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We are attempting to have a weekly meetng to award attendance and perfrmance certificates for new students. We may have multiple cohort groups in a single class;there is concern the older students will feel offended if they do not recieve awards as well. Do you agree or disagree?
A pizza party is a simply but an effective way for students to get motivated. We encourage students to excel by offering top awards every class. Awards are based on Attendance, participation, assignments, and exams scores. Students who receive awards place them along side their portfolio.
Edward--
Have you tried giving an assignment that is due the second class session? Perhaps losing points toward their final grade would motivate them.
Susan
First day of every course we reiterate SOP's whith specifics for the current course. The trend for a lot of students has been to not show up @ this critical time because they don't want to hear the same old same old information. Rewards for those that do show & therefore get off to a better start makes lots of sense as the word may get out to the no shows that first day isn't just the same old same old & even they have a chance @ getting more out of the program if they put more into it themselves. Sounds like a win win situation. Now if we could just figure out what the appropriate bait/reward would be to appeal to the masses in a co$t effective way!
Michael--
Excellent point. Attendance is critical in the workplace and people who are dependable in this area are valued.
Susan
We do grade on attendance and a student can fail due to a low attendance grade. A student attendance fails by missing more then 10 hours of class time. We emphasize how important good attendance is by telling our students future employers will view their attendance record as "work ethic" or how serious they are about what they are doing. "one of the best ways to market yourself to a perspectice employer is to have a great attendance record"
I belive that after that first week ,the teacher should have a one on one conversation with student and discuss their porformance and attendance,and encouragement should bbe given
again, in an online environment, the recognition has to be virtual..having a faculty recognize and thanks students for participation and timliness is usually helpful. We also have to remember to encourage accountability in a college format..so a nice thanks and how it will contribute to learning make the most sense to me.
Karen--
We've had some excellent idea sharing in this class. Glad you found it helpful.
Susan
This is a neat idea. We also keep a student board with postings of perfect attendance (along with Dean's list candidates). It's exciting to see who's achieving what in their class. Adding the 'hoop' is added incentive for all. Thanks for the idea.
Weekly updates about there attendance and grades well keep or students informed on there progress and areas that they need to improve on.
I definitly think that it is important to connect the student with other students from the first days, that way the students are involved with each other right away. Also a free day, so they may interact more with each other.
We have an NBA (Never Been Absent) wall. We will put the student's pictures up. We have a basketball hoop on the wall also. If they can shoot the ball into the basket, we give them a prize or gift certificate. It gives the students something to "shoot" for.
It is really important to provide that recognition. It helps to build their confidence and fosters future success!\
Susan
I feel that this should be done at Qtr. or midterm increments. You may want to include other students as not to alienate anyone. Of course only those deserving recognition should receive certificates/awards etc.
I think a weekly meeting is a good idea. One of the tools we use is meeting with the admissions reps during the first week or two to get any specific details that might need to be shared: learning challenges, lack of support from family, etc. that will be red flags for us to watch as the student progresses. Its a great tool!
As far as the performance certificates, I have found the opposite to be true. My students succeeded because of support and mentoring and it was evident in the broad age range of the recepients of the awards.
Personal recognition of those individuals may serve the same cause. It is not always about how you give praise and recognition (food, certificate, movie pass etc.) but in the fact that you give true praise. A personal congratulations and a hand shake with your older students may go just as far.
Whether or not you actually do anything to recognize attendance (I like your idea of pizza parties weeks 3 and 6), finding out as early as possible regarding any non-attendance issues is critical. This is one of the first signs of potential withdrawals.
Many instructors utilize attendance as part of their grading scale to encourage good attendance. As you know, this is a key employment skill as well so it makes sense to make this a priority and part of our preparing them to succeed.