As a man thinketh, so is he. Sometimes our thoughts control us. Sometimes they are incorrect. Sometimes we make bad choices based on our bad thoughts or "stinking thinking". The good news is we can change our thoughts. We can make better choices.

What's your why and how big is it?

Sometimes its not a blindspot; we need a complete paradigm shift

Every transaction is a relationship.

I hesitate to agree with the author of this module that negativity is stronger that being positive; but I do totally endorse it's incredible dampening impact on any place, process or relationship. When I have students that continually exhibit the "dark cloud sydrome" I usually call them in for a chat. I always let them vent first, because they usually do have some legitimate concerns; but once that is over I always ask them if they think their current attitude and actions are helping to change the situation. Unfailingly, they admit that that isn't the case. After such a talk, I always watch for any positive changes they make in the ensuing weeks and am sure to give them lots of kudos to keep it up. We don't necessarily change a person's personality this way, but we definitely can have a huge impact on their behavior in the learning environment.

My years of experience in teaching adults has led me to a strong conviction that a high level of Emotional Intelligence is the most important driver of student success. Time and again I have seen people who struggle with a given course's subject matter, but who are determined and positive about overcoming eventually succede and are better clinicians for the struggle. Hence, I have always held that giving a student an emotional "shot in the arm" with lots of encouragement and cheerleading make every bit as much difference in success as innate ability

Another way to look at our "student customers" is to see them as "colleagues in training". This is a concept that was taught to me by a mentor of mine several years ago. The guiding principle here is to treat your students like future peers, showing them respect, providing excellent training in clinical skills and modeling professionalism in all things. It is a daily recognition that the next generation of health care professionals will literally be a mirror image of our own skills and values. A mindset like this makes us as instructors take ownership of the teaching and training we deliver and feel a deep responsibility to deliver the very best possible educational product we can.

To cultivating a students mind I use several forms of professional teaching etiquette. By necessity, modeling, mentoring, and monitoring are required. As an mathematics adjunct faculty member, if I didn't model, mentor, and monitor students, I believe students evaluations would have eventually force me to pursue a career that didn't require human interaction (i.e. theoretical research). If you have a passion for what you teach, and you want your students to have the same passion, modeling, mentoring, and monitoring are prerequisite skills. What do you think?

In my experience, modeling, mentoring, and monitoring are very important in keeping the interest of my students, and thus, their retention in my classes. One thing I'd like to point out is that through using the 3 M's, we are not only attempting to retain our students, but also developing genuine and caring relationships. During my schooling experiences, I noticed that the best teachers were those who showed interest in their students and their students' goals. By using the 3 M's we are actually able to do this and to show our genuine interest in the learning and development of our students.

When I first because an academic administrator I was hesitant about having to deal with difficult students, but in the process I discovered an odd phenomenon. The ones I had to speak with the most & try to turn around with performance improvement plans and regular monitoring, almost without exception have become stellar students. I was really surprised and then I thought about it a little more closely and realized that I knew them better than the other students. I typically called them by name when walking through the halls, always gave them a smile because I knew they needed the encoragement and spent extra time working with them through their weak areas. Looks like I was modeling, mentoring and monitoring, eh? It certainly got the same result as this module describes :).

it is extremely difficult for part time staff to get the interaction with other faculty and staff to feel part of a common vision.

I'm not socertain it is always right to be positive. Some things are not possible. There are times when it might be best to tell people to move on.

Teachers should see themselves as offering good customer service to th students and to the administration.

You should be able to see when a student is starting to withdraw. Try a one on one alone to reach out. This helps my alot

Being an instructor as well as being committed to retention process, our students will automatically see that we care about their well-being in conjunction with their intellectual ability.

Team is SO important to any organization. Loan Soldiers usually don;t last long. Everyone working togehter to achieve a common goal is what is needed.

One of the quiz questions asked about a student coming out a classroom crying and what should you do? Of course I got it right. However, so often I see instructors who feel that if they intervene the instructor whose class the student lef tout of would look at them a certain way.

Workig for a for profit school, it sounds sometimes as if the focus is more on the money. But it is so important to not focus on that because if the students are treated right they will go out and tell others which will bring other students and the money will come.

I have said since day one if taking my new position and making sure that my students are coming to school and doing as they should that you have to be personable with your students. When the students know that you truly care abou them and their children or other family members you;ve won them over and they will trust you. You have to make sure though that you don;t break that trust.

I have always found that going into great detail regarding expectations during orientation helps ease the backlash of issues later on down the line.