Engaging environment through personalized support.
Its very important for you to really see and understand the type of students you have.Also your teaching style and make sure your availability is for all your students.
I have learned that coddling students is not beneficial for them. They need to be able to adapt to the challenges that they will encounter when they leave the class.
I also learned that using real life experience for older adult learner is more helpful to them. I can't wait to try it out
Learned to be an instructor for the younger and older students, their learning style would be different and I have to adjust my teaching technique to accommodate everyone.
Students are very easy to get distracted and loose focus, as an instructor, to keep students focused, asking questions, incorporating classroom group learning activities, individual/group projects and deadlines keeps teaches students responsibilities. Makes learning fun. Monitoring each individual student and keeping the students informed of class progress, and answer students questions in a timely manner. Students are our main priority.
It's important to understand every student's situation and adapt your teaching to encourage them.
As a person who has been in my field for 30 years and performed on-the-job training for numerous people, doing it in a classroom setting is as new for me as it is for many of the students. I consider any information and advice that will help me improve and become more confident to be valuable.
I think it's important to take the time to learn about each student to know how to get them the most potential out of them be a mentor not their friend. but most importantly make it fun.
My takeaway is how to be a instructor for the younger and older students, their learning style would be different and I have to adjust my teaching technique to accommodate both age group. Understanding the student needs will improve retention and help them to achieve their goal.
People learn in many different ways, and the best avenue for helping students is to get to know them. Interact with each student to the point where you as the instructor understand what makes that person unique. Once you are at that level you can adjust your teaching style to better fit each student.
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.
