Feeling Overwhelmed
Mentoring and tudoring are great ways to assist some students over a hurdle, but how do some of you handle the ones that do not have the basic knowledge of the topic required to even be in your class? When you realize they have somehow made it to you but they are completly lost....what do you do?
What about many students seeking your help at the same time, not another tudor, but you. I teach a course that is very advanced, and some students are afraid to ask questions, this sometimes leads to a "Can I talk to you after class" line of students seeking private help from me. This can be overwhelming to say the least. What are some ways you would suggest handling these types of situations?
Kathleen,
Communicating this and other support information to student in various and frequent ways will help students too. Students often do not look for help until they need it or find themselves at risk of failure.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
It is important to let the student know your office hours outside of class and when you are able to tutor or mentor outside of class hours. This helps the student feel less overwhelmed and more comfortable knowing that you are dedicated to their success. The outcome shows encouragement and improved student retention.
I think that mentoring and/or tutoring is a great way for students who feel overwhelmed, to get that one on one help. Once things start to make sense then they are not feeling so overwhelmed any more.
Kelvin,
Thanks for sharing. I love it.
Dr. Larry Banks
I felt overwhelmed when I took the instructor role, and I realized what helped myself was me trainer was fun and light hearted. This set a calming affect over me and I felt more apt to ask questions. When I aplied the same technique, My students responded well.
Asking if they have questions during the lecture, etc. does not always elicit a response. At that point for most it still seems to make sense. I encourage them to review the material again after they have left class for the day and then do a small recap of the previous day at the start of the next class. This seems to get more questions because what they thought they understood no longer made sense after reviewing it later. Just a thought and it has worked well for me.
James,
You got it. Do all that you can to help students to relax and see that they can be successful.
Dr. Larry Banks
New students can feel overwhelmed when they walk into orientation,always helpful to have a mentor greet them,for a breif run down of the day, and if possible to introduce them to other students, this may help relax the student , so they don"t feel alone in the new surroundings.
One thing that you can do is to have some of the more advanced students in your class lead study groups. This will help to free you up for the more intense one-on-one tutoring that you will need to do to help those students who start the class without the skills they should have had.
Nice! I love how you are sensitive and linking questions to discussions.
Dr. B
I always ask if anyone has any questions several times during lecture, demo, etc. I offer them the chance to speak to me one on one if they feel more comfortable. I find when a student asks a question, if I bring up the issue the next day as an example or a question, several have the same problem and I have helped them without dealing one on one. I think we learn from each other and I try use the students to help each other without embarassing them in front of their peers.
I hear you. All you can do is to encourage the student to seek help. Tutoring and even an outside coach. Make sure that you stress how valuable the course will be to the student. If the student does not link to his or her future career, he or she may not seek the help.
Dr. B
