I have always felt and firmly beleive in the fact that, it is not the student who fails school, however it is the school that failed the student. learning this later in life as i went thru the very thing from elementary scholl thru high school, only to find later that between the home life with parents and the lack of desire for school faculty to help, forced me into a position of doing very poorley. However, it also takes a person of constant and honest self evaluation and motivation to pule thru these types of circumstances. Further as we have come to learn in our lifes, we know understand the true meaning of surrounding ourselfs with people that do care, can also make all the difference in pass or fail!

It takes the organization as a whole to handle all the problems that arise. We as instructors can only handle certain things that come up, the rest of the time we can only interact by guiding the student to the appropriate department.

What are some of the key signs of trouble brewing in a modern student? Could they be withdrawn for a reason? I find that experience counts here, not just in teaching, in people. Pulling from your own experience has always been a good way or drawing from a close friends trails and tribulation. Human first, teacher second is always a good way to teach but never as easy as it sounds. I try to take a step back and view from an outside perception. Look for things like quite, not smiling during good times, excessive phone use, sleepiness or lack of energy. These may be signs of trouble for this young person, but could also be signs of a hard worker. Feel free to ask “small talk” type questions, feel free to get to know your students, you may learn something and even help a few along the way.

Is it all worth it? I tell my students yes it is if you put fourth the time and effort. Every school teachs different subjects, I tell them if you dedicate the time the outcome will be a rewarding one.

When you help the students one on one they know you care by takeing the time with them and do not talk down to them

I normally have 25 to 30 students in a class I think this has a direct relationship in catching them early or at all

Before you can expect a student to become involved, the instructor has to become involved. If you teach straight out of the book, then it becomes boring. You have to teach the course, but it helps if you enjoy what you're doing. I like to tell my class how much I love my job, and I'm concerned with them, and not just the money they're paying to come here.

A powerful point I picked up on in our training here concerning retention is that we need to let the students know that we can help with more things than they may realize. I have started, once a week, to let my class know that if they are having any kind of struggle (financial, personal, transportation, housing etc.) that we have many resources here at the school for them and they can contact me privately before or after class to figure out who to talk to or they can go to student services and let them know what their situation is so they can get the help they need before it becomes too big to fix.

I have found that students strive much harder at any cost to stay enrolled and acheive at a greater level when they see that you as the instructor are confident, caring (both on there education and successes); are concerned with seeing them thru difficult times,(whether it be with school or personal); and simply being a genuine instructor and person; but the most critical factor to me is that you back what you say through experience in the trade. With this they have trust within you and will confide within you for most any situation! Without trust they have nothing more than another wall to confide in!

If you show the students you really do care that they stay it would help immensely. They need to be more than just a number in the system.

Due to the economy it is hard to find certain jobs but on the other side when the economy is booming and the jobless rates were down it was hard to find another type of job. For some people it will always be hard to find jobs, but when you have an education in any field,it gives an edge in any economy.

One of my personal techniques that I use in the class room is what I call the "No Fear Rule" This rule is simply this, I tell the students on the first day "Do not be afraid to learn" What this means is that if there is anything in my presentations to the class that they do not understand, ASK! If I find out you did not know something and did not ask, I will remind you "Do not be afraid to learn" Of course through expierence I know what they don't know, and I will wait for a question from them after presenting them with some information. If I do not recieve any questions, I will anounce "Well if there are not any questions, I must assume you understand the subject completely" and then I will pick on a student at random and challenge them with a question they should have asked. This will immediatly put pressure on the student to answer, but I give them just as fast an immediate out, I will say, "and if you don't know, just say so" I will then pick on several more students until finally someones asks me the question. "AHH, I am glad you asked, let me explain" This now just turned into a game for them. I find that this technique places pressure on the student (challenges the student) with out stress and forces them to ask more questions to understand the material. Once they understand, when it comes to test time, they do well by their own merit and when the succed, their stress falls away.

I beleive that a instructor should keep close attenion on his students for as grades and attandance if a problem accures pull them to a side and ask them if ther is any thing you can do

The entire staff as a whole is a big part of retention, we as instructors see our students for the most time as they are going to school so as an instuctor we need to make the class an enjoyable learning enviornment so we keep the students excited about learning, if this does not happen we get the academic boredom that was discussed in module 1.

I had the occassion at one time when I was in early awaitng for my class to start,while I was walking around the lab I overheard a student telling another student he was going to quit because ther was no way he would be able to pass the practical exam he wasgoing to take in a couple of days.I question him as to why he felt this way and he simply said I know I cant do it. after going through the steps of what would be required I said you have nothing to loose if you attempt the exam if you feel that strongly about leaving. Probably not the best approach,but he did attemp the exam and did very well i the 80% range.He decided to continue his Education and graduated a year later.This student is working in his field of study today.

I believe that having fun in the class and explaining different topics in the course help then relax.

I have many students who get stressed out when they are preparing for there final and practical exams which occur every six weeks.Even some of our top students at times seem to panic with the stress and pressure that is self inflicted. By guiding the students repeatedly practicing there exam they seem much more at ease. there is still some pressure to do well because of the weight the exam has on there overall grade point average but the time alotted reduces the stress. Most of our students do very well and even those not at the top of the class do surprisingly well. This satisfaction knowing they can perform under pressure with an instructor watching over them becomes very satifying and encourages the student to continue.And builds self confidence, knowing they can do it under difficult circumstances.

I try to make my classroom inviorment as comfortable as possible while still having controp.The course i am teaching has many variables. alot of symbols are required so I give daily quizes. Each quiz is designed as a building block to learn by repitition.By doing this it does not overwhelm the students and cause them to panic and feel it is to much to grasp all at once.The students seem to really like this method, it keeps them involved and studying. By the end of a term all the symbols have been mastered and there is no pressure. I have found this non pressure repetativeness has worked well to keep students who may have otherwise droped without giving therselves a chance.Students are genually happy with this approach and my retention rate is the highest in the department.

I try and always think about what I am doing in the class room from their perspective. If I am boring myself with my own lecture; what must it be like to be them having to sit and listen to it? I always try and keep the lecture interesting and fun but above all informational. Thats the hard balance to keep. How do I give them the information they came for without being boring with the details?

The instructor has to be able to figure out the class in about the first two days. The instructor has to keep the students attention by talking to them about what they want to hear and learn about.