Get Your Students Hired
Steven Covey comes to mind when he said 'You manage things. You lead people'. I don't think you're being fair if you are not setting the example and upholding program, institution, and course expectations. You must always represent, but but you must always be an advocate for the student.
Always be positive, get them to judge themselves and find solutions for issues, make recommendations not demands, and encourage them whenever possible.
Sheena,
Right you are so we need to think about how we can project this to our students so the will know we care about them and their success.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Human factor is probably one of the most important factors in retention. If a student knows that their instructor cares about them, they are going to work even harder to be there and become sucessful! If you respect them, care about them, support them, give them support and boost their confidence. They will never want to let you down.
Randy,
Not sure what you mean by this. Can you expand on your comment in terms of how to increase student retention in classes? Thanks for your input on this.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
The human factor is a very important part of student retention. As educators it is important that we always consider the conditions and situations our students are experiencing in their personal lives. Their life experiences may impact their learning ability; if they are experiencing a stressful situation chances are they will not pay attention in class or get their work done in time. The moment we forget we are dealing with human beings we become less effective at providing a good learning environment. As we get to know our students it becomes evident when they are going through a difficult time and we can approach the student to assist and ensure continued academic success.
I have found it to be very important. Students notice my particular 'style" as much as they notice my "substance." If they do not connect with you on a personal level, it is difficult to transfer knowledge to them.
Ed,
Like it! Hopefully it will catch on and become of how we approach and work with students. Thanks for coming up with this phrase.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Ed,
You make a good point about the fact that we still need humans to interact with other humans. B.F. Skinner was going to create a teaching machine in the 1960's that would replace all teachers in the world. Well that didn't work so well since we are still here interacting with our students. As for the human factor having a somewhat distance and impersonal tone to it, maybe we can come up with something that better describes our interactions with other humans. Do you have any suggestions a long this line. Maybe we can come up with a new phrase that we can use to describe the process. Thanks.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
The human factor is paramount. Until someone writes a computer program which can tailor positive educational and social experiences to the learning nuances of each and every student there will always be a need for the Human Factor. Its interesting to me the term itself "Human Factor" has a somewhat distant, impersonal tone to it. -Ed
ROBBIN,
Good luck with your effort. This is a common challenge for instructors so don't feel along. We need to continue sharing strategies because the more of them we know about the greater our chances of learning student names and showing that we value them as members of the class.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have always tried to make my students feel I am a caring instructor. My problem is I have difficulty learning their names. I place a seating chart on my podium and refer to it as needed. I have also, placed name placards on the desk if front of the students. I also, am upfront with the students about my difficulty in remembering names. Next term I am going try using the photo suggestion provided in the this course.
MICHAEL,
I agree and this is something we all need to be a part of as we interact with students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree adult learners need to realize their individual potentials. They will have hit and misses along the way, but helping them realize their potential through encouragement and guidance can help them realize their personal satisfaction that can come from their achievement.
It is critical to understand we are dealing with real people with real lives and real issues.
Nick,
Thank you for these comments as they right on target in relation to helping students see the value of being in school and being in your class. As a result of your effort they get to see how they are going to be able to use their new information and skills to be successful if they are willing to work at it.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have work at three different schools within the Tampa Bay area, student demographic where different at each one. Find why to motivate them can be challenging to say the least. At my current school I had to finds why to get them to come to class, I used a idea from a fellow instructor she called pay days they earned ten dollar an hour and after the paid their bills (rent, food, utility …) the money left over is converted to bonus point they could apply towards grade. Part of my challenge is to build self-confidence within my student. If I did not know/understand where my students are coming from I would not know how to motivate them. Each student learn in a differ manner and I have to adjust my style of teaching to meet my student needs. If they do not see how the course will help them to succeed they will not continue in the program.
Nick
I agree that passion for what I teach is critical but where I teach most of the students have never heard "good job". I make a daily effort, especially in a lab setting to give the students a pat on the back with nice job when they surprise even themselves that they mastered a certain task. This goes a very long way for mutual respect.