Hi Phuong,
Good strategy to follow. By constantly striving to meet the learning preferences of your students you are showing that you care about their success. This will help them to retain focus throughout the course.
Gary
In every students or persons everyone have a way of learning and understanding in a different way. What might work for me could probably not work for others. But we can work with them until we find what fits them best in learning the skills. I am a person that don't give up on anybody.
Hi Mary Jane,
This is a great strategy for helping the students work on their communication skills. In addition, they develop knowledge about where they can secure assistance when needed. So not only are they learning content they are learning survival skills as well.
Gary
I do an exercise where the students list everyone who has helped them go to school and who are still helping them to come to school. In Business Communication Class the students write a thank you letter thanking the person for their help and in some cases asking the person to continue to help. I give the students the telephone number of Family Alliance who will help students and telephone numbers of several churches who will provide limited help.
As an instructor I can help students indentify and create personal support systems by encouraging them to identify what their specific needs are in their courses/future career they are working towards.
From my experience so far as an instructor, I have noticed that for my few students who have no support system at home truely effects student behavior and grades in class. I like to offer tutoring to all my students, so they can have that 1-on-1 time to channel their strengths and improve their weaknesses in class.
I think having instructors as a support system helps the students build confidence in themselves and it reflects in their work!
Hi Susan,
Good strategies. Your last three words are powerful for teachers. We need to listen to our students because when we are listening we are learning and through learning we can more effectively meet the learning needs of our students.
Gary
One of the announcements that we as instructors post in the beginning of each course asks students whether they would like to establish a study group. Study groups are a great a way of support. As instructor, I hope that students use me as part of their support structure as well. I make myself available during the Live Chats, office hours, and via e-mail. If someone is having trouble rewriting an assignment due to a high similarity score, I refer them to writing labs as well.
I believe I can help students identify and create personal support systems in several ways. First, I always have my students complete a personal information card on the first day of class that includes background experience, contact numbers, number of completed terms at the school, and anything else they feel I need to know.
Second, I observe how the students interact with each other and listen in to their conversations to get a feeling for the support systems they already have intact, such as family and friends.
Third, I attempt to learn the learning style of each student in order to better meet their educational needs.
Most of all I provide encouragment and praise for a job well done. I let the sutndes know what they need to do to be successful in class, as well as in their career.
Listen, Listen, Listen!
Many times it is as easy as whittling away all the background noise and helping them to identify the problem and then supply them with the appropriate information through personal contacts, web links or references.
I let them know I am always available.I tell them I can come in early each day, and stay later to help with any problems or concerns that they may have. I also let them know not to wait to long to seek help or assistance. I tell them if they come across anything while reading the text or during lecture that is not very clear, to ask me as soon as possible,do not wait. I tell them to try and come up with questions to ask me during class the following day, this works for the student and others in the class with similar concerns but will not ask. They also do ask other students in class for help.
Hi John,
Good point about the support system need. Students often don't know how to set one up or even what one is. Everyone needs some type of support system so helping them create one will encourage them toward retention and success.
Gary
By providing a trust network for them and showing them that you care about them and their education.
I am rather new at this (ten weeks), but so far I have found it useful to engage students one by one during breaks or before class. I share some of my experiences with mentors or others who helped me develop, which almost invariably has the student volunteering similar information about themselves. Sometimes we fail to recognize the support system which we have already cultivated until we are prompted to analyze it.
John Stuckey
The first thing in building a personal support system is to offer yourself, as an instructor to be accessible before or after class, in person or via email. The student should always feel comfortable to ask questions to anyone at anytime as well as encouraged to answer questions that would help them feel more confident about their knowledge. It is the job of the instructor to give congratulations to his/her students when goals are reached. It is as important the student receives the needed support and additional help to get through each goal.
Dr. Meers,
First through sharing my personal experience and giving some suggestions.
Second through exploring online resources
Third through referring them to Academic counselor who can provide more support
Fourth through available resources in the community
Fifth through understanding of their struggle and going extra mile with them to catch up with what they missed.
Sixth through responding to their e-mails/ messages promptly.
I usually have a group project or group exercise in each of the courses I teach, so it forces the students to work together and get to know each other. I have seen these groups band together and form study groups and other social groups, which has been great for the morale of our program. They keep tabs on each other, help with transportation and hold each other accountable. It has been a great bonding experience for them.
I feel the college as a whole works towards this goal through core-courses and program related cohorts. Student progress together. I build on this through group presentations. The students are comfortable working in small groups and I help facilitate a research focus. I just reinforce and work with the group as a whole.
Dear Theresa,
Do you ever have problems with students not completing their in-class assignments because they are too friendly with members of the group? I have had this problem in the past when teaching in a traditional classroom (I now teach online). No matter how many times I would go around the classroom and ask those particular groups questions, they would get very little done. I sometimes make groups go up to the board to show solutions, and even this would not get talkative groups to do work. Eventually, I had these group assignments be worth more points towards their grade, and they started working on them. I really like group work; sometimes I just have trouble implementing it. I do completely agree with your that relationships between students form, and I get so happy when I see a shy student start to bond with other members of the class, and then start to participate in the class more freely.
Yours Sincerely,
Sarah Pingrey
I currently teach online and find it very important to get to know students personally so that I can support them through any difficult situations that may arise during the term.
The course starts with a mandatory Introduction Discussion Board Post where the students generally talk about their family, career experiences and goals, and what their proudest accomplishments are. I always reply to every post, sharing the similarities I have with a student, sympathizing with a student in a difficult situation, and asking lots of questions. Once I have built up a more personal relationship with the student, I start to see who is in their personal support system, and where their system may be lacking.
A student I have this semester told me that she is completely computer illiterate, and knows no one to help her with her computer problems. When she logs on to attend class, I sometimes notice that she has difficulties and is “in and out” of the classroom, and not responding to my greetings to her. Knowing her and her difficulties with computers, I make sure to have her call Technical Support right away on her telephone, and they usually can help her quickly. Other times she has emailed me telling me that her speakers are broken and she doesn’t know what to do. I suggested that she plug in headphones – a simple suggestion, but one she had not thought of. If I had not found out about her difficulties using computers, or not have remembered that she doesn’t have a support system to help her with this, she very likely would have dropped out because of frustration. Subject-matter wise, she is one of the best students in the class.
It is very important to find out if a student is somewhere lacking in their personal support system, so that as an instructor you can remember this and be sympathetic and give helpful suggestions when something arises or goes wrong.
To help a student create personal support systems, I like to organize group activities in the classroom. I typically assign the small groups of about 4 students. They work together on an assigned task. I change up group combinations throughout the term, giving them opportunities to meet and build bonds with numerous students. As the term progresses, I notice relationships and personal support systems develop within and outside the classroom.
