Mary,
Good strategy to follow and as a result your expertise expands and effectiveness increases. This is a win win for everyone.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I try to make my classes as exciting as possible. I am however, always looking to better myself. Every time I have a new class, I reevaluate myself and ask what can I do to make my class more exciting. The way I teach my class every phase gets better and better.
Ren,
Right you are. Sometimes the students are simply in the wrong course. Through some type of pressure (family, friends) they have chosen a career area that is not right for them. I don't count these students as dropouts even though they are counted as such by the school because there was nothing I could do to keep them in the class.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Even though I am very "in-sync" with all my students, I find that the course I teach is not for everyone. It's very difficult to keep a student who just doesn't like what they've gotten themselves into and drop after two or 10 days.
James,
We must bring the human factor into our teaching. You are right about the effect an unapproachable instructor can have on the attitude of students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
If a instructor is unapproachable,or uncaring and seems inflexible with their student or their needs, the student may feel the instructor is against them and can turn off the student's desire to learn.
Sarah,
I think this is a very important strategy. You are able to show the students how they are progressing in their education and where they need to concentrate on improvement.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Travis,
Good way to conduct your classes. Passion for your field and enthusiasm for teaching your content are two great ways to "sell" the value of your course to students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In order to increase student retention, we perform competency testing so students can perform hands on activities to show me that they are still interested in the lectures.
I agree. I try and be as enthusiastic as possible and show my genuine interest and appreciation for my class.
Donna,
This is a good way to increase the personal investment by students in their futures. The more they see themselves being successful by learning the information in your course the more investment they will make in their learning efforts.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
You have to pretty much have an open door policy and allow student to give and take from instruction. Allowing them to play a role in your lectures is very important because then it doesnt stress them out as much and they feel like their opinions matter on content
Leslie,
These are great ways to share with each other as well as learn more about how others are receiving the content.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I try to keep my student interested in the subject matter with class discussions.
Toni,
Good point about student retention. Yes, it is their future that they are preparing for. They have to assume responsibility and put forth effort. Neither of these two elements can be done by anyone else so the more this can be reinforced to the students the better. They need to have "buy-in" from the beginning. Without they are going to fail and reinforce to themselves that they are failures.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
WHEN IT COMES TO "RETENTION" WHEN WILL IT BE KNOWN THAT, WE AS INSTRUCTORS CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH. AND THAT THE STUDENT MUST ASSUME SOME TYPE OF RESPONSIBILITY ON THEIR END. POOR PLANNING, JOB(S) AND RUNNING A HOUSE-HOLD WHILE ATTENDING SCHOOL...IS OVERWHELMING AND DRAINING. WE CAN ONLY GUIDE THEN TO BE PARTICIPATIVE IN CLASS (4) HOURS A DAY. AFTER THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR RETETION. PROPER AND ADEQUATE SCREENING FROM THE RECUITERS OR IMPLEMENT A BOARD OF 3 PERSONS IN ORDER FOR THE STUDENT DO GAIN ENTRY INTO THE PROGRAM. AND PLEASE RAISE WHAT EVER SCORE THAT IS BEING USED AT LEAST BY 8pts, THEN LETS CHECK RETENTION.
Holly,
You have a good rotation going for you. You are sharing content and checking for understanding frequently. This strategy will help you to stay on the same page with your students and provide support when needed to those students that didn't the concept that was just covered.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I try to do this by showing students how they can apply this information or material to their career as a clinician. I also try to keep students engaged by stopping every 15-20 minutes to check their understanding and offer tutoring or study groups as needed(outside of class) for those who are still struggling to grasp the concepts.
Andrea,
I like and use activities like this in my classes as well because they yield great interaction among the students. We have fun, we laugh and then we focus on the class content. This makes learning more engaging.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have had a lot of success by starting the course with a questionnaire that asks questions like 'how did you hear about this program', 'what's your middle name', 'when is your birthday', - favorite foods/movies are also good questions. I have the students 'grade each others' papers so it opens up a dialogue in the room and lightens the mood when we share each others (sometimes) silly middle names, and favorite foods. This is great for a set of students in a cohort in their first term. With continuing students I begin with 'what was the best thing you did over break' and get the class relaxed before jumping into lectures ans content. This simple start to a term really begins that connection the student will have with both myself as their instructor and mentor, and their classmates- who can be just as helpful for retention as myself sometimes.
