Retention by caring
I believe getting to know your student and providing them with attention makes a big differences in their journey.
Well said Jennifer! The caring is the thing that makes a greta career college a compelling place to go to school.
Jeffrey Schillinger
Students today have so few people in their lives that truly care. It is why caring is such a factor in retention. Students want to be part of a place that has people who care about them as individuals.
I also have three week courses. Much like everybody else, I try my hardest to get to know them while still teaching the subject.
We also teach in 3 week phases, so I try to spend a little time the first day to get to know them. I try to talk to them through out the phase to show them I am here to help them.
Dustin,
Even when there is a lot to cover, we need to make some time in the first few weeks of a course to build relationships and establish a good learning environment.
Your handling of the ridicule situation is admirable. We cannot allow our students to create an emotionally unsafe environment for other students. You recognized the situation and acted on it. Well done!
I totally understand where you are coming from. I teach in a mechanical school and I barely get to know my students by the second week since we have so much to cover in the period they are in my class. I did have a student that was going to quit at the beginning of this rotation because of ridicule from a few other students, so I spoke with them all seperately and let them know that positive thinking and speaking in my class keeps everything going in the right direction, and the negativity would be directed to someone in management. The student that was going to quit is improving all the time. He is an older student that was in a totally different line of work until his company closed down and sent him back to school. I want all of my students to succeed so we all have our times to chat during the training period.
Valerie. Excellent point! I teach online and have 11-week Quarters, 3 different subject areas, and about 100 students each Quarter. I identified completely with your post. I have students do a get-acquainted introduction first week of class, and I give extensive feedback to every student each week in the grading of their forum posts that includes personal insights and sharing for each one in order to create that Retention by Caring as you pointed out. Your post of the 3-week classes and 25 students/block reinforces these retention concerns, and served as a collegial boost for me!
My courses are only 3 weeks long. I have as many as 25 students per block. In 3 weeks I am only just learning my students names, possibly where they are from and why they chose to attend culinary school. I do make a sincere effort but the program runs at such a fast pace it is difficult.
I am going to ask our Admission Representatives for a brief expose about student who enter my classroom.
I want to know my student from day one until they are to graduate.
