Getting Better Outreach Responses
Hi everyone!
I am required to reach out to at risk students several times throughout the course to try and get them to engage in the course more actively. However, the problem is that even when I do reach out to the students, they rarely (if ever) respond to my outreach. Have any of you had any luck in successfully getting students to respond to outreach attempts? If so, what were your strategies?
Thanks!
Hannah
Katherine,
I like how you continued to try to reach your students until you found a method that worked. I strongly believe that we should reach our students in whatever way we need to be able to connect with them. If texting works, that is great!
Herbert Brown III
I am in the same boat, always needing to do outreach.
I try the triple approach: I email them (both within the classroom when possible and at their personal emails), then I call, and then I text. It's amazing how many students will respond to texts and will then begin texting me when they need something. I hadn't considered texting as a good idea, but when I found out that many of them texted with their academic advisor, I thought I'd try it out. I highly recommend it, if you can. Students seem to be very open to it.
Thanks,
Kate
Hannah,
I've also experienced this issue. I teach at a school with a blended curriculum, so I will, most likely, only see the student once a week. Online is the primary method of reaching the students. I've found many don't even check their messages. On many occasions I've asked a student, "Did you get my email regarding your assignment?" There's a pause...and that's when you find they haven't looked.
As for a strategy, I could use some suggestions also, but I try in the resident class to make it clear that; a., this is how we communicate, and b., I do appreciate a response from you (the student) letting me know you've seen my message. It's like returning a phone call, or in today's environment, returning a text!
Hannah,
Unless my at risk students have completely dropped the course most of them will eventually respond to an e-mail. I try to get personal and school emails where I can so I have another communication channel to try to them. A phone call can also work to just "check" on them to see if they are still enrolled in the course.
Herbert Brown III
