Staying engaged with the students, being nonjudgmental and having a open door policy conveyed in first week or last enrollment is key to help the students succeed.
It is important to reinforce the things we talk about and show support on the students' first week of school to help reassute them that they made the right choice. It's also important to place special attention to students that missed orientation or had late orientation as they can be at risk.
I know an area of improvement for me is not developing a preduice against students that miss the first day or two, but I will work on it.
The more you build the a report with the students the better their experience will be
Great strategies mentioned to better support late enrollment students
Practice empathy and relate to students while maintaining a safe, interacive learning environment. Always follow-up with late orientation and/or enrollments to ensure success of program, college or individual student.
The importance of instructors with late enrollees. "It is extremely important that instructors make the student feel welcome and not overwhelmed, while still providing realistic expectations. Students who start classes late are already at risk. Making them feel unduly overwhelmed or excluded will be sure to drive them out the door early."
To be there and be present
Students who enroll late should be paired with a senior student to guide them as a mentor. This ensures that they have the time needed to assimilate without causing the instructor to hold up class for the rest of the new students.
The hardest thing to deal with is the late arriving or missing first day students.
The first week of class is so important for new and returning students. I have been teaching for more than 15 years and I have noticed that the more engaged the students were the first week better chance of returning the next. Hands on activities work great the first week. Getting students in the lab early, if you can safely, really gets them motivated to continue.
Enhance assimilation during the first week. Address behaviors and patterns. Attendance call as soon as you go in. Build a bond.
If you've built a strong orientation, the students will already be a little familiar with each other and the instructor
