Student Involvement: Antidote for Stress
I believe one of the best antidotes for the forms of stress discussed in Topic #2 is student involvement. The sooner the new students become involved in campus life and academic activities, the easier it will be to get over (or avoid altogether) the effects of Academic Erosion. Students are less likely to feel like they are “lost in a crowd†if they quickly become members of organized groups or activities.
I agree.Students respond much beter to positive reinforcememt.Dwelling on the negative only increases insecurity,self-doubt and isolation.
Do you have any unique forms of positive re-enforcement to offer other participants, Joanna?
Dennis:
I fully agree with you, I have found that by students becoming involved and learning the others have the same fears and nervous anticipations that they have; makes it easier and less stressful for them individually.
Lillian, what do you do to get students involved so they can learn about the fears of their peers?
I'm with you on this one!
I do two things:
1. I appont students ( the quiet ones have that invisible stress) and give them class responsibilites. These responsibilites do not add to their stress, it actually gives them the opportunity to focus on their studies, careers and their futures.Not to mention theses student see their peers in a different light. They begin to realize that stress is a part of life.
There is good and bad stress. Stress doesn't always have to be a negative. Always turn the negative around and make it a positive.
2. We formed a student body. This is where a student can first go to the class offiicals (their own peers) to talk about difficulties. After which if the student doesn't feel this method was sufficient, I am always there for each of them.
These were only two of my building blocks for trust and respect that I have used for years.
This helps with my success rate.
These sound like effective tools, Diane. Is the student body just for students in your class, or for all students? Please feel free to share more of your ‘building blocks'.
What do you suggest in the case of an extremely shy student. I have a student who is much older then her classmates and is also very shy and has not really bonded with her classmates? Any suggestions?
Older students can be a valuable resource is the classroom, Louisa. Have you tried talking with the student about how her experience could help her classmates? Do you have group work assignments? If so, you can draw out a shy student by giving them leadership responsibilities in a small group. As they gain confidence you can build on that experience.
Any thoughts from other participants?
Hi,
Thank you for asking. The student body is for each individual class.
Another building block I use is "Follow through"
What I say is what I do. It maintains my credibility and the students know they can trust me.
Another one is: If I don't know the answer, I will find it for you or we can find it together.
Great ideas!
Maybe you can give your older student tasks that seem to hold some sort of responsibilty, such as passing out paperwork, being the moderator for classroom games. Maybe a task such as researching a word, process, or technique that is appropriate for the lesson plan.
Each week appoint a student to be your assistant.
Don't pick your older student for the first week.
It's a real challenge. There's always the shy ones. Then when they break out of their shells......... Look - out!
Great suggestions, Diane. Thanks.
These are great ideas. I'm struggling on ways to create a "community" for my fully Online students I think there are some analogies I can draw from here, but 1 big problem with Online is I can create a forum that will say allow for a "student body" chat, but if build it will they come (maybe I've answered my own question - I should build it and then find out! - but is this really the best use of my resources?
Ya gotta play to win, Debbie. Your online courses probably require some teamwork and collaboration among your students, but you might consider broadening the requirement to include participation in your chat section.
I also like to give my new students a share in the classroom duties as well, I also have one of the older students, sort of adopt the new ones to " show them the ropes"
By doing this it increases the feeling of belonging and that the students are part of the team. I believe in positive reinforcement, and having my students trusting in their fellow student gives them an avenue to vent their stresses and concerns.
What classroom duties do you ask new students to share, Diane? Is there a formal “adoption†system?
I have students responsible for collating and distributing notes, if there is something that needs to be de discussed within the community of the classroom I have one student gather all the input so it can be presented in a logical presentation, thus avoiding one particular student being singled out,to prevent emotional outburts so the classroom problems can be solved.I also allow my students to quiz themselves by participating in games (such as hangman, tic tac toe, etc., this is a good review for written tests and no one is singled out if they are unsure of the correct answer, My students also have to interact with students from other classes to perfect their clinical skills, so by having them involved in group activities (free BP screening,EKG etc.)has them involved with other students as well. I also let the students know that I am available for them for confidential meetings.I always remember the motto
"Do what you say, and say what you do", so that trust can be built.
I agree with your statement - students need to be invovlved - be part of the "family" as one might say. The students begin to realize they are not alone in their struggle to reach their goal.
What do you do to get your students involved; to be part of the family, Joseph?
