Laurel Sampson

Its very important for student's not to have rose-colored glasses on when they sign up for a program. As a director for a very rigorous program with very stringent licensure requirements, I find that the students who struggle or end up dropping out, do so due to the fact that they didn't have a clear understanding of the rigor of the program or the time commitment required in order to be successful. Typically perspective students get oversold on the benefits of the career once the training is completed and undersold on what it will take to get there. In this… >>>

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,… >>>

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… >>>

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… >>>

I am an administrator at an adult career college. The program I administer is rigorous and has very high expectations for student learning. Usually when the students in my program are stressed it manifests itself in attacks against teachers or polices. I have found that just calling the student into my office and saying something like: "Wow, you seem really unhappy/stressed out/frustrated/etc - tell me what's up" is the most often the key to resolving the problem. If you sit and listen, ask questions for clarification,validate their feelings and let them know that you want them to get the best… >>>

I am always concerned about making sure that all the content gets covered. A great method I learned from a seminar by L. Dee Fink author of "Creating Signficant Learning Experiences", is to require that the students do the reading and memorize the needed facts first and come to class prepared to discuss their application. To be sure that they are prepared there is a quiz at the begining of class for each student to take individually. Then small groups take the test together and have to come up with a consensus for the right answer. The resulting discussion during… >>>