I give small prise for every success that I see. For example when a student makes a successful stick and draws blood then they get praise for that stick. I believe that little success lead to large successes.
They are here to learn new things and a failed project is a learning experience.
I am willing to re-explain or re-demonstrate almost everything we do.
I have yet to see a student fail that has showed up to class.
Be prepared for anything. Have a clear lesson plan and a back-up lesson plan. Follow it precisely. The student's will know what Quiz/Exam is coming next, what Chapters they need to get a head start on reading. Provide a variety of lectures, not just power-point.
Judy,
Good way to help them ease into a new class. They need to have their fears reduced and their questions answered. This way they can concentrate on the upcoming course. Sounds like you do a very good job of orienting them to the class.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I believe that developing a trusting relationship in which they can share their concerns is imperative to their success. I stress that fear is a normal part of a new situation whether it be a new relationship, job, or class. I try to help them understand that my role, as an instructor, is to help them succeed. I assure them that I will give them the tools and provide resources that will enable them to do so. I outline my expectations clearly and provide methods of study, etc.
By having a clear understanding of a student's goals and challenges, one can set attainable steps that all students can meet.
By having students meet small attainable goals as they progress toward their ultimate goal their self esteem increases and fuels their desire to succeed.
Afshan,
Good suggestion because many students come to college without good study skills. They need help in organizing themselves in a way that will enable them to be successful in the class.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
possibly help them think, how they could change their studying methods, and re organize their thoughts, and geer them towards a positive thinking.
Possibly by helping them re organize their thoughts and change their studying habits.
Alfonso,
It sounds like you create a very supportive and engaging environment in your classes. This is so important and I can tell by your comments you are having much success in keeping your students focused on what is happening in the course.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
First of all its the role of the instructor letting all students know that tackling a new stage of their development is always challenging but with time, committment & support students can overcome the fear.The instructoe has to be clear in showing them what the goals are like milestones for a child, he has to acknowlegde clearly what they acheive & praise the learning process.He , the instructor should be humble & available for the students.The students have to be shown that they will be successful, where an instructor should simplify the goal they want to achieve & make it look real to them, he can set a row model for them, other students can help in group discussions on that same line.
Gary, I start off by not allowing at stress in the classroom. Once students are confortable they will express themselves. I also encourage and let them know that their thoughts are important. Professors encourage dialog so that students can open up to them. Once you get a student to trust you, you can teach the student. This works for me and I get great results.
Alfonso
Debra, that is great. Encouraging student will help them build their selfesteem and want to leasrn. I also, tell student not to stress and communicate with the professor.
Alfonso
Mary, I beg to differ with your statement that it isn't your job to reduce their fears. By making an effort to reduce their fears, you will have a greater impact on helping them to acquire the skills and in the process, boost their confidence. Understanding their fears and helping them to overcome them is part of showing compassion to the students and what they face.
If you will substitute "patient" for "student", ask yourself: Is it important to reduce my patient's fears in order to help them learn a skill(i.e.blood glucose monitoring or insulin injection) to be able to manage diabetes? I think you will find the answer to this is YES, and it's not any different with our students.
I try to encourage students to look at themselves and give themselves credit for enrolling in the program and being successful to this point.
I tell them that I am at their service and that seeing them succeed is extremely Important to me. I verbally applaud their correct answers and give lots of kudos for an insightful answer.
When I correct their tests/homework, I always write a note to them and include a constructive, positive comment.
At the end of the first class, I have had my students write down where they have worked, what they hope to get out of the class and what their greatest fear is about the class. In doing this, I wanted to give them an opportunity to express their goals and their fears about their goals.
I also want them to begin to "connect the dots" between their life experience and where they are now so that they can begin to appreciate themselves in that they are the sum total of their life experiences.
For the most part, the responses have been honest and revealing. I am grateful that most of the students will write down their fears as that is a help to me in my approach to their learning. I also try to connect their job experiences to our class discussions. I hope that it is helpful to them that I relate a coffee shop customer service experience to a customer service example in the health care field.
Do you have any suggestions to other questions that I could ask them at the beginning of the semester?
Michael,
I agree with you about the impact you had on the life of this student. Your encouragement and reinforcement helped him to stay engaged throughout the course. This is what being an educator is all about--helping individuals to create a future for themselves.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I teach in the medical department, it really isn't my job to reduce thier fears. Its my job to make sure that they don't kill people when they graduate and go out into the real world. Students need to gain confidence within themselves that they can do the tasks with out losing thier compassion.
there are many ways to do this, acknowledging small seccess is one way
Some ways that I can help students to overcome their fear of not being successful in their college work is to first listen to their concerns. Once I've listened, I can then then attempt to pinpoint the specific area of their fear and then suggest viable solutions to overcome that fear together with encouragement that they can achieve success. If the fear is more techincally related to the course work at hand, I can either sit down with them and go over the problem area in a way that they can understand it, or if the problem area is more conducive to general education concerns such as English grammar or mathematical formulas, then I can direct them to the appropiate tutors or learning help centers on campus to have that problem solved on a more specific and in-depth way that I am unable to do in class.
In one of my experiences, I encountered a Haitian student who had a language comprehension problem. While he would be able to ace the tests and exams that were given in the course I was teaching, I noticed that he had problems not only comprehending the lectures that I was giving, but also had problems with writing the term paper. I advised him to seek more in-depth help from his English teacher in his Comp-1 class that he was also taking that term, but I also directed him to an English tutor to help him. He evenutally passed my course - though not with the grade that he had hoped for.
As a program chair as well as a teacher during that experience, I observed that his problems continued - mainly because English was never his first language and the school I was working for at the time didn't have the Creole language resources to help him. The only other thing I could do was to continue to encourage him to learn English so that his life and his learning would become easier. I truly believe that if it wasn't for my direct involvement as an instructor as well as my indirect involvement as a program chair, this student would have quit a long time before.
Stephanie,
I like your method of getting input from students. I use the same method myself with great results. The students give me good information and I have never had anyone say anything inappropriate even though they don't sign their names.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
