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Todays Challenging Students

I currently am an Instructor at a Technical Institute. I feel I am a Guide type instructor, however do feel the challenges of the variety of students taking my courses. They range in age from 17-70. The challenges I face daily reflect basically on the times we live in. Obviously we have all seen the rebelious text messaging, baggy pants, hats on backwards youth which generally are the hardest to influence, but at the same time we are dealing with alot of veterans who have troubles adapting. I personally feel that everyone deserves the best I can give. I emphasize the importance of being professional and having good communication and people skills. I am open and adapt to all learning styles. The first day of the course I try to greet them, walk around and introduce myself and make them feel comfortable within my world. This seems to bring all students closer and allows me to establish protocols and objectives with positive re-enforcement. Is their anything I can do better in these trying times?

Jon, looks to me like you have a great approach. Always come to class prepared and knowledgeable on how current events impact your subject matter. Communicate with your students and find out what they want out of the time you spend together. For some they just want to get by with a minimal effort. I have always replied with how they would feel if I were their employer and wanted to give them minimal pay for their hard work? Find ways to relate their effort to the gains they can make in the workplace.

James Jackson

I often use the technique of relating a students behavior to how it will benefit or not benefit them in the workplace. Most times when a student feels they have done a greater share of the work in a group assignment I ask them if that could possibly detract from their developement of a great work ethic.

kodee, well stated. In the "real-world" there will always be those that go above and beyond and those that tend to get by with the least amount of effort. Focusing on going above and beyond will serve students well when they get into their first job or get their next job so help them focus on what they do to show their level of professionalism versus being worried about the work ethics of others.

James Jackson

I agree that referring classroom behaviors, good or bad, back to their relevance to the field is a very good method to get some students back on track and to further emphasis the value of the continued good behavior in the other students.

How do you effectively do that without embarrassing them in front of the class?

sarah, the format you use to steer a discussion in the correct direction can have a major impact on maintaining a safe and trusted environment in the classroom. Mistakes and incorrect statements are part of the learning process. You can let a student know their information is incorrect while still praising them for taking a leap and providing their suggestions or questions. A simple, "Great Point" followed by the student's name can quickly be redirected to discussing a correct method or process by which all your students will learn from the situation. If a student provides an incorrect answer to a question, simply let them know they did a great job with their analysis and it is not uncommon to come to such a conclusion. Then guide them to a MORE correct answer by discussing the key concepts of that topic. Think like a politician and always remember you can take any situation and mold it into the statue you want others to see.

James Jackson

Hello Mr. Jackson I am a culinary instructor at a cooking school and I teach several different classes from intro to advance, how do you handle a student in an advance class whose skills are not up to par or not even close to what the expectations are for the class? How should I handle this?

Rawn , do you discuss such situations with some for of curriculum or academic achievement committee? As a college you should consider ways to measure your learning outcomes and measuring the impact of pre-req courses is one major factor. You can also consider pre and post testing within your own classroom so you can track knowledge levels of incoming students and demonstrate growth of knowledge in your students that move on to other courses.

James Jackson

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