Another great series of comments Mark, good job.
Really like your approach to building rapport through identifying likes and dislikes. Also like how you apply application to your lessons and provide your students with feedback on the SUCCESS stories. According to Dr. Joe Pace of The Pacific Institute, it takes at least 11 positives to make up for just one negative so the more positive stories of success you can provide, the more your students will walk away from your class with a positive attitude and positive self-talk. As I am sure you would agree, positive self-talk can be a great tool to combat self-doubt.
Really enjoyed your comments and am confident you are going to be a very positive mentor to your students.
Not sure if you use LinkedIn to build up your professional network but if you are interested, you are welcome to connect with me and gain access to my twitter and other resources. You can find me on LinkedIn by going to the following address.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesajacksonjr
Good luck with all your future endeavors.
James
Thank you for your kind comments.
I think the best results I have had helping students through self-doubt is by building rapport and finding their likes and dislikes then when I am in a section of the course they are really interested in I give applications and success stories by inviting past students to be guest speakers, also I connect with the students as a past graduate of the school myself. Walking students through my struggles and self doubt and how perseverance and the I WILL ATTITUDE even in the face of doubt led me and other graduates to our eventual success.
Everyone has some level of self doubt.
A example of a story below where I took on a direct role in providing some level of support for students.
Some of the signs were insecurity, fear to speak, fear to ask questions, fear of failure even before you try.
I like to have all new starts talk about this but in a non invasive way maybe even without them knowing it. BELOW.
The first step I take is to get students to feel comfortable to speak and share thoughts.
Some of the corrective actions to combat this fear were to ask each student about their purpose for being here to get them to talk about something they know and can’t be wrong
Get them to feel more comfortable with me and there new surroundings give them a preview of the term ahead, again asking them what they think about the preview.
I found this to be an effective tool to get students to open up. I then tell them not to long ago I was in the same place they were, going to school at the same campus with all the same questions and fears.
Then I will talk about how this course helped me and how this course will help them our current placement numbers current and past student’s testimonials
Direct applications and situations in the field at the level of detail they can all understand.
After this I ask students where they see themselves 3 years from now. This will lead us into personal and class discussion.
By the end of this discussion both my students and I know more about each other the purpose we are all hear and the steps needed to get us to where we wish to go.
I can take the information gathered from this open discussion about each student to start addressing self doubt in the classroom.
Because self-doubt varies from student to student and the causes are so wide spread
(Self doubt; it's a affliction that doesn't discriminate) helping students conquer their fear of the classroom takes consistent and persistent action. Both teacher and student must persevere with the I WILL ATTITUDE for success.
I let the students know It’s ok to be afraid just do not let it stop you from trying.
Thanks for your response Mark.
Great story about challenges becoming fun and persisting to accomplish goals. Would be very interesting to talk with this student and discover what type of Self-Talk she went through in order to allow her to be successful. All too often, this is not the end result however and students seem to find any excuse to self-sabotage their efforts to complete their degree or educational goals. As instructors, it is critical we watch out for the signs and those “red-flags†that can appear so we can be that “guide-on-the-side†that many students need to be successful. Having provided support for over 5000 students over the years, I have noticed that over 75% of my students needed additional support above and beyond what they had direct access to within their own support groups. I, like yourself, have enjoyed providing whatever support I could to help them over the hump.
I would be very interested in hearing about a story where you took on a direct role in providing some level of support for a student that was full of “self-doubt†and what actions you took to help the student navigate any rocks in their road to success.
Thanks for anything you can share.
Sincerely,
James
I have had many students press on in spite of the persistent self-doubt to get the degree and advance in their field.
But one student comes to mind almost immediately, how even in self doubt she was able to forge ahead.
One could spot the doubt and the inability to accept and claim accomplishments no matter what level of success
But with persistence even in doubt she pressed on through self doubt as each small challenge was conquered growing to take on bigger challenges.
Until challenges became fun .
She now is a very successful professional make executive decisions every day and loving it
