Professors conference at Kissimmee, FL, USA (May 16-18, 2008). Conference (http://www.teachingprofessor.com/) was organized in the beautiful settings of Gaylord Palm Resort (http://www.gaylordhotels.com/ ). The conference was very well organized and provided opportunities to choose sessions of your choice from various concurrent sessions. A few presentations such as Preventing and Managing Challenging Class Room Situations, Saving time in the Grading Process, and No More sage on the Stage: Strategies for Active Learning in Blended Face-to Face and On Line Courses were very informative.
I took a liking for the presentation “WARNING-This Material is Intended for Mature Audiences: Managing Difficult Dialogues in the Large Lecture Classroom” by W. Mick Charney, PhD from Kansas State University. Dr. Charney dealt with issues of religious, cultural and social sentiments of students on controversial subjects or topics in his classroom. His discussion on “Why do challenging materials create difficult moments in the classroom” was thought provoking. The nature of strong stimuli, disrupted code deciphering skills, unrefined analytical tools and non-monolithic student populations were put forward as reasons for creating difficult moments. He provided a few tips as strategies to effectively manage such confrontational moments. For our reader’s benefit I am representing a few of those tips. They were;
1. Anticipate the types of negative reactions
2. Embed touchstone concepts or recurrent themes
3. Issue warnings and disclaimers
4. Open up clear lines of communication with administrators
5. Use clear and precise language
Overall conference was very enjoyable and provided opportunities to learn a new or reinforce our own concepts in effective teaching.

Dinesh K. Singh, DVM, PhD
Department of Life Sciences, WSSU (6/2/08)

Validation

The workshop on 3 Step Lesson Plan was validation for me. The presenter shared a method of lesson delivery using 20 minute segments of highly student engaged activities. The focus on student involvement and accountability provided easy applicable ways to immediately incorporate this system. The instructor uses this method to conduct classes lasting one hour. My method is a seven step lesson which covers my four hour classes; I too create lessons that allow students to be accountable and engaged in twenty minute segments. The students emerge as truly active and responsible for their learning which achieves the learning outcomes for the courses.
Another workshop that I attended called Misperceptions of Teaching and Learning was very insightful. This presentation looked at a survey that matched faculty perceptions of what faculty perceived as teaching and student learning with students' perceptions of what good teaching is and what constitutes learning. The reason for the survey is to better align the perceptions of the faculty and students. A discussion about the results of the survey between faculty and students needs to occur to clear up misconceptions, usualluy undertaken at the beginning of the course.
I would highly recommend this conference to all who teach in higher education.

Teaching Professor Conference, Kissimmee, Florida

I recently had the pleasure of attending The Teaching Professor conference in Kissimme, FL. The conference is designed to improve the teaching skills of professors in all disciplines, in both face-to-face and online teaching.

The conference opened with a welcome address from Barbara Walvoord on Saving time in the Grading Process. Dr. Walvoord's address reminded participants that as professors we should not spend more time grading work than student's have put into creating it! She also spoke about how to not get caught in a trap of "micro-grading", that is spending so much time correcting every grammatical error, etc., that when students turn in rewrites they have just fixed the errors, but not addressed any major writing issues. Her address started the conference out on a very positive note, and I am looking forward to her visit to WSSU on August 11 -12, 2008, for the Action Research Institute.

I attended a workshop by Keith Whittington from Rochester Institute of Technology called Simple Active Learning Activities Designed to Increase Student Learning and Satisfaction. Dr. Whittington shared with a very large group several activities designed to increase classroom interaction and to get accurate feedback from students. One activity he shared was to have students write down anonymously one thing they learned or one thing they liked the most or least about class or readings. He emphasized making it one thing, and providing absolute limits to help students focus their answers. You can collect them at the end of class, and structure your next lecture around the areas that are still unclear to students. A lot of the information he shared was based on research done by Angelo and Cross (1993). He also did a very interesting card activity in which he gave out cards from a deck randomly, grouped people by fours, and had us work on an assignment. We worked on the assignment by having one person start the answer, and we just kept passing it and adding on to it. It was a very non-threatening way to brainstorm, and it requires that everyone participate. When it was time to share, he chose cards from another deck to randomly select people to answer the questions. The audience really enjoyed this method, and I could see how this could be very effective with a large group.

I attended several workshops on how to create communities in online classes. One session, done by Lynda Nauright called No More Sage on the Stage: Strategies for Active Learning in Blended Face-to-Face and Online Courses, emphasized that faculty (and administrators) need to recognize that as our student population changes, so does the role of faculty members. She spends a lot of time trying to make sure her online classes work collaboratively, and when she places them in groups she tells them that their peers can decided to remove them from the group if they don't participate. If this happens, they are automatically removed from the course. This has only happened one time, but you can imagine what a discussion it started in our session!

Another session done by a very lively Economics professor, Dr. Ngoc Bich Tran, gave us How to Succeed in First-Time Online Teaching: Top Ten Tips. They are:
10. Enjoy it
9. Offer student support
8. Be patient and considerate to students
7. Keep open lines of communication
6. Provide clear and consistent instructions and feedback
5. Provide enhancement materials
4. Use available online content resources
3. Motivate your students
2. Be organized by planning and developing the course early
1. Be open-minded and enthusiastic when committing to teach online course

Her co-presenters also emphasized using the support of your institution's instructional designers and any offices with expertise in distance learning.

Finally, I learned a lot about my co-workers as part of this conference. WSSU had a strong presence, and having the opportunity to spend time with other faculty will allowed for increased chances for collaborations and increased collegiality.

