Dealing with Challenging Students]
The most disruptive part of teaching is the student that comes in late or return late from a break. I talk to the students in private and advise them that this type of conduct in the work force will cause several actions to occur. 1st time you will be written up, 2nd time you will be placed on non pay for a certain amount of time, and the 3rd time you will be fired. I also stress the fact that numerous others in the workforce are waiting for your job.
Like everything in life this method only works part of the time, not always.
It is so true that anything worth having does not come easy. I've been teaching for 18 years and have noticed how students coming right out of high school have rude awakenings making adjust ments into adulthood. They have to understand that the real world is not going to be so excepting of all their excuses. We have strict rules for attendance that we all adhere to. Each month a student receives a late pass. They are only allowed to be late to class once a month, at which time they must turn in their late pass to their instructor. If they come to class late another day within the same month and have already used their late pass they cannot attend class. This is one way of training the student that their future boss will and does not have to tolerate lateness to work. It works for us and our student attendance rates are very great.
I have a student who is similiar to yours. She would be absent for a few consecutive days and have excuses on why she couldn't attend class, and couldn't answer any phone calls or emails from the school. I had numerous private conversations with her and her attitude has not changed. The last time she walked in late I had her write an "Action Plan" which indicate she knows that is going to fail the class unless she improve her current behavior. She had to write down in her own words ways that she will improve inorder to succeed in class. She had to sign the form and from that day, she seemed to be following her plan.
Hi Sandy,
Great points! Anything worth having is not going to come easy! As the saying goes, "No pain, no gain."
Patricia Scales
Hi Richard,
It is such a great feeling when you get an humble-spirited student that is just academically gifted and awesome all the way round. You wish you had a classroom full of these students.
Patricia Scales
challenging students actually helps to keep teachers quik on their feet. Always analyzing and reviewing strategies to help these student become successful is something that makes us become compassionate but strong instructors.I feel that we are only as good as our weakest student. Things do happen in people's lives that need to be taken care of and some of us are mature in our coping skills and some others are not as refined. This is also a teachable time that may stay with the student and enable them to become stronger with work ethic as well as people skills. don't get me wrong, I love the smooth class that has the mature students but if everything was easy how would we learn to cope with struggles?
Teaching is a culinary environment provide the opportunity to work with an array of different types of students. Since culinary trainind is very much "look at what you made" there is an early ground leveling as to their thoughts of individual abilities and reality. It is always nice to enjoy a student that has natural talent is humble at the same time.
I can see where this approach could be effective. I am a new instructor in my first year of teaching. I have encountered students who "test the waters" simply because I am new. I have discovered that consistency and professionalism go a long way. I've had to show the students that I do not have "favorites", and the same rules apply to everyone. As you noted, the rules in the workforce have clear consequences. It is benefical to the students to promote professionalism early, even in the classroom setting.
