Hi Kristen,
I like it how accesible you are to your students. Continue to make yourself available to the students. I can tell based on your response, you are a very approachabel instructor. Keep up the great work!
Patricia
I always have a one on one meeting with any student that is a challenge to ask them what is going on in their life. This shows them I care and has always made the situation easier to manage and many times turned them into my star student.
GW
At the beginning of the course the instructor should make it perfectly clear what is and will be expected from each student.
I make sure that I am available at the beginning and end of class to talk with one on one. I also encourage them to see me during my office hours and/or e-mail me with any questions or concerns. I've noticed that some students prefer e-mail instead of face to face interaction, especially regarding complaints. E-mail gets the compaint in writing and if needed, I can schedule a face to face meeting with them. We also have advisors at our school that can help students with any issues or concerns they may have.
Hi Stan,
I love the idea of using pre and post tests. It really shows the sudents their progression. Most students are ecstatic based on the amount that they've learned.
Patricia
Hello William,
You are right every student is different. You must know your students to determine how to best handle them.
Patricia
I use pre and post testing to show students what they have learned. I also put the days objectives on the board daily.
How you handle this depends on what challenge we are talking about. Every student is different and this may be the toughest part of being an instructor.
Hi Anthony,
I like to try squashing any rumors, and I tell my students to be open minded and develop their own opinion of the course. Normally, the result is positive.
Patricia
I ask them in the beginning of the course what they have heard about the course and what they expect to get out of it. I find that if I can dispell rumors and find out their expectations, I can meet them better.
The best strategy, I belileve, is to keep the material presented current and relevant. In our field new things are happening all the time and bringing real world examples and issues into the classroom animates the discussion and usually, even the challenging students are reminded why they thought enrolling and learning about these topics in the first place.
Hello Misty,
Students want to know up front what is expected of them. You are right, we can reduce complaints and challenges by giving clear expectations.
Patricia
Hi William,
You are on point. Wow, it is scary, you and I think so much alike.
Patricia
Hi Louis,
Wow, you're right, we are entertainers. We must perform to sell them on coming back the next day. Continue to stay lively and upbeat!
Patricia
Hi Wayne,
Many times a lot of the students' problems are not school related. Many of our students have a lot of personal problems. We have to help them learn how to seperate personal from school because on the job, you have to seperate personal from work.
Patricia
As we have established our students will respond by investing time to get to know them – we break down barriers with communication. I also believe you must be firm but fair and is consistency is key.
The best way to reduce student complaints and challenges is to clearly state the objectives and expectations prior to going through the material or working on the hands on labs.
Your classroom is a stage and you are the main actor. If you put on a good show, students will stay engaged. You set the tone and pace for learning and there is no greater reward that students so engaged and having so much fun, they don’t know their learning. Most challenging students need just that, a challenge. You also have to know when to quit and have that student removed. Remember, if the show is lousy, they won’t be back.
Try to take some time, one on one with the student to find out if the problem could easily be solved in class. Or is it really even school related
Hi Peter,
My favorite moto is, "a student doesn't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." Peter, continue to be a caring instructor. I am sure you have impacted many lives.
Patricia