I am grateful to CETL for providing this opportunity, and encourage all to utilize CETL as a resource to enhance your professional development.

TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY

The most invigorating session for me was "Using Technology: Thou shalt and Thou shalt Not," led by Dave Yearwood, a professor of Technology in the Business School at University of North Dakota (http://business.und.edu/dept/technology/faculty.cfm). His basic message was that technology should enhance, not dictate, our classes.

Some key points from the discussion:

1) Question: When was the last time you saw a politician using PowerPoint? If you want to connect with your audience, maybe Powerpoint is not the best way.

2) Having students write their ideas down rather than just viewing bullet points on a screen is more helpful in retention and learning process.

3) Is technology helping or hindering learning? Do you really need to use technology?

4) Studies show that "online burnout" occurs at an alarmingly high rate in college courses. (70% of respondents in a survey reported burnout). So, minimize the amount of technology introduced into a course. (Recognize, too, that students have their own technological distractions/issues going on during class.)

5) Some audience members may expect/need a PowerPoint slide to make it a presentation complete. Consider ways to use PP to provoke emotion, draw attention, and start a conversation. Maybe show a picture or graph at the beginning of class, but shut off the projector and don't let the PP be the whole class.

6) There is not (or should not be) such a thing as "PowerPoint Presentation" any more than is a "Chalkboard Presentation" or "Overhead Transparency Presentation" or "Flip Chart Presentation." Technology should not become the center of attention.

Yearwood kept coming back to PowerPoint because it is the most pervasive hi-tech tool used in classrooms today, and just about every textbook comes bundled with PowerPoint slides. He suggested that instructors learn some effective and efficient ways to create and integrate PP and other technol. into their courses, but should be willing to forego tech tools that don't add value to the class.

Coming from a professor of technology, that's sound advice.

STUDENT ATTITUDE

One of the pleasures (or pains) of attending a "teaching" conference is that every session forces you to reflect on your own philosophy and practice. Some sessions can make you feel hopeless and guilty; others make you want to say amen to every point the presenter makes; and there are some that cause you to immediately start rethinking/rewriting your syllabi.

The session entitled "Learning from the Learners" featured a panel of undergraduate students that shared their views on the classroom experience. Keep in mind that these students would have been more motivated than their peers to attend the conference. ["Dude, you attended a teaching conference with professors?!"] OK, throw in a mouse and some rides and they'll gladly take the trip...

Anyway, here are some points and tips they shared:

(1) Students don't come to class to LEARN; they understand that they need the degree to get a decent job so they "play the academic game." They know that most of the stuff they're learning they won't need in the real world.

(2) Professors should show a positive attitude ("even fake it") when they come to class; students can tell if professors don't want to be there.

(3) About 99% of students won't turn off their cell phones when asked to. It's their security and lifeline.

(4) It's more important to learn communication and teambuilding skills than all the information that's packed into the course. Much of the material will be forgotten after the exam, anyway.

(5) Writing is key to thinking and learning the material. Give students opportunities to write.

(6) Challenging courses, especially math and science courses, should be taught more creatively -- applied to real life situations as much as possible.

-----

The students' views fit the conventional profile of Generation Y or Millennials (born after 1982): impatient, coddled, multitaskers, IMers, me-oriented, etc. So I wondered about how I could redefine "learning" to attract student interest: Maybe integrate their favorite technolgies into my classes to provide the comfort and security they need and crave. Maybe allow them to wear earpieces and use cell phones ("You may text or make your calls discreetly."). I could give them more opportunities to have "fun" and write about it. The ideas kept coming...

Yet I am torn between teaching for the moment (the next laugh, the end of term student evaluations) and teaching for life (which was the philosophy I had adopted as a teaching-in-training 25 years ago). I know that those students on the stage will come back to the teaching conference in 5 years and say how they wished they had "learned" more, just as students who left my class hating all the useless writing they had to do ("busy work") and then came back after an internship or year of work to say that it was the best preparation for their jobs!

I keep looking for a middle ground.

Effective classroom interaction: Learning from the Teaching Professor Conference, 2008

I attended the Teaching Professor Conference in Kissimee,FL. To say that this conference was outstanding, is an understatement! I learned so many different tools and strategies that I can use in the classroom. Being a new teacher of higher learning, I must admit that I kind of felt intimidated being amongst so many seasoned professionals. The conference didn't make me feel like I was a neophyte in the world of higher education, instead I felt amongst individuals who though had been teaching for years, were learning and listening for ideas, as though frustrated with the modern way of teaching. For once, I felt like I belong to a secret society of educators who were planning to take control of this world that we called higher learning. It felt so exhilarating and awesome. I had all of the confidence in the world take on the "politics" of standardized teaching. Everything about this conference was amazing! The hotel, the city and the true southern hospitality that I received. I would certainly like to thank CETL at Winston-Salem State University for providing me with opportunity to advance my teaching and learning skills.

This conference was just a confirmation for me that I belong in this career. I can't wait to take what I have learned and apply it to my curriculum for the fall. I especially liked the workshop that talked about incorporating YouTube and Facebook into the Curriculum (Katherine Yamashita). I thought that it was a great idea to get students excited about learning in their language. I am a visual learner like most of my students therefore this method of teaching would be very effective. I also felt like the "Pick a Card any Card: Using Card-Sort Activities to Combine Critical Thinking and Cooperative Learning " workshop (John Huss) was very informative. There are a couple of group activities in that workshop that I would like to use as well.

Overall, I would recommend to anyone to attend this conference. If a person really values teaching and really cares about their students, then this conference is perfect for them.

Thank you for the experience,

Niesha Douglas