Get Your Students Hired
In technical school I use "Tell me about yourself." I start off by telling them about myself and that I teach full-time in a high school setting, sponsor PBIS Team and FBLA.I also tell them that I have three grown children and six grandchildren. I also give the life history of my family which they can relate. Now I have each student tell about their families,where they work, job experience, high school from which they graduated, hobbies, interest, and what they have heard about the class. This helps me to plan subject content as well as to pace the class according the students abilities. I try to challenge every student by grouping--advance student with an not as experienced student. I also have extra sessions so students can have one-on-one attention if the need arises. The students can ask for these sessions by e-mail so other students do not know what is going on; however, every student in the class know they can ask for help through this media. I meet the students before class or after class, on Friday's and Saturdays. This seems to be all that is necessary to bring students to work that their fullest potential.
Kristina ,
Do you have a formal "ice breaker" activity that you use, to get to know your students?
Tremayne Simpson
I love getting to know my students. When in the kitchen I get to have one on one conversations getting to know students and learning how I can help them
I find that this is a great engagement tool to implement on the first day of class. When I teach an academic course I tell them about my background and belief systems and then go around to each student to share briefly about themselves, why they decided to come to culinary school, what is there least and favorite foods, where do you see yourself in the next five years. Not only this is a great tool to get to know your students, it also lets you know how diversified your class is.
Barbara,
Excellent point. Whether in an online environment or in an actual classroom, it is important to provide your students with an opportunity to get acquainted with their classmates.
Tremayne Simpson
As a past student of distance learning courses, I've found this concept is also very important in the DL forum. Usually at the beginning of the course, students are asked to post a brief introduction. Since students are not in the traditional classroom, this helps them to feel more at ease and less threatened by knowing that other students, although in cyber land, share some of the same experiences.
I to think that one should give their students time to speak and be a strong part of the class. When I get to know my class it makes for a better class all together.