Teaching at a cooking school we have great examples of when students overcome self doubt. There have been countless times when students are making a new dish are trying a technique for the first time when I have seen them overcome doubt. It can be very powerful as an instructor to simply see the look on a student's face when they accomplish a task they didn't think was possible.
self doubt is a milestone to help a student overcome. Its great when it happens
Larry, well done and so correct. Students need to know your path to success especially if it had some twists and turns. Never make up a story to have something to say but if your path to success had some rocks in the road, share with your students and how you navigated the rocks. Not everyone will be able to follow your path but knowing the course instructor also met with challenges make a class subject more real for many students. Thanks for sharing.
James Jackson
Elaine, be careful to just take a nod by a student as an affirmation that they understand an important topic. Be a bit more formal and use the Socratic method. Ask questions and probe for understanding. Assure yourself without a question of doubt that your students understand to a deep level the key concepts you want them to take away from class.
James Jackson
Charles, what a great statement. One size simply does not fit all. Time must be taken to understand the needs of individual students and the utilization of different teaching techniques. Thanks for sharing.
James Jackson
Dale, what are some of the techniques you use to allow students to have the early wins and gain confidence early in the class? Thanks for anything you can share.
James Jackson
We all have self doubts. I often use stories from my own experiences to highlight where my own self doubts provided an opportunity for success. My students enjoy hearing how I am human too and how overcoming self doubts can be beneficial to all involved.
Rosemary, while it is true that the real world can be a very negative and at times scary place but the classroom is more of a time to assist them in learning skills to be successful. We as instructors need to populate their tool kits for life and facilitate their learning versus just broadcasting to them the information we feel they need to know. Through engagement and some creative lesson plans, we as instructors prepare students for the real world through positive reinforcement and an understanding of what may cause students to self terminate their educational goals. Jay Hollowell has provided a great top 5 listing of reasons students may lose focus on their educational goals. I highly recommend you visit http://www.careercollegelounge.com/pg/blog/JayHollowell/read/42792/five-top-reasons-for-student-attrition and think of ways you can facilitate ways to assist students in avoiding or properly managing these common causes of student attrition.
James Jackson
Beverly , great topic. Some subjects will come easily to us while others will require more work. Such is life and best to learn good study habits and our own learning styles within the professional boundaries of the classroom. Earning a degree is not an ending point, it is simply a new beginning and learning is life long, we will never know everything.
James Jackson
Annette, awesome exercise. There are many such exercises and they are excellent forms of classroom engagement and positive reinforcement. Thanks for sharing.
James Jackson
Shonna, well stated. As you read through other posts you will likely come across mention of The Pacific Institute and Dr. Joe Pace. Dr. Pace talks about many topics and all are based in scientific research. The impact of positive self talk and hearing positive comments is incredibly powerful. We all hear so many negative statements they become common place and when we hear positive comments they tend to stand out. The focus is to flip this concept so the negative is what stands out and seems almost odd or out of place. Thanks for your comments and keep up the awesome efforts.
James Jackson
Tamera, your comments are right on. Any instructor that walks away from a graduation without a tear in their eye may want to consider another profession. I know of no greater forum that can vitalize instructors and students alike outside of a graduation ceremony.
James Jackson
Tamera, great topic. Dr. Joe Pace from The Pacific Institute provides some incredible insight into the power of self talk and the role it plays on our success as individuals. According to Dr. Pace it can take up to 11 positives to make up for a single negative. This implies that positive self talk is critical to how we as instructors can help students with self-doubt. Always look for the positive and find positive reinforcement options when ever possible. This topic and many others can be discussed in more detail in the MaxKnowledge Lounge (http://www.careercollegelounge.com/).
James Jackson
Rhonda, dedicating time after class is a great message to your students and shows that you care and you are there to provide support. Are there any common themes you have picked up over the years with respect to what techniques seem to help your students the most with respect to building their self esteem? Thanks for anything you can share.
James Jackson
One of my evaluation methods is a small paper. Leading up to the student's first draft, I coach the students regarding thesis, outline, and content while deliberately whittling away at their doubt and reinforcing that elimination of doubt throughout the writing process and by acknowledging the relevance of their final product.
I had a long talk with the student and spent quite a while just listening to him, then we worked out a plan to get him caught up with homework,etc. The class helped with rides to school and since this was a phlebotomy class, bringing in outside individuals for blood draws and instead of drawing the blood themselves had this student draw their blood. We also had another instructor who patiently worked with him one-on-one with drawing blood and getting him comfortable with the technique. The student had good technique, just lacked the confidence. In the end, everyone benefited.
Ruth Ann, can you share how you and the classroom got the student through this difficult time? Looks like some great peer to peer support and guidance from the instructor. Thanks for anything you can share.
James Jackson
zena, what are some of the techniques you use to help students realize they know more than they think they know? Thanks for anything you can share.
James Jackson
Richard, great topic. You first have to be familiar and experience various situations before you can ever be good at anything. If you never try you may never learn. If you never fail it is doubtful you ever really tried. Thanks for sharing.
James Jackson
Jay, students like to know they are in a safe environment. By safe, this implies they can ask questions freely and without judgement or being embarrassed. The more you can design a classroom of freedom to ask questions and express their thoughts about the course materials the more learning will take place.
James Jackson
