Dealing with challeging students
I found the information in this section helpful.I am a new educator. I think that these ideas will help in my first teaching assignment. I have always been a driven learner even when a subject is covered that I am not interested in. I have found a way to make all course work is relevant. It is an eye opener, to find students sitting in your classroom that really do not want to be there. The first question I would normally ask is, why are they here then? I thought that students came to school because they had a goal in mind. I am finding that students may be coming back to school for differing reasons. It may be a job loss and retraining. It may be an injury in which the person needs to learn a new skill because the injury changed their abilities. This discussion has made me think about my teaching abilities and how I might change and or control the group especially for those that are not engaged for whatever reason.
I am fortunate to be teaching at a trade school for a couple of reasons. First, these students have decided this is their main goal and are more interested in classes. Second, they're smaller classes so they're easier to deal with as a group.
You are correct Patricia, many of the students here are enrolling because they know they need the education and want to see the end result but do not want to go through the steps neccessary to get there. I am seeing a little light shine through as they are starting to see why the class is pertinent to the end result. thanks for your response.
Hi Amy,
Not all students really and truly want to be there, most of them know that they need to be there. Continue to lead by example and give your students everything you have professionally in order to produce a quality graduate. Most of your students appreciate you and want the knowledge.
Patricia
