Motivating Students with Life Issues.
Many times students are overwhelmed by matters external to the classroom experience. Working with such students can be both rewarding and challenging
Darrold,
Nothing like life experiences to help you be a more effective instructor. I am sure you are impacting the lives of your students in many ways as a result of your extensive life experiences and expertise. Keep up the good work!
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I've learned a lot over the years. I went from being a drill sargent to more of a life coach. At 65 I have had more than my share of heart ache and set backs. This helps me be more empathetic with my students and provides them the confidence to consider my words.
Robert,
Great advice for all instructors to remember and heed as they work with students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I believe you should...but carefully!
It is possible to get to deeply involved with
a students personal life. Help as much as you can
but refer them to possible resources if it gets to
close.
Tracy,
This is such a valuable support you are providing. I like that the students are contributing as well because this increases the value of the resource list as well as gives them buy in. This is truly the human factor in teaching.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
My students have gotten together a list of organizations and churches that offer free services. I have the list on my door and as students find other information, I update it. I always also update my list every couple of weeks with a date at the bottom so the students know that the information is still current. This has really been a great experience for the students to feel like they are helping each other.
Patrick,
I wish you continued teaching success. Your legacy will be the lives you impact as a result of your dedicated to your field and the profession of teaching.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Dr. Meers,
Some of the responses have motivated me to bring to light some student issues, that I would have in the past just let slip by.
Kayla,
You can do this in a quick way by just asking how things are going and offer to help in anyway you can. Students that are having such challenges will let you know if they have things under control or if they might need some help. I ask them every couple of weeks about how things are going so they know I am a resource there for them should they need me. Knowing the have this support is as important to students as actually using the support. They know I care about their success and this is what all of us instructors should project to our students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
If a student tells you they have a lot of personal issues going on outside of class should I check in with them after they tell me this to see how they are doing?
Mary,
I commend your school for adding this service for your students. This way the school is helping to remove a barrier that might force a student to drop out.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Our school also has recently brought on a new position for dealing with student services and their needs- housing, gas money or sickness and out of class. It is great having such a resource to help one understand what is really happening to the student who is missing.
Joseph,
What a great resource you have at your school. Knowing that you can refer students to the Student Services Office and they will get information about meeting the need they have is a wonderful part of the educational process. This lifts a lot of the burden off of you and lets you focus on being the learning leader your students need.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
When I first started teaching I would struggle with students with these kind of life issues because I didn't understand how far I should go to support them and whether they were being totally honest about their situations.
Since then our school has developed a really good team of student services counselors who I can call in to connect with students in need. While they cannot solve all the problems usually they have an extensive listing of support services to draw from.
Sometimes it can be something as simple as getting them referred to the right service for finding housing or providing bus passes.. ect.
Barbara,
Good point about the need to "listen" to our students. As you say there is a lot being said beyond just the words. This is when we need to provide support to keep the students enrolled.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I just attended a seminar on this and it really opened my eyes to the whole world that one small aspect of a students life may affect their whole life system. Such as if their car breaks down they can not make it to class and inturn they can not take thier aunt to the doctor and inturn the aunt is the one who babysits for them while they are in school. And they story goes on and on. So there is more to the story than just my car broke down and we need to open our eyes to what they are telling us.
Michael,
Adult students can have many challenges in their lives that may impact their success in the classroom. The more understanding we have about these issues the better we can support them and their success in school.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
