Lisa,
Students that feel supported, accepted and respected become engaged in the learning process quicker and at a much higher level. You have a system that reflects how you are approaching your students and their learning needs. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Since we cannot control a student's support system outside of campus, it is critical to build a safe, fun community in the classroom and on campus. Students need to feel as if they are a part of your school family. Building rapport with each student, ie. knowing their names and personal history helps build trust between the student and the instructor. Once this basic level of trust is established, students' confidence levels rise and they are more likely to achieve their educational goals. We must treat our students with respect and hold them to a high standard. They will rise to the task once they feel comfortable and safe in this new environment.
Naomi,
I am a big advocate of learning groups for the reasons you state. They provide both support and learning opportunities for the students. When a different kind of support is needed then I am there to provide it or make a referral to a source that can. This way the students have support provided in numerous ways and it is up to them to take advantage of them.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I completely agree with you as well that students need to form study groups. By students having a study group it will help them with their school work and they will also have a support system at school that they can turn to when they feel that they can no longer continue with school. I am in no way saying that the support system should be only from the support group but many times students feel a lot more comfortable to open up to other students versus teachers and student services.
I agree with Erika. Placing students in group activities and getting them to communicate more with one another, I feel, helps build a level of support in the classroom setting.
David,
This is so important to their future. You are helping your students with their careers as a result of this effort. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have shared with students the importance of creating networking relationships with other students and their "core" group of friends.
Jennifer,
I really like your icebreaker idea on the first day. It sounds like a good way to begin to establish a trust relationship with them. Once your students start to trust you, they may be more willing to open up and discuss their needs in greater detail. This in turn will help you to better match them up with whatever services they may need.
Tim,
This is such a great support service your school is providing. It is easy for an adult student with life challenges to start to feeling alone and not able to cope with life nor school. It is at this point we start to lose them. So the more they can interact with others that are facing life challenges the more they can see that they in fact can cope and be successful.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Blanca,
You make a very good point about students thinking they are the first individuals on earth who have been students and experienced life issues like they are. In fact most of us have been where they are and we do understand what they are facing. When they know that they start to respect us for how we are supporting them and how we can help them be successful in the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have found that at my school many of our students feel "alone on an island". What I mean by that is the student feels that they are facing life situations alone. Having recognized this, we have started to try to place these students with students in similar situations to build a community so that they do not feel so alone and start working together to pool resources.
I feel that making your students aware that they are not alone and that their situation is not unique will allow them to understand how to use the support system that is available to them. I feel alot of students feel like no one understands their issues when in fact we deal with very similar if not the same situations daily.
Richard,
This is so important because by knowing about these resources it will be easy to make a referral and keep the student in school and moving toward their stated career goals.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Support is key. We must also be aware of what resources we have w/in the department or school to assist students who require support outside what we can offer.
Kimberly,
This form of support is very important for students because for many the outside pressures of life can take them away from being focused on success as students. Knowing someone cares about them and their success is a great tool for engagement.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree into developing a good system is to encourage students to work in groups, but also including instructors themselves. at times
By being thier first supporter and showing them that everyone is their to support them wether it is at home or in school.
Tiffany,
This is a good way to help set the students up for success because we know events will come into their lives that can take them away from school. By having a backup plan in place this will encourage them to stay in school and continue to work toward their goals.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Jason,
This is a very good way to provide additional support to students as needed. These connection points will valued by the students for the rest of their days. In addition, having a social event like a pot luck helps to divert for a little while some of the harsh realities of life and gives the students as well as their families a breather before they have to once again focus on survival.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In my classes, the students are often linked by facebook to me and eachother. Private messages can be sent when time does not permit in class, it helps them organize easier, and be in touch with eachother's private lives enough to know when not to tease and when to offer a shoulder to lean on. Many of our students have families that are suffering because the sole bread winner is preoccupied with school instead of their family. Several students in such situations have voluntarily organized outside of class time for pot lucks and mutually beneficial investments and many plan on going into business with eachother after they get out of school due to such interactions.
