Stress
Stress is demands placed on a person that require adaptive and coping responses. Some students have to work 40 hours per week, come to school full-time in order to get their loans and/or grants, and still be a parent. We, the faculty need to walk a mile in the students shoes in order to comprehend what each students stressors are.
Sometimes it is difficult to understand what a student is going through. The instructors do their very best to help students and can feel overwhelmed themselves. I think that the only thing we can do as instructors is to point the student in the right direction in order to help them to solve their problems.
I agree with Mary Jane, often the classes the students need to take or after work and during evening hours. Some have families that are home while they are in school and many have children at home that are school age. Being torn between getting a better education and holding down other responsibilities can be very stressful for students.
I do agree that trying to consider what is going on with a student life when coming with struggles is very importantand could be challanging when it is dealing with outlooks on life.
Each facilitator should express their experiences in dealing with all pressures. Each student should have the mind-set of "put something in if you want something back". Everyone will have something or someone that will contribute stress to their lives. How one handles those stresses will aid in determining overall success. Years ago I was given a guide sheet that required me to list what time I did what and calculate how much time was spent in each area. The areas consisted of work, kids, study time, alone time, tv time, and talking on the phone.In doing this project I was able to see where most of my time went and how little time I was contributing to studying.
I think that since you have been through the program and know the stressors that come with it, you should share with them the ways that you got through it. A little personal information does not hurt, as long as it is only a little.
One of the first things I tell students is that 90% of life is showing up. If they show up I will guide them through the course step by step - I won't do the work for them but I won't leave them in the dust. We work a lot on how to approach studying and reviewing for retention. Early successes in class can help them continue to 'show up' even when their stresses are building up. 'Hang on - show up - and together we succeed'.
I think a student's stress level could be lessened by making sure they understand the time commitments that are involved with taking classes. Entering students need to have a clear understanding of the basic expectations that they may see from instructors. If student's know these expectations upfront then they can better prepare themselves to anticipate things. I also think that one of the biggest things that adds to student stress is their own procrastination. I try to stress to my students that if you can work ahead then work ahead because it will help maintain their sanity later in the term as more and more assignments, projects and papers are due.
Do you extend your experience to include discussions with the class about how to balance the various pressures of school, work and family?
I make sure that the students understand that I was a FT student at night, took care of a family and worked FT during the day when I was in school. I work with them to help them with life and school. If need be I do give extra time and I also take special consideration with homework and tests. I still assign homework, but I may be able to allow them time in class to work on it! Every little bit helps!
good sugestion Mary Jane, but hopefully once we've walked that mile the students are willing to walk one too and meet us half way. I have found that no matter what I did for a student I still couldn't save them. In the end; they did not want to be saved. Change is uncomfortable and scary.
Time management skills are difficult to come by; however, keeping an agenda is helpful to start identifying what can be improved and at the same time, develop the skills of knowing what a priority really is. Most students, at our school, we have Time Management Workshop and we make a chart that lets the students, high light the hours for studying, for partying, work, and other responsibilities.
I agree. I am sometimes amazed at the pressures exerted on some students. While some of the pressures may be self-induced, we need to see each case as individual as the student themselves. We must keep in mind the pressures that are affecting their academic peformance and be willing to extend ourselves in order to help students develop ways to deal with the different competing demands placed on them.
Having been through the program and working full time yourself is a big help by being able to discuss you actual life expierences with your students
We may help students develop a time management chart so that they can actually see where their studying time would be; because everyones situation is different.
I went throught the same program I am now teaching. I worked full time, and managed to keep an A in class also. Time management was the key. How can we help students manage their time better?
I would agree. But I would lean more toward teaching them the coping responses. We all have stress and stressors. We had to learn to deal with them. If we are preparing them for the real world, we have to proffer the perspective of how those stresses are handled. We as instructors are the first examples of how to deal with the stresses.
James
Mary,
Many students have these kinds of problems, which makes it very difficult for students to stay motivated. It is important for the school to have a supportive and positive environment, which makes them want to be there. The school may be the only positive place for the student.
I think that there are two parts to stress, real and perceived. That being said, perceived stress can develop into and affects someone in much the same fashion as real stress. As we know, our perception is reality. An interesting perspective to stress (and I'm speaking from personal experience), is how it affects one's body physically. I had a very extreme bout with stress some time back and it caused me to be allergic to certain foods and have extreme physical reaction to the smallest stresses/stressors. So, I can definitely sympathize with the students. I think that the key, is recognizing the stressors and getting a strategy to mitigate them before they become larger and more substantive issues.
James
Walk a mile in a students shoes is absolutely correct. We forget about the stress related life we led when we were in school and with all of the interferences involved. Today's students, I believe carries the same if not more of the burden in today's fast paced world.
