From: Armen Hovhannes, Mission Campus, non-credit ESL

If you teach in the computer lab:

- Help keep the computer lab neat and clean. Follow computer lab rules and teach them to the students. It's a good reading exercise. And it will greatly contribute to the life and reliable performance of the equipment. Computers are especially fond of cleanliness, unlike desks and chairs which don’t care one way or another. Another form of cleanliness is keeping the computer environment “neat”. Teach the students to exit programs, documents, anything else on the desktop, when they are finished using a computer. Also make sure they follow the proper logging off/shutting down procedure for your particular lab.

- Use a lab assistant. If your campus doesn’t have one, advocate for getting one. Or try getting a Shine coach or other volunteer. Teaching in a computer lab is a lot of legwork for one teacher. The very nature of the computer lab and its technology makes learning differences more apparent, and at the same time more accomodatable; so there’s a great potential for wonderful individualized learning opportunities. However, it really helps to have more than one person to facilitate that learning. So there’s where the assistant comes in. Also, be sure to communicate clearly with the assistant about the students’ needs, course goals, lesson objectives, etc.

- Be mindful that, unlike in the traditional classroom, you are competing with the monitor in front of the student’s face for their attention. It can be a real challenge when you are trying to manage any kind of activity that involves human interaction. Some things that have helped me: Set up some kind of clear signal to get everyone’s attention. I ring a bell (a nice but loud one). I also have them physically move away from the computers to form groups, or even to do something as a large group. Take advantage of those rolling chairs. All of this depends, of course, on the type of space and furniture you have.