Retention Strategies
I do several things to try to keep my students interested and to let them know that I want them to succeed in my classes. When a student misses class, I try to contact them to make sure everything is okay. In class I joke a lot. I try to get everyone involved in solving the problems I put on the board (I teach math). I also have some fake Million Dollar bills that I will pass out as rewards. I just keep some of these in my wallet and pass them out whenever I think it will generate interest and participation in my class.
Hi Richard,
Good job in keeping a course like math interesting for your students. You are engaging them with fun learning, not to mention the million dollar bills. Keep up the good work.
Gary
In the class (live): I have two. (1) Let the students teach, share and lead a portion of the class session. This helps to see what students are retaining, helps them better understand the material. Also, I’ve found that sometimes students are able to learn from the way another student explains a concept and an instructor explanation may not have resonated in the same manner. (2) Experiential exercises always bring life to the text and concepts.
On-line: the no-brainer here is communication. Students have a successful learning experience when I make them feel as though I’m right there with them as they work at their home workstations (computers). Weekly updates or status checks and detailed feedback in the comments section on the assignments goes a long way in providing the communication connection. It never hurts as well to communicate and remind students of missed and/or upcoming deadlines.
