Take a few minutes and engage with your students about random topics. It's okay to have fun and still get the material covered.
I like the ideas of human factor, motivation, acknowledge their feelings and developing rapport with the students so they can be engaged in the learning process.
It is important to build rapport with your students. This helps them feel comfortable, accepted and respected. Creating a positive, upbeat, open learning environment is important especially with adult learners.
Engage your students. Be thoughtful in your approach and be a human being.
Start each class with a light hearted moment, a story, an icebreaker, etc... to get them comfortable and ready to learn.
I've learned it is essential for students to be continuously engaged in class to hold interest in the subject matter, which leads to overall better success rates for students. One interesting way to do this is to use random national holidays as a way to bring light-hearted fun to the classroom.
Our students reflect what they see. Instructor needs to be enthusiastic, confident, have a love for teaching and know the content.
Comment on Rose Elam's post: That is awesome. It is like performing or acting so to say, the energy of a professor is felt and mimicked within a classroom setting. What you bring to the table sets the vibe for that class and everyone in it.
create dynamic learning environments that maintain student engagement. Always look for ways to connect and interact with students.
Creating and monitoring/modifying your teaching methods to keeps all students engaged and learning in the environment. Do not find just one method, but vary them up to keep your students engaged and yourself learning as you teach.
I think it's important to remember that having fun can be an important part of learning.
This learning module emphasized the importance of creating a caring environment, which will promote learning for every age group.
Great Content helps connect with students better
Being genuine can help you build a deep rapport with students
Enhancing Student Retention:
This module has been quite full-filling to learn techniques to enhance students retention. I am most inspired by How can you help your students to understand why you have set the course expectations at the level you have? Why is repeated recognition and rewards so important for student success? Also, how does starting the class with some lighthearted moments contribute to getting the students ready for learning?
Setting standards for the classroom is paramount. I like the suggestion of showing students examples of competency levels required for advancement in the career field. My practice is to have students to popcorn read the Rules & Regulations of the classroom to set a respectful and professional tone. Eating in class is prohibited as it becomes a major distraction. Although, there is instruction in the virtual classroom the same rule applies to convey the significance of discipline and eating on breaks opposed to our desk. When a student questioned, "Why are we unable to eat at our desk (we're all adults)?" I expressed the unprofessional image it promotes during lectures. I used myself as an example, it would look very unprofessional of me to lecture and eat at the same time. The student respected that example.
The repeated recognition of the classroom is a suggested tip that I currently implement. There are weekly congratulations and kudos given to students in the announcements for high achievers and to encourage others to participate in discussions. It is important for me to engage the students throughout the class, therefore, I send emojis in our chat to acknowledge students for their engagement. According to the statistics provided in Module 2 there will be 40% of higher level student achievement (Repeated Recognition & Rewards for students success).
The lighthearted approach to start class with a joke is a brilliant idea for an inviting tone. It is important to me to welcome the students as they arrive and acknowledge them by name. Ice Breakers are included at the beginning of class to help the students settle in comfortably and to be eager to learn.
Overall, the methods suggest creating a comfortable environment that exudes lightheartedness all the while maintaining professionalism.
From this module, I have learned the importance of incorporating creativity into each class session in order to keep students engaged. Additionally, it is important to set and maintain high expectations/standards for the class, but in a way that is not intimidating for the students.
I found it interesting that 60% of student success is based on self-respect/confidence. Helping students set achievable goals for themselves and translating course goals into personal goals will help alleviate frustration that impedes the educational process. Including students in the educational process is imperative. I work hard to set clear and expectations for success in my courses and relate those to industry expectations. On day one, I give them a presentation of what they will need to do to be successful in school and work.
Be enthusiastic about your topic. Let students help determine where the class goes. Do not try to force where the topics go.
keeping students engaged and interacting with each other
