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Managing Students

When difficult situations arise in the classroom setting and are not dealt with, the student then takes same behavior/attitude to clinical settings. Clinical sites should not be the place to start dealing with situations/inappropriate behavior. Students in the field represent our profession and our employers. Thank you for this discussion.

Common instructor mistakes

Did not know of this information since it is my first time teaching

Dealing with challenging students

Good class now I know how to deal with all tyoes of attitudes

Setting the stage for success

Good Class

Apple Polishing Students

Don't you love these students. Fortunately, these are the minority, but take the majority of your time. I have found it helpful to document all my interactions with them in an unofficial journal format. This includes formal meetings with documented forms, but also in passing or during a break when they come talk to you. This is incredibly helpful when they come back to you 2 weeks later and state something you said, but with their own 'twist' on it. You can refer to your notes, times, dates, etc and that usually sends a strong message about the assignment deadline or grade. How do you deal with these students effectively?

Being Professional

I could not count the number of times students of mine have brought personal problems to my attention. It almost seemed like it occurred on a daily basis. What I did to conteract this was to listen, not give my opinion on the issue, and squash it as quickly as possible. As much as I wanted to relate to them or give personal experiences, I could not; especially if it involved outside-the-classroom experiences. The reason why I avoid these issues is the notion of professionalism. Am I there to be their counselor or am I there to be their instructor? I had to ask myself that question on multiple occurances during this past semester. I wanted to share my experiences at times, but I knew my decision was the right thing. I am not their "buddy," I am their instructor. I saw this even more within a high school setting, but that is another topic. Drawing that line is key to become a good instructor.

Managing angry or aggressive students

During this past semester, I had a student who always wanted to "push my buttons." I do not know if it was because he didn't like me or because of his personality. Either way, I addressed the issue. I took the student aside during class and talked to him about his actions. We discussed a few things, and mainly, his actions were due to his grade. He was not doing well in this class, and in my opinion, he wanted to voice this through his comments in class. After discussing things he could do better, the student became less of a distractio, but. unfortunately ended up dropping the class. In my opinion, he evaluated his responsibilites and realized were he was lacking. If he would've given more effort, I believe the outcome would be different. For this reason, I believe re-addressing responsibilites is key. It reminds students that they are here to better themselves. It is not a place socialize and cause disruptions.

Facebook

During this past semester, one thing I've observed, during "down time," is students' use of facebook. Now, when I say down time, I mean time which is used to work on projects or group assignments. Students who went on facebook were students who finished early! Well, my question is why did they finish early? How well is their work completed? If I've learned one thing during this past semester, NO MORE FACEBOOK! Also, no more use of computers in class, unless the use is for school work. I could not tell you how many times students, who used facebook alot, had late assignments or incomplete work. These students are more obliged to finishing their work quickly will ill-regard of proficiency. They just want to hop on facebook...

Late Assignments

As a new instructor, having this element within your syllabus is key. I say this for a few reason. As a new instructor, if I did not provide this element early, students would walk all over me and use this to their advantage. For example, if they submit something late, they could come back to me and say, "it is was never outlined in the syllabus." I will have little room to talk and my report with students will be tarnished. This will reflect on my abilities as a teacher for semesters to come. And second, if this is noticed by students, some may take full advantage of this. They will not submit things on time because there are zero repurcussions.

Procrastination

Hi Dr. Read, I was once a procrastinator during my younger years. What a relief when I started to learn prioritizing my tasks. I eventually learned to organize my priorities and able to plan ahead of time. I realized things got better and I was less stressed. It made me more efficient in completing a task or tasks in a short amount of time. I carried this on to this day. Moreover, I also learned to anticipate possible tasks and "insert" this in my "to do list" or put the word "NOTE" at the bottom of my list as a reminder that the anticipated task/s may come up in the near future. This helps me organize my frame of mind, thus avoiding being "surprised" when this/these task/s come/s about. This helped me a lot in my personal life and at work. However, I am not sure whether this "anticipation" of tasks may be only appropriate to those people who are in the same workplace for a period of time and long enough to know the "ins and outs" of the company and people they are working with. However, it serves me well.

Icebreakers

I have used ice breakers in the classroom numerous times. This has helped both new and returning students to get to know each other. One ice breaker I do is to have them split up in pairs, asking each other a few questions, such as Name, favorite vacation, favorite food, and one thing no one would ever guess about you. I always caveat it with that the answers need to be clean and nothing that would be uncomfortable sharing.

Walking stress away

A healthy way I have learned to cope with the stress of every day life is walking. I put my tennis shoes on, and my ear buds in my ears and hit the ground walking. I have more energy, feel less stress, and overall....I am more healthy.

Stress

I let myself get stressed out because I have a hard time putting things off. I try to take on too much at one time. I hold a position as both instructor and administrative assistant and I have a hard time balancing both roles sometimes. It is true...stress can lead to illness. I've been there myself this year. I have found that making lists works, and prioritizing tasks is a MUST. You must also let the people around you know about the priority of their requests. If you have too much on your plate, you have to let people know.

Big time saver

I have found that it makes my life way easier if I have everything I need in a binder, ready to go. I have my lecture packets filled in and blank copies, that way I don't have to log into my computer every time I need something.

Procrastination

Procrastination is a fault of mine for sure. I teach in the morning and I play a role in administration in the afternoon. I tend to procrastinate with things like making copies for the next morning and grading papers because I simply play a different role in the second half of my day and when I take my instructor hat off, I tend to work on other things and find myself rushing in first thing in the morning to make copies. This doesn't always work out for me. There have been many times that the copier was occupied, or even broken down.

Stressing me out

is a time frame to present the material to students, and those who do not ask question about the subject matter or do not understand a concept of subject taught.

Class Management

Student instructor relation and respect is paramount for class succesful managemet.

Saving time

By having all esting material available and key components of the answers your looking for, so scanning your answers is at hand.

student complaints

Addressing the students complaints could minimize the same complaints from other students in the future.

Student communication

Being a good listener is important to the students. They need to know that you will listen.