I think being empathetic and having students feel comfortable is key. Every campus should have resources for students,its a matter of having students comfortable enough to approach the instructor. In turn, the instructor points the student to the appropriate person
Hi Briscoe,
Good way to start a new class. This way you have idea about your students and they about each other. Also, it helps you to develop rapport with each student since you know a bit more about each individual.
Gary
Befor going over class rules ,grading and and what we will cover in class, I ask each student his name what brought him To this school and what he wants out of this school.
Hi Eric,
Rapport is an essential part of teaching. By talking with the students and showing them your concern for their success you are helping them to see how they fit into the class. You will see higher retention rates as a result of your efforts.
Gary
I like to chat with my students formally in the classroom and informally in the lab portion of our day. I talk about why they are here, what can I or the school's resources around them do to help them. I try to encourage them to focus and be patient. There are times that I will go to some of the other school resources and ask them to try and have a meeting with a student I feel is in danger of leaving.
Hi Kevin,
You are doing a great job of keeping your finger on the pulse of the class. By constantly talking with your students you can identify any changes you need to make to insure that your instruction is targeted to their needs.
Gary
We need to moniter mood and manerisims of students on a daliy basis.
I always start my class off daily with a funny story from my past experience in the field. This breaks down any tension in the class and puts the class atmosphere at ease. When the students see that your a real person and not just a product of the school, they tend to open up more to you and come to you when they do have problems. By going around and casually asking each student how everything is going thoughout the day opens the door for them to speak up freely.
Hi Bill,
You have life experiences that will help you as you develop skills in the area of instructional delivery. If the students know you care about them and their success you will be able to develop rapport with them which is a key ingredient for teaching success.
Gary
Being a new instructor in training I think without having the experience yet, that I would ensure the students knew that I was available to them for whatever help they needed.
Retention is part of the function of everyone at a career college. When teamwork is involved in this function retention will improve. Effective stratagies are well known, what works for what students is the part that needs to be discovered.
Hi Donald,
You are exactly right about retention efforts needing to be ongoing. I have had students drop out within the last two weeks of a course. The just became overwhelmed with life and stepped a way. This is so sad. So by getting them off to a good start you can help to keep them engaged and focused on their career goals.
Gary
Hi Doreen,
You are right on with your statements about how we need to have our focus on individual students. This is part of the customizing of education for our students. We need to always be on the lookout for ways we can do this.
Gary
Becoming aware of effective strategies for use in the classroom is an on going process, I feel. New instructors sometimes feel that there is too much for them to do let alone having to worry about retention. Once they get into a routine and find their own pace they then settle in and accomplish their retention goals. All instructors must call absent students to find out why they were out. This begins the process in their minds. However it starts well before this. The first day of class the students are given the syllabus and what are expected of them. having a few minutes to tell them about yourself and have them do the same really starts the process. Trust has started and students begin to talk to you and relate if they need to take time off in most cases. As I stated in the begining it is an on going process.
We can become aware of effective retention strategies for use in class by recognizing students individually rather than as a group. Each person is important and should be recognized and developed. We are not a corporate assembly line. Rather, we need to concentrate on developing and keeping each student.
Hi Judy,
By you voicing this concern and focusing on reaching out to students more I know you are going to be successful. Keep the human factor in all that you do and you will have success as an instructor.
Gary
We need to tune in to the needs of our students. Completing this module caused me to stop and think about how caring I am to students and to try to think of ways to be more encouraging. To me, it is easy to be caught up in the instruiction, ignoring the human side of our students.
Hi Vivian,
What have you found to be the most effective way of getting feedback from your students? How do you use this feedback to make changes in your instructional delivery?
Gary
Getting feedback from students on what they learned and what they thought of the way it was delivered can allow us to understand what they feel confident and comfortable with.
This will allow us to change our delivery of the subject matter in a way that will make it more effective.
Hi James,
Good list. You item 5 puts it all together in terms of constantly being on top of things. Reading the pulse of the class and then looking for different ways of presenting content will help to keep the class focused and interesting.
Gary
