How to approach stress related events for the student
When a student is closed to mid-term exams or final exams they could feel anxious about sucessfully completing the course.
A few things we do to help them deal with this school related stress factor:
1) Creating a friendly atmosphere out side the classrooms from day one.Ex: we give breaks between classes. During these breaks students meet, talk and relax.
2) Check on what the student is "getting" outside the classroom by asking questions ( surveying )
3) Talking about a funny anecdote or topic just before a test or preformance could help to relax. :-D
Mid-term and final exams are stressful times for students. Helping them manage that stress is an important lesson for them to learn.
Tell me more about your second point, please. What do you survey to check on what the student is getting outside the classroom?
Staff members are trainned to be "all ears" with our students. Since our first commitment is their success, we continually ask them about how are they doing in class in a relax and friendly way. Sometimes we discover that this approach, outside the classroom, give us a great feedback about how are we doing and how are the students feeling about their program.
Also we pass a questionaire where we ask about each event or period and the students answers help us to unsderstand their needs and what we can do to help them better.
Asking students how they are doing is a great practice but whenever you ask a question you must be prepared for any answer. If the student gives negative feedback or has a problem are you confident that the person asking the question will follow through? If they don't, you would be better off if they didn't ask at all.
We also have the students complete surveys. We are able to read them and they are also passed on to headquarters so that issues can be addressed as a whole.
Concerning tests and assignments - I've run into some students who don't even want to do the work because they have not done well on the tests. Because the tests count for a certain percentage of their grade (and usually a large one) they feel like they shouldn't even try. Im sure other instructors have run into the same thing. I try to let them know that any grade is better than no grade and encourage them to turn in all work. They usually see the difference in their grades and this motivates them to do better on the assignments and tests.
Failure and lack of confidence are terrible things. Students who get into this situation often need the extra attention you describe. Certainly future success starts with submitting the next assignment. Do you use peers to help develop a student's confidence?
I haven't. But it's hard to know how to handle that. Most people don't want others to know their problems. So, when a student tells me his/her situation, I kind of treat it like "doctor-patient confidentiality." I encourage my students to share their knowledge and practices. I leave it up to the student to share their issues with other students and ask for help.
I agree with you. I definitely feel a lot of the student's problems need to be handled in a confidentiality-type setting. That's how you gain their trust, they will feel comfortable coming to you again, and hopefully they will never feel embarrassed discussing certain issues with you.
The instructor sets the atmosphere in the classroom, and the students respond.I believe students will learn better in a stress-free envirnment.
What techniques do you use to create a stress free environment in the classroom?
Explain Day 1 what your expectations are for all of them. Find out what their expectations are of the course and you. Along the way talk to them about their successes and what is needed to help them improve.
What method do you use to determine the students' expectations? How often do they differ from yours and what do you do to reconcile the differences?
