Teaching the Adult Student

I am teaching English 111 for Ivy Tech this semester. It's the first time I have taught an academic class. The majority of my fifteen students are adult learners. They have some distance from their prior writing class. I had them write a short essay "My Writing Experience" in class. The students expressed a general dislike for writing, and often spoke of bad experiences in the past. Most felt they were poor writers, while others couldn't see the point in taking a writing class. All the students hoped their attitude and ability to write would improve by taking this class.
I know that adult students learn differently than traditional students. They respond more favorably to a structured environment where collaborative efforts and textual instructions are emphasized. Adult students respond favorably to concrete examples and individual attention rather than the "sink or swim" approach often presented. I think teachers need to take more responsibility for the success of their students by exercising alternative approaches to teaching, particularily adult student. Adult students respond favorably to individual attention where they feel comfortable expressing themselves privately. Many of these students have been mocked, ridiculed, or embarrassed by their teacher or fellow students in the past. Most adult student wrote of at least one bad experience in an English class.
The vast majority of my students are eager to learn and are receptive to new ideas and techniques. Clustering, brainstorming, and freewriting are examples of idea stimulators that find acceptance with adult learners.

The Lives of a Cell

Several years ago I traveled to the Peruvian Amazon on river boat. Most of our time was spent on shore, treking through the dense rain forest searching for native villages and wildlife. I can recall "leaf eater" ants crossing our paths with dime size pieces of green leaves held over their body as the scurried in single file to a mounded entrance hole in the ground. As they disappeared others were leaving for a return trip to the soon to be leafless plant. I dropped a large leaf accross the traveled path to see what the ants response would be. They quickly found an alternate route around the fallen leaf and continued on without delay. They appeared driven to complete their task. It would be interesting to mark an ant for identification purposes so you could record the number of trips one made in a specific period of time, and how long lasting that effort would be. I suspect they continue on until they expire, having fulfilled their predestined purpose for existence. Interesting, the lives of small creatures. They appear to be pre-programed for their purpose and function in life, or they have an extremely short learning curve.