Hi M. Hussain,
Great list of strategies! You may want to add a participation grade to the list. We have implemented a participation grade at my institution, and it works beautifully. Attendance, attitude, and participation have improved.
Patricia
Identifying the challenging students are very important for the instructor as well for the student. It will help the instructor to manage the class properly, help to success for individual student And retention.
Thanks Patricia, My challenging students are not the young stars, they are mostly more mature in age and their education.Most of the time they sit in the rare and corner seats. They go frequently out for smooking and phone conversation.They do not take part in the discussion. They depend on others for their test preparation. If you ask them the reason why are they not attentive in class, they will present you a lot of excuses including no time to study because of job and others.
My stratigies are :
1. I change their seats.
2. Ask them easy questions first and gradually encourage them by reinforcement to take part in the problem solving discussion.
3. I verify their understanding before ending the lecture.
4. I remind them about the test dates and the consequences of not doing good by early warning sheet and I document it.
5. I discuss their learning problem individually and try to find ways to limit the problem like I offer them extra help regularly.
6. If it is beyond my capacity I inform the program director and we all sit together to find the better ways.
7. What ever I do , I do it consistently
Hi Kenton,
Students right out of high school can be a a handful. We have to help these students find out what they want to be when they grow up and help them grow up. I have my Placement Director speak with these students one-on-one.
Patricia
I have found my most challenging students are usually the younger students who are entering career college shortly after high school or after they have discontinued secondary education. They are usually students who actually may not have identified their career path. These are the students who need to have numerous career exposure opportunities with guest speakers, hands on technical and skill application, and scheduled time with me to discuss career options.
Cell phone usage, sleeping in class, late/missed assignments, and talking while me or another student is talking are all pet peeves of mine. All of the above are disruptive behavior because I have to stop instruction and address it. I have created a NO TOLERANCE POLICY for all and have included them in my syllabus/classroom guidelines. There are consequences for all; students either lose points, get a "0", and/or are asked to leave class.
One challenge with students is when they come in late and I've ready started class. One strategy is to close a locked the door and don't open it until the next break peroid. If the student is late for class, then they will miss the information for the first hour of class. This usually only takes one time for the message to set in with all the student in the class.
My biggest challenge is the students who don't come to class, don't communicate inside or outside of the classroom & don't turn in assinments, but are shocked when their grades are poor. I have quick "one on one" sessions with the student encouraging them to participate and the benefits of doing so.
Hi Miranda,
This student should not know the other students grades unless they tell the student. Let students know that you do not want grades discussed in class, if there are any questions they can see you during office hours. If this student continues to be a problem get your DOE involved and have this student removed from the class.
Begin on the first day by making a strong presence and have strict rules so that your students know that you mean business. It is a lot easier to ease up during the grading period, but the first day has to make a strong statement.
Patricia
I've had quite a few problem students this quarter. This is only my second quarter teaching, so I'm still getting my footing and learning to walk the line between "Too nice teacher" and "Attilla the professor." My biggest challenges this quarter have been students talking too much and being disruptive. To be honest, since most of them seem to like me, I had a general discussion with the entire class about how we need to show each other respect. It did seem to help, but there are still those problem few who seem determined to keep causing trouble. A big thing I'm dealing with right now is with a student who thinks that everyone else's grades are his business. He thinks everyone's work should match his, and anyone who does something different shouldn't get as good of a score as he did. It's really frustrating, and I've told him repeatedly that I'm done having this argument, and that I'm the one who decides on the grades, not him, but it doesn't seem to be working. Any advice?
I have found that one of my greatest challenges is controlling the students who like to talk and socialize during our open study labs when we are practicing skills, and during lecture. I have found that after giving a few warnings, the best option is to ask the student to step into a private setting and having a firm talk about my expectations about professional behavior in class and the possible consequence-having a conference with the program directorabout ways to control the behavior. I initially found this difficult to do becuase I was afraid of embarrassing the student but have gotten surprisingly good results.
For sure, I often remind them of that. I also like to ask a few questions as to why they are sleeping. make sure that they are feeling ok.
Hi Brandon,
Wow, you would think at the end they are very excited. I guess a lot of them just get burnt out. I do not tolerate sleeping and cell phone use in my class. It would certainly be unacceptable for them to sleep on the job.
Patricia
My challenging students often have motivation issues. By the time they get to my class they are close to graduation and lack the drive they once had. Using cell phones and sleeping in lab are just a few of the choices made by these students.
I often like to have a short talk with these student and ask what they came to this school for? Once I get their true response I can talk about ways they can get what they came for and help motivate the student to finish strong.
The center-stage students can be the most challenging in my opinion because they can take away from the learning experience of those who are not as assertive. One way I have foind is to give them challenging tasks to focus their attention, and to appoint others as the leader to allow for learning on how to listen and take others into consideration. They can be the highest maintainance because they can sometimes go off task in order to seek attention.
I find that if I set guidelines from the beginning, I see a high percentage of compliance, as the students I teach are fieldwork students on the brink of professional careers and have learned behaviors consistent with what an employer expects.
Hi Mary,
You are very special to your students; you go the extra mile. Our students need to see that they can accomplish something, be it small or large. I like the little increments you take with your students so that they can reach their overall goal.
Patricia
My most challenging students are those who have so many external factors affecting their every day routines: child care, utilities being shut off, lack of transportation, poor organization and study habits, single parenthood, work schedules to juggle, and/or a combination of several of these factors.
The best strategy I can use is to help them with daily goal setting and time management skills. Relationship building and rapport between the instructor and the student opens the door to a short conference after class prioritizing tasks and writing down attainable goals for the next day. Research indicates that a written plan increases the likelihood of attaining goals by 80%. As the student begins to see that small steps can be accomplished, success in the classroom increases as well.
I teach online and the grading rubric has recently been changed to include points off for late assignments. It used to be that for some of the assignments they absolutely could not hand them in late and had on PASS that they could request without explanation. I like the ability to still accept their assignment with the knowledge that they will lose points for not being on time. I remind then that they still had to do the work and if they had gotten it in on time they would have received a better grade.
Hi Chris,
Higher authority really needs to get involved. An instructor should not have to constantly warn a student about breaking a policy; the administrator(s) should reprimand these students as policy states. If students have illegal drugs on the premises, call the city police and have them monitor the parking area during break in an unmarked car in order to catch the students.
Patricia
I am having some issues with a few students. I have many who have decided that nothing will happen when I warn, reprimand and send to the supervisors the students for use of cell phones and the bringing of food or drink into the class room. They have been warned may times and I feel are growing comfortable with the idea that nothing will happen if they are reprimanded. Any ideas about how to deal with the problem and bring them back on track or are things too far gone to be saved.
Also, some of the students have been reported by other students as taking the time during brakes to sneak out back and smoke pot. The problem is they are really good at not getting caught and/or the students are making up stories about teach other. An thoughts on how to approach the issue?
