It also helps to shut off all the palettes. I start with the toolbox, then the Layers pallette.

I tend to have an atypical approach to gettings students rolling in Pshop... project based intertwining skills, lighting, and photography.

Here's a brief summary

1. Float / Fly / Fall
2. Textured Face
3. Random Association

I have typically started off with a quick intro of Bridge...focusing on it as a browsing and organizational tool along with the meta data. Then, we move into basic/common photo correction/editing tasks. Each task is quick to complete...one to two steps, but we talk about the underlying problems and how you might have prevented them in the first place. The idea centering around building up their knowledge base, so they have the ability to better analyze photos for the types of post-processing needed. As we continue, the tasks build on each other and we start combining techniques to achieve certain looks. Techniques also employ certain tools, and repetition is used as we go...as opposed to repeating the same process over and over just for the sake of repetition. I find keeping the tools related to the task...scaffolding the tasks...and working in the repetition...all make for a better learning experience and greater retention of the skills.

I actually first show how to use Bridge. I then explain the workspace including the tools, tool options, layers etc. The first tool I have them explore are the select tools, how they work and difference between them.