I plan to utilize these methods to increase student retention, strive to support retention by individualizing and personalizing our approach, taking time to investigate challenges, and meeting each student where they are to help them succeed.”
I learned that the physical and emotional environment of the classroom plays a crucial role in student success. The classroom should be clean, organized, and welcoming, because first impressions shape how students feel about the learning process. Beyond appearance, the space should also reflect the professional field students are preparing to enter, reinforcing the connection between their studies and future careers. A secure environment where students feel safe, accepted, and respected sets the foundation for meaningful learning.
I also learned that self-respect and acceptance are vital for adult and nontraditional learners, who often return to school after setbacks or career changes. Many students carry fears, insecurities, or comparisons to younger peers, but they bring with them valuable life experiences that can enrich the classroom. Instructors who acknowledge those experiences, encourage participation, and reinforce effort help students build confidence and a sense of belonging. This shows how important it is for instructors to balance fairness, empathy, and professionalism to meet the diverse needs of their students.
Finally, I learned the importance of the “human factor” in teaching-greeting students, acknowledging them individually, and giving consistent positive feedback. Both young learners and career-retraining adults share similar fears of failure, though they express them differently. Instructors can reduce those fears by showing respect, treating students as adults, and maintaining an open and positive learning environment. At the heart of it, students succeed not just because of content delivery, but because they feel valued, supported, and understood by their instructors.
Comment on Adriele Malone's post: I agree with you, understanding a learner’s motivation early on is key to keeping them engaged. I also think it’s valuable that you mentioned student frustrations, since being aware of those challenges allows us to guide them with empathy and provide strategies to keep them focused on their goals.
Comment on Ryan Mortensen's post: Absolutely, that’s such an important point. Cultural differences and language barriers can really impact how students experience learning, and being mindful of that helps us create a more inclusive classroom. When instructors acknowledge and adapt to those differences, it not only supports student success but also enriches the learning environment for everyone.
Comment on Thomas Teeguarden's post: I agree with you—understanding a student’s background really does make a difference in how effectively we can teach and support them. Building that connection not only creates better communication but also helps students feel more comfortable reaching out when they need guidance. I like that you also mentioned recognizing other sources of support beyond the instructor—it really highlights how learning is strengthened when students know they’re not alone.
From this reading, I learned that support systems are essential for student success, and they come in both external and internal forms. External support systems involve family and friends who help students manage responsibilities like childcare, housing, and transportation, while internal support systems come from the school and instructors. These include financial aid, tutoring, equipment, and, most importantly, encouragement from faculty. For some students, especially nontraditional learners, the support from their instructor and institution may be the only help they have, making it crucial for teachers to offer validation and guidance.
I also learned that motivation and career goals play a central role in student retention and success. Students can range from being highly dedicated learners to those who enroll under pressure, such as maintaining benefits or avoiding legal consequences. Instructors need to quickly identify where each student falls on the motivation continuum to provide the right learning opportunities. Additionally, career goals—whether personal or family-driven-give students direction and purpose. Even if goals evolve over time, instructors can help refine them as students gain confidence and progress through their studies.
Finally, I realized that students face a variety of challenges, both academic and personal, that can affect their classroom performance. Past academic experiences, institutional frustrations, and impersonal problems like parking all shape their attitude toward learning. Instructors should approach these situations with patience, calmness, and neutrality, listening to student concerns while redirecting focus to learning. Rules are also necessary for structure and fairness, but they should be clear, reasonable, and open to explanation. Ultimately, students enroll to learn, gain competence, and achieve success, and instructors must balance enforcing rules with providing understanding and support.
to allow yourself to always understand this, as you can, every learner.
How to determine the student's needs and decide how to assist the student accordingly.
Understanding how to connect with students and how to better build rapport.
No one learns the same. There are visual learners, auditory learners, and repetition learners. This is just a few ways people learn. The best way to understand how to teach people is in our brain a memory is placed after we learn something new. However, the way we can access it can improve when we use other senses and emotions for that memory. We remember eating the best steak we ever had. that memory can be brought back up by looking at a steak, my just smelling the steak or even just hearing the sizzle of a steak. Thats because each one of those senses were attached to that memory.
In teaching, we need to get all the senses we can to help the student not just learn the material but to easily access it again. Adding emotions like sock factor, jumping up on a table and reciting Abraham Lincoln. That helps a student recall what was being said because of seeing a teacher doing something not normal.
Basically, just find as many ways to look at the material and see what works. teaching or training people is always a changing system. you will have students that just wont get the material until you step outside the bix and look at it in a different way.
Taking the students POV and perspective of the learning environment is beneficial in order to make any improvements.
I've learned that motivation is key factor for successful learning.
I need to take more time to look at things from the student's perspective. I often have a difficult time repeating things in lectures, but I must understand that they don't start with my knowledge base.
I have extended my understanding of the non-traditional trade school student and their needs. This is important in communication and soft-skills in dealing with whatever needs those students may have.
I don’t think I provide enough encouragement (vital for motivation and retention) so I need to find ways to build that into the course, both for online weeks and in-person weeks.
Keeping students engaged and motivated from one class to another, Instructors must understand that each student has a different learning style. Retention and keeping individual students focused in the classroom is dependent on the instructor to understand and being able to adapt to deferent learning styles and techniques for each student.
When you know your students you can get the max out of them in a learning environment
My takeaway from this lesson was to be mindful of the student's path to my classroom. Everyone is on a journey and there will be challenges that they face from outside influences that will impact their ability to fully engage. Adult learners carry so many responsibilities and taking on a new role as a student can be stressful. I plan to be empathetic and provide a classroom environment that brings value, stability, and provides a structure where all can feel valued and appreciated, no matter if they are a more experienced learner or just out of high school. The goal is to maintain that drive to achieve the education required for a successful career, that will provide more stability to achieve that self-actualization.
I learned that seeing how multiple different people learn can show you how to teach better and the diversity in understanding how to do things whether its more hands on or more schooling and studying. Its very important to find ways to relate and get along and get to know them so you can understand how to approach and what's going to work for said person. The most important thing to me that I've learned through this is to make sure absolutely no one is in fear intimidated or feel less than you truly never know what's going on in anyones life.
I've learned that understanding student characteristics and goals before diving into the academic material, knowledge retention is far greater than expected.
Applying more effort on identifying student's background, career goals and aspirations, I can effectively integrate activities to help grow their skills and accomplish diverse learning methods.
