Keeping Your Focus on the Students | Origin: ED102
This is a general discussion forum for the following learning topic:
Student Retention Methods --> Keeping Your Focus on the Students
Post what you've learned about this topic and how you intend to apply it. Feel free to post questions and comments too.
The idea of using surprises through the course is particularly intriguing to keep people on their toes and engaged. 10-15 minute attention spans is also a little alarming.
By staying enthusiastic and engaged myself, the mid course slump can become more manageable. A good way is to practice the acronym of REFOCUS. Story telling should be considered during long, arduous lectures. The important point is to keep the class interesting. Developing trust and respect, ie rapport with the students includes learning their names and something interesting about them. Encouraging students to reflect on how far they have come and all they have accomplished will motivate them.
Develop a way to remember names of your students, value nontraditional students such as older students by sharing life experiences helps establish credibility and feel accepted in the class. Recognize strengths and weaknesses and keep in mind that older students bring experiences that contribute to classroom learning. Students respond positively to instructors that are fair, caring and respectful.
REFOCUS is a great way to regroup and come back with the same enthusiasm as when the course started. Proper planning and engagement and energy is what can be the difference between a student just copying information or actually learning the information.
This module was a great reminder that an instructor's passion directly impacts student motivation. Taking the time to build a strong rapport and showing genuine enthusiasm for the subject helps create a comfortable environment where students feel confident asking questions and reaching out when they need extra support.
Great reminder that some of learning is about motivating our students. A good idea mentioned in the course was to poll your students after an assignment. Sometimes I may not be accurate in thinking the assignment went good or bad. This will give me additional information
Keeping students attention can be accomplished in many different way, such as telling a story as long as you keep it relevant to the topic. Or by spilting them into groups and playing a "crisis" game.
Instructors being enthusiastic about the subject their teaching will transfer to the students. If someone is not passionate about what they are instructing how can anyone else be about learning it. I'll strive to keep that excitement for the subject matter.
During this section, we discussed how to keep the students focused in class. Taking the time to build a rapport with the students is very important because they will feel comfortable with you and trust you enough to reach out for needing assistance. Sometimes the world of education can be overwhelming and a thankless job. When that happens, you need to take a minute to recharge yourself and refocus yourself. You can do that by reminding yourself of why you are in education and of the many students you have assisted along the way to their ultimate goal of becoming and RN.
I believe that a particular story matching the topic and showing that you had your trials and tribulations while learning the trade will help to encourage the students to understand that failures are evident and be valuable lessons to being better at your trade.
I also enjoy learning with the students and when asked a question that I don't know the answer to I can demonstrate how we find the answers in the field and then we can share our learning experience.
The role playing of a crisis situation is spot on. Getting mental run-throughs is a great way to feel prepared when a real crisis does arise. Even though its imaginary at first, the students will have real experience in working under perceived pressure. Ive seen this work in many fields.
SHOWING OUR STUDENTS THAT THE INSTRUCTOR IS REAL AND ALSO HAS FLAWS WILL ADD A PERSONAL FEEL TO THE CLASS.
In this session, I learned how to recharge the students after momentum has slowed down. I also learned how to keep the students engaged and active participants in class.
being more personable to the classroom and you will get better results from the students
I thought the section about the mid-course "slump" was an important point to consider. I will be aware of the malaise that I or my students may experience and try to plan an activity to have the group reflect on how far they've come in their studies.
I learned of the importance of nonverbal communication when leading a discussion to encourage engagement.
Keeping the focus on the students means paying attention to how well they are actually learning, not just whether I have covered all of the material. Every student learns differently, so using a variety of teaching methods such as discussion, demonstrations, hands-on activities, and real-world examples can help keep students engaged and make the information easier to understand and retain.
I intend to apply this by paying closer attention to student participation and understanding throughout each lesson. I want students to feel comfortable asking questions or letting me know when something does not make sense. In a hands-on program, I can also give students opportunities to practice skills instead of only hearing about them in a lecture. Asking for feedback and checking for understanding will help me adjust my teaching when needed and keep the students involved in their own learning.
Learned a new word...Learnativity and it's importance in helping students learn and retain information, developing the working memory. The 3x5 cards used for receiving feedback from students.
Keeping students actively engaged through enthusiasm and a variety of instructional methods can create a safe and positive learning environment while maintaining their interest. This approach not only facilitates learning for all students but also encourages greater interaction, participation, and overall satisfaction with the course.
