Creating working relationships with students empowers them to be more comfortable on campus and gives them more confidence to reach out when they need help. Building working alliances creates an enviroment everyone feels comfortable in.
In reflection, I feel we could do a better job at my institution of utilizing positive praise to keep people motivated. I think the staff and faculty gets caught up in supporting the students of need and those who are just doing the things can unintentionally get ignored. Those who need the most help don't always get the praise either, because people are so focused on just getting them the help.
We have a PDF postcard for staff that we use to show praise and gratitude when a co-worker does something noteworthy. I am going to make a few versions to deliver to online students that say things like "Great Job!" "Keep Going!" Etc. Expressing gratitude and taking a moment to focus on those who are doing well can also energize and replenish us as staff/educators. As we know, about 20% of the students take up 80% of our energy and any place we can find to pause and be positive is great. This will also help foster connection and community in the online environment.
Reiteration of the need to develop working alliances with students and the 2 ways in which you can effectively achieve this goal.
I have found the hardest part of online teaching is that if a student fall off the radar, and I try to engage them or set up a meeting to assist or find out more, I may not ever be able to help them because there is no face to face or set touch point built in by the institution.
Climate culture is important! Positive campus needs to be the same in online courses. I agree with someone who stated "what is needed for a student to "buy in" to their success is to make them feel like they are where they should be during that space of time". We should have policies and should hold students accountable but it is crucial that educators remember we all had to start somewhere. We cannot set expectations so black/white, depending on circumstances we need some gray area.
Comment on Scott Larson's post: I concur that currently most of my grad students are all over regarding their level of academic aptitude. It is tough when using a rubric where one student clearly meets all of the objectives while other students fall significantly short of academic expectations. I simply try to encourage the lower students that by the end of their journey, they can look forward to being at the level of expectations, but currently, I will look forward to their growth.
Adaptarse a una modalidad nueva y encima retener a los estudiantes para concretar los logros de aprendizaje es dificil mas no imposible ya que como seres humanos, la adaptación a cambios, es innata y hoy en día tenemos facilidades en el aprendizaje, capacitaciones constantes que permiten a los docentes tener mayores conocimientos y proyectarlos en la practica diaria, además esta generación es mas hábil y nace con la tecnología.
Mirroring is often the simplest metheo when respondingn when practicing active listening skills
Strong relationships between students, educators and school staff can dramatically enhance students level of motivation and therefore promote learning
To offer a welcoming learning environment is relevant to improve student retention. We as teachers can contribute by making ourselves available, according to a certain SLA, to help students achieve their academic goals.
Regular and substantive interaction (RSI) with timely feedback at all points of the students' learning experience is at the core of academic success. Instructors must ensure the student engages and remains engaged. Isolation leads to disengagement and feelings of insecurity which lead to drops and withdrawals. Establishing rapport is essential.
It was interesting to learn the difference between customer service and helping students when it comes to developing a working alliance. In the past, I had been told that to be in academic advisement, we needed strong customer service skills which does help, but as long as the endgoal of helping vs satisfying and serving is kept in mind. This will help in training future team members in interacting with learners.
The self reflections will be nice to look back at in the future.
How to work with a lack of interest from students as well as building relationships for retention.
Comment on Tim Pope's post: I agree. This is why, our challenge as educators is not just as a teacher but our role also has been evolving into mentor.
Our campus strives for good professional relationships with the students and having them know we are with them every step of the way through their education and beyond.
Students need to feel part of the "team" or school as a whole and know that when they talk, staff will listen and problems will be solved. Our campus strives for strong student involvement and professional relationships.
I have experienced with my most recent cohorts that they don't come prepared with proficient knowledge, respectful behavior and a reality check on the time and level of commitment an online course requires. It's challenging because many "adult" students in their twenties and early thirties appear to have a sense of entitlement. As frequent as the communication is kept, they can't seem to be ok with waiting a normal response time. Challenging indeed.
Strong alliances and the campus climate are essential to student retention. I don't think I realized how big a role the teachers and other staff play in encouraging students to complete their program. This has encouraged me.
I loved learning more about the impact of strong working alliances with students and the reference to the work of Carl Rogers in helping to build rapport, trust, and providing unconditional positive regard to students. I also appreciate the research on how we can help students feel more connected to the institution through regular, quality interactions with us as instructors.
