knowing and aknowlwdging the students
I MAKE IT A POINT TO KNOW MY STUDENTS AND THEIR NEEDS.
Hello Dr. Meers and fellow learners,
I agree with what Dr. Meers and my fellow learners have discussed in this forum. Getting to know our students individually and acknowledging them as individuals increases the likelihood of student retention. I have done this consistently throughout my career as an instructor.
I greet each student individually when they come to class as I take attendance rather than taking attendance silently as do many instructors. I take a few minutes after taking attendance to ask if anyone wants to share anything that happened to them during the week. This also helps to improve student interaction as they may dialog with their classmates about their weekly experiences.
My students also know that I am always there for them if they need to discuss anything either afterclass, by email, or by phone. I truly care for my students and am eager to listen to their questions and concerns.
Sara
Hi Michael,
The learning of student names helps to establish rapport with the students as well. This helps you to get off to a good start with your students.
Gary
I think that the faster you get to know the students names the sooner they will feel like they belong and then they become more comfortable with the course.
Hi Stephen,
Good approach to starting a class and getting to know your students. Also, by doing this you are creating a baseline of interest and knowledge from which you can plan some of your activities for the course.
Gary
At the beginning of each course, I ask the students several questions that give me feedback as to their specific likes and activities. Some questions revolve around the types of cars they like (I'm in an automotive school teaching high performance systems). Do they enjoy High Performance? Does anyone participate in activities such as racing or car shows? Are any of the students involved in helping others with their performance vehicles? Once I get responses to these questions, I now can include their activities in my presentations. This helps to involve students in the class activities and gets them to generate questions about the subject we are talking about. It also gets me to understand and learn the students needs better. Hopefully this will lead to increased student retention. If anything, this sure helps break the ice on the first day of class. It appears to get the students talking.
Hi Diane,
Great way to start off a course. It helps your students to feel that you are going to encourage them and be a part of their success. The individual attention will help with establishing rapport with the students which helps to keep them engaged in the learning process.
Gary
I feel it is very important to get to know the adult student and feel that they are valued as an adult with various skills and experiences. I make it a point to learn each student's name at the start of the class.
I also try to get to learn about a student on a personal level by having each student write something that is unique about them or something they feel passionate about when they first enter my class.
I feel it is important as an instructor to express an immediate interest towards each individual student.
Hi Lane,
I have the same problem,also finding myself with 30 new student every 3 weeks.The first day I ask them to please stay in the seats they are in so I can make a seating chart then I write there names on index cards and as the days progress instead of asking a general question to the class I use my cards at random to ask each student a question pertaining to the lecture. I find this keeps them involved because they never know who is going to be asked the next question as well as it helps me to remember there names. Also as they are taking there quizzes I hold the seating chart and test myself on there names. hope this helps.
Hi Lane,
Yes, it is hard to keep up with 30 new students every three weeks. So to speed up the learning about students process you might want to resort to the use of a digital camera and take pictures of the students.
What I have found to really work for me is to take their pictures, print them out on one page. Underneath each picture I put their names and an interesting fact about the student. I carry the picture file with me an study it whenever I have a few minutes. The result is that I can quickly get the names of the students memorized plus I have a memory tag associated with the interesting fact about them. The interesting fact might be that they race motorcycles on the weekends. They like to golf anything.
By using this technique you will find that around the end of the second day or the middle of the third you will have the names down plus will have expanded your knowledge of each student. By having interesting facts about students (these facts are shared the first day of class during the introductions) you have a conversation starter with each person as you walk around the classroom or lab.
Hope this suggestion helps you with your effort to learn more about your students in a short period of time.
Gary
I often wonder if I'm the only instructor that has a hard time knowing each student on a personal level. With 30 or more students and a new rotation every three weeks, sometimes it's difficult to keep up.
I think it's also important to call the students what they want to be called. For example, if the student's given name is James but everybody calls him Jim, then the instructor should also call him Jim. I believe it makes the class feel less formal and helps set the tone for the learning environment.
I think it is important to acknowledge them by there names when they arive.
