Joanna, how do you follow up with students who miss their weekly meeting?
Prearranged weekly meetings can be a good way to keep in touch with students.Students who skip theese brief meetings may be having problems and may need a more in-depth session.
Teresa, one of the most important components of student persistence is their belief that the institution is committed to their success. Acknowledging their success and making personal contact, particularly during out-of-class encounters, is a clear demonstration of that commitment.
I find that monitoring grades and attendance of the students helps to identify those students who are doing well. Their efforts are noted in a monthly assembly where certificates are presented for honor roll,perfect attendance and student of the month. They are acknowledge before the entire class. I have seen the pride these students feel in receiving awards of this kind.
Also, even in less formal situations, seeing students in the hall on break, in the breakroom, smoking or other occasions; just asking the student how things are going can be positive. The student feels you care about them individually and this can prompt students to seek you out when there is a problem.
These consultation sheets are passed on to the director of the college and/or the director of education. It is up to them to take appropriate action. (Some of the consultations are FYI only and do not require intervention.) We also have a staff member who phones each student who is at risk with our attendance policy. She endeavors to determine why they are missing class and then encourages them to find solutions to their problematic situations.
Some instructors are very faithful in completing these sheets daily. Others may go to the director or staff member directly with their concerns. However, a paper trail is advantageous to track difficult students.
What happens to these daily consultation sheets, Peggy? Are they passed on to a central point? Do they become part a student's file? Are your instructors faithful to the process?
One way we handle keeping in touch with more students, the quiet ones as well as the ones who are having difficulties is through a daily consultation sheet. The instructors make an effort to speak directly to at least one student in each class every day and record the encounter. Sometimes for the quiet ones it means acknowledging that they did well on a homework assignment or asking one-on-one if they understood what was covered in class that day. For the ones with poor grades or attendance problems, it is to help make them see that we are aware of their presence or absence from the class. Information is then passed on to the director and is useful in providing background on a student he needs to speak with.
Students enter information via a password protected web account. The information goes to a support person on staff who has been introduced to the student in advance. This person, their Coach, is able to respond via email or has access to the student's phone number. The student also knows where the Coach's office is located and can stop by. The system offers confidential, non-judgmental support to the student. Students are able to make comments, request services or perform a series of PDA-like functions. For many students making initial contact with someone they don't know is easier on the computer than it is to seek out a “strangerâ€, see if they will have time to see them and hoping that the person will be supportive. Visit www.corvusllc.com for more details.
I would love to hear more about how this works...I guess my concern has to do with how they get input based on their responses.
Thanks!
Teri
Teri, at my previous school we encouraged all students to use our on-line system, GradMax, to communicate, on a weekly basis, what was going on in their lives – the good as well as the bad. Students would share events like plans to get engaged and travel plans. It provided an opportunity of our coaches to stay connected and share in the excitement.
