Kelly Martin

Hi Denise,

I encounter the same student behaviors and lack of soft skills as they enter the program.  My goal is to model the soft skills and work behaviors necessary to get and maintain a job in the field.  I find that I have greatly improved my soft skills and work place behaviors because I have to really focus and follow all the "rules" of soft skills and work place behaviors so I can be a great role model.  There are some days when I have a "teaching moment" when my soft skills or work place behaviors are less than… >>>

What are some easy to incorporate healthy coping mechanisms that can be added into a split shift schedule?  My schedule is 8 am-12 pm, 3 pm-5 pm, 6 pm-8 pm.  I usually end up working the full 12 hours if I do not stop myself for a food break.  I am used to working in an office with a perfectly defined schedule of get to work in the morning and get ready for patients, go to lunch and then go home after the last patient.  Now that I am a full-time instructor, I am having a hard time defining when… >>>

I agree with what you said about emotions being contagious, and I think we can pass our stress on to our students if we are not aware of it.  Taking regular breaks and making sure I am well fed, had enough sleep, and I took some extra time to plan out my schedule and make sure I schedule in regular exercise, I notice I have a significant amount more energey and patients to interact with the students and give them 100% of my attention and not a stressed out, mess of an Instructor.  I can set a better example for… >>>

How can Instructors help a special needs student, or a student that might have a learning disability?  Is there any extra training that could help instructors help theses types of students?

What do instructors do when they have a special needs student in their class that is not understanding the lectures or who has a difficult time reading and understanding the text book, and writing and answering homeweork exercises?

The school standards render every student teachable and every student should be taught the skills and knowledge to be able to fuction and thrive in the careerfield.  How do Instructors structure… >>>

Reply to Brian Yee's post:

I use both also, and I try to throw in some audio and hands-on things in the lecture too.  I pull up some you-tube demonstraions and I have props or models to put in the students hands too.  I find that the students stay more engaged and my retention stays high, and my stress level goes down. 

Reply to Felicia Burns's post:Hi Felicia,

That is a great idea! I am going to try that in my next lecture.. I get one or two students a module that just look and act so totally board and unintrested in whatever i am lectureing about.. That sounds like it will draw them back into the lesson.

Thanks for the great tip!! :)

I am having a really hard time this module with students just not wanting to complete the entire assignment!  They either skip questions or omit a whole section.  I have tried going over the questions on the homework in a class discussion, I have tried making the sections most students omit, worth triple the points to entice them to complete the whole section.  I am getting a whole lot of students with near failing grades.  I would think that having a low score would inspire them to inquire about such a low score, or ask me to help them, but… >>>