My chalange is the student that sits there quietly and doesn't participate. Usually he'll sit in class crouched down in his seat and in lab he will just stand by and watch his partners do the work. I try to stop and ask him a question or point out an important item in his book ans ask him about it as I move around the class room to get him involved. In lab I'll ask him to show me how some task is done and help him along so that he completes it succesfully. If this doesn't draw him out then I'll meet with him before or after class to try to discover what the problem is and what I can do to help. Chuck Peters
Hello Kenneth,
Does your school have an attendance policy? If not, you may want to bring up the idea of implementing one. An attendance policy works wonders. The attendance policy at my institution is that if a student misses more than eight hours within a 40-hour contact course, the student will be withdrawn from the course. Students need to understand absenteeism can be a big problem in school as well as the workplace. The workplace will not tolerate absenteeism--you will lose your job.
Patricia
Hi Bob,
I know it works. I've tried it. Some people love being leaders. I also share with this type person, at some point, you may have to act as a follower, i.e., I express to the student you may not begin as a supervisor or lead person in the workplace, but you must know how to follow your lead because a good follower can eventually become a good leader. This type student has always been receptive to the conversation.
Patricia
Patricia
the student that misses a lot of time out of class and what i try to do is show just how much they are missing by not being in class and what it is costing them
The big, tough guy student is always a challenge.In many cases, students are afraid of this person, and even though they might be scared, they are afraid to do anything about it. This type of person is easy to spot because they are usually large in size and loud when they speak. I have encountered a few of this type in the past and have always been successful in dealing with them. The answer has been quite simple; make them more responsible.Assign them as a lab foreman, someone who reports directly to you with what he sees to be important info.By giving them added resposibility and telling them that they are now an example for the whole class, you have given them what they were looking for; leadership status combined with
accountability. Don't think it works? Try it sometime!
Hello James,
You said it beautifully! We as educators, must be our students biggest cheerleaders. James, what great morales to instill in your students. Retention has always been a challenge for as long as I've been in this industry (21 years), but we can not allow our students to give up nor can we give up on our students.
Patricia
Hi James,
When a student is bored, it can be challenging. I allow bored students to pair up with a student that is struggling so that the bored student has a role in the lecture. By allowing the bored student to be helpful, the tactic is two fold. The student is no longer bored because he or she is staying busy, and the struggling student is understanding the lecture because of receiving one-on-one help.
Patricia
Hi Frank,
Why do you find this type of student to be the most challenging? What do you generally do to deal with this type of student?
Patricia
the student that I find most frustrating or challenging is the quitter. I find them challenging because; 1)they have been allowed to think that quitting is ok and then it becomes a habit, which is a hard one to break. 2)they lack confidence and it is easier to quit than it is to try. Both can be handled; one, you can let them know that quitting is not an option. Two, give shorter easier to meet goals at first. Give them a lot of praise for their accomplishments. Then start adding on until they see that they can acheive their goals like everyone else.
I find that when a student is board that is a challenge for me. I find creative ways to make things more intrested to the students better lab tasks hands on let them work alone and this i have found out builds there cofendance and helps me stay on top of my game.
The unprepared student is the action / trait that is most challenging for me
Hi Dennis,
I have found that having a private heart-to-heart conversation with the center stage student works. I have also had seasoned instructors who have a good rapport with these type students talk to them in my presence as well.
Patricia
The students that I find most challenging are the Center Stage students. Most of them are able to be "quieted down" after about one week. I have experience an exception to that practice for which I had very little luck getting him to "simmer down".
What I usually do and this works most of the time is: give them course realted projects to
do during the class session. Also I might decide to get up in front of the class and give a short
explanation of their course related experiences while they were at work and give the brand of vehicle they were servicing, along with any diagnostic proceedures that were used for that vehicle.
If there are any other "tactics" that you suggest for the more "severe students", I am open to suggestions.
Hi John,
What a great method to use to try to build a student's self confidence/self esteem. I like how you inform the student that you will be calling on them so that the student can prepare himself or herself. I too try to give these type students real easy questions to answer. It is so exciting to see how happy and proud the student is once he or she answers the question correctly. We must continue to be great confidence boosters. Sometimes all our students need is a little confidence, and the confidence brings on much success.
Patricia
The trait that I find most challenging is the student that would be the “quiet ones”. Students that takes notes and does labs but yet does poor on tests in class. I have found in some cases that this type of student will have a very poor image of themselves and are scared to ask questions in class. Will meet with the student after/before class and tell them that I will be calling on them in class to answer questions. When I do call on them I make sure it will be an easy question for them to answer and give them some type of praise in class, after class I will tell them how proud I am of them. In doing this I have seen the students image go into the sky.
Hi Robin,
It is extremely hard to turn this type of student from the dark side. You must continue to try though, and as you stated, the good thing is there are not many of these type students. Most students are wanting to be successful.
Patricia
The student that is unprepared is hard for me to accept. Not one that works, but a student who comes walking in at the bell with no books, no id and is not sure what he was to read or look over the night before. Some of these students may even take the class over two or three times and could still not tell you what the class was about. Some even say that they have loss a job for being late and still have not learned. The god side is that there are not too many off them I tell them about the people I know that are like them and the problems that they have, but so far no luck in turning them from the dark side.
Hi Jeff,
You give each type student a role. How has given each type student a role made a difference?
Patricia
The loud student can distract the class so I work on getting their help with
Working on projects or helping other students. The inattentive or quiet student I
Spend time during breaks or during labs to help them feel important.
Hi Anthony,
Isn't it ashame to be in college and want the instructor to do everything for you? I don't get!
Patricia
