Mandy Black

The first week of class, including orientation, is such a pivotal time in a new student's journey to complete a program. During orientation we can create a bond with them and become a resource to help them decide not to give up. If they feel comfortable, informed, welcomed and confident in the school they will not give up. We must create a fun, yet serious or professional atmosphere they can thrive in. I plan on implementing more staff involvement in the orientation, and I plan on working toward a more interactive orientation. 

It is important for faculty to be involved with the orientation process. Admissions to be a friendly face, instructors to give info on what their process will be like and other faculty to begin creating relationship with the students so they feel more at home, and more likely to ask for help later if they have issues.

I learned how important it is to make orientation fun and interactive. Also helping to bridge student relationships so they can start off with community. This will help students feel more secure and minimize buyers remorse leading to better retention.

Being a college is so much more than offering classes and finding students. It's important to be very intentional with everything from the hiring of teachers to scheduling administration to be available for every class. During the first few weeks of a student's college experience, it is imperative to offer many forms of support to new students. Helping create community and support and instructing them on how to access the resources available to them is important for retention farther down the road.

As much as we are monitoring our students and helping them foster a positive vision for their future, we also have to be monitoring ourselves. Having a bad day because we get lost in a negative mindset can impact how we interact with others and in turn impact their day too because maybe we aren't smiling or connecting with our students. Perhaps we let a bad attitude overcome us and we partake in office gossip and that impacts other staff and that in turn impacts other students. we have to stay on top of our own thinking as well and… >>>

Emotional Intelligence or EQ is very important in dealing with students and teaching students. In the classroom its important to feel the energy of the class and try to keep morale high. Telling students what you are about to go over or summarizing and reminding them of what you just went over is a way to help information stick. sandwiching important info at the beginning of class and end of class and using stories and humor in the middle can help hold attention and keep the energy of the class high and engaged. Also teaching students how to be emotionally… >>>

The most important thing is getting the student to graduation and one way to help with that is to help the student's mindset. A student may have many factors that influence his/her HABE's or thinking. Being patient and understanding and reminding a student about their vision for their future can be very helpful. Sometimes you are the only one in their life telling them they CAN. Impacting a life in such a way can have a major impact on the world around the student causing the student to share the good news of what an amazing community we have here… >>>

Immediate crisis support would look much different from offering long term support to a student. I also hope to grow my arsenal of resources that can help a student for the long term.

What are are some good books, classes and ways to educate yourself in order to combat your own HABE's, and hopefully be able to give solid advice on those strategies?