How to Deal with Difficult Students: The Ultimate Guide (Part 1)

How to Deal with Difficult Students: The Ultimate Guide (Part 1)

Adult educators have a unique challenge in working with their students. In some cases they have forgotten how to learn and in other scenarios they have forgotten how to behave! But one rotten apple doesn’t need to ruin the whole bunch.

Image via Flickr by Michael Bentley

In my class, How to Teach It, one of the most common questions I get is how to deal with difficult students. For most of us, difficult students are not common, but their rarity makes them much more challenging as we are often caught unprepared, without a plan of action. In this 3-part series we will look at categories of challenging students, “defensive” techniques to minimize occurrences and suggestions for managing them when they inevitably do show up in class.

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Doing More of What You Already Love Doing

Doing More of What You Already Love Doing

[featured-image single-newwindow=”false” id=”130815-Shamrocks” alt=”Shamrocks”]Image via Flickr by v923z[/featured-image]

I am lucky – I have a job that I love, and I am very good at my job! I earn a reasonable living wage! And I don’t take any of this for granted because I know that I am the exception, not the rule. At this point in time, 90% of my income is generated through teaching.

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How to Teach a Class Your Students Will Love

How to Teach a Class Your Students Will Love

[featured-image single-newwindow=”false” id=”130805-TomJones” alt=”Tom Jones”]

I recently heard an interview with Tom Jones asking how long he intended to work. His response: “I haven’t worked since 1968!” For me, teaching feels the exact same way, and I consider myself lucky. Most of my income is generated from doing something that I love and it rarely feels like work. If you want to learn tips for how to teach a class so that you can love your work, keep reading.

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Teaching Isn’t About Knowing More

Teaching Isn’t About Knowing More

One of my very favorite things to do is teach. Recently I was interviewed for a video podcast by QuiltMoxie, and toward the end she asked me about my favorite question. What I answered was I have a favorite TYPE of question: it is the question whose answer causes the “light bulb moment” to happen. In those moments, there is a special look, response, expression or comment that lets the teacher know that the answer provided went much deeper than just the surface of the question asked. And that is my favorite moment in the classroom.
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