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Lynne Nakano, Thoughts on Teaching General Education Courses 127fist over my mouth to keep myself from talking. Putting my hand over mymouth reminds me to keep silent and may make the students confident thatI am listening seriously and respecting their views. I try not to ask questionsand then demand that students produce the answer that is in my mind. Thiskind of class discussion becomes a guessing game with only the teacherholding the correct answer. If I think that a student’s answer is really off themark, I may ask classmates to play the devil’s advocate rather than play itmyself. Like many other teachers, I find it useful to have students answerquestions in groups and then report on their answers to the class. I then askmy teaching assistant to summarize and record the students’ answers and Ipost the summary of the class discussion on the class website (CUForum orWebCT) along with my comments on the discussion. This gives me time tothink about how to respond in constructive and positive ways to students’views and I believe it also allows students to more comfortably express theiropinions without fear of being contradicted by the teacher during the class. Ithink this also helps to build confidence in the students about what they havelearned from the discussion.Setting High Standards that Everyone Can AchieveHaving had the privilege of attending some of the best educationalinstitutions in the United States, I sometimes wonder if I am being overlyoptimistic when I urge students and recent graduates to pursue their dreams,especially given the recent global economic troubles. But I believe that eachperson is born with their own particular package of unique abilities that itis their duty to discover and develop to contribute to the world. I believe in