Peggy--
It is important to bring up obstacles and fears, as most students have similar ones. This lets them know they aren't the only ones experiencing those particular fears. It also provides them with vehicles to resolve them as they arise.
Susan
we have a "breaking the ice" game that has a list of quesitons. They need to talk to other students and meet them to get the answers to these questions. It helps them realize that they aren't alone in their decision to return to school.
Hi Susan....I find that at orientation, having some faculty pop in and say hi alleviates any initial fears...Introducing staff members is also helpful...it puts a face with the name/position.
I like to present a good overview of the education/academic dept. While I stress work is involved, I also mention "fun" is a component.
During the orientation process the Education Department takes pictures of the students for their student-identification cards and a picture of the student in cap and gown. Seeing the cap and gown photo helps to inspire and remind new students to stay true to their commitment to finish the program.
We also utilize this time to speak with the students and their support groups. Good healthy support groups help to encourage students to stay in school. Sometimes lessening the fears of the support groups assists is lessening the fears of the students as well.
We do something similar for an “ice breaker” at our school during orientation. The students throw around a beach ball to each other and whoever catches the ball has to share a brief synopsis of their background, reason for attending school, and goals. The students usually find that they share commonalities in these areas.
Great!
Students are fearful of what their instructors will be like, so putting a face to a name and letting students know they are 'real people' is always a helpful thing to do.
This is a WONDERFUL thing! Taking pictures of the students in a cap and gown at orientation really sets the tone that they will be successful.
Susan
We start off with an ice breaker activity in orientation to help the students be more comfortable interacting with each other. It gives them the opportunity to learn a little about each of their classmates and what generally happens is that they realize they all have similar concerns and obstacles.
We also continually mention our (the directors and staff) open door policy. We explain several times over that it is OK to come to us for any issue.
Each department head gets up and speaks at orientation. At the end of each presentation, we ask questions regarding the information just presented and then hand out prizes for the correct answers (and give little prizes to anyone who raises their hand, even if the answer is wrong)
We focus heaviliy on the classroom experience and career services which usually answers most of their questions.
Matthew,
What a fantastic idea. Our school has been mulling around the idea of trying to implement something like this but have yet to come up with something that would yeild the desired results. I think your tactic is great. I am going to begin implementing it at our school if you don't mind. I like the notion that it unifies and normalizes. I think this will help further develop our mentoring program that is in its infancy.
Thank you,
Arielle Schram
Susan,
We try to use a myriad of tactics just in our orientation day alone: staff meet and greet, instructors having lunch with new students, ice-breaker games, student success skills class, how to manage your student loans while in school, and a few other classes. My fear however, is that in so doing we might be inciting even more fear in our students by the way that we do these things.
One specific tactic that we use is an ice-breaker that I am now wondering if it is working against us. The students pair up with another student (whom they just met), ask questions about their work history, family background, where they are from, their goals for their duration at our institution and finally their dream vacation. At which point, the entire faculty come in and the student is asked to stand up (either where they are at or at the front of the class) and introduce the rest of the faculty to the student they just interviewed (their new best friend).
My question regarding this ice-breaker is this: Given the module material and understanding that social acceptance as well as self comparison to other students hinders the desire to return to school, would you see our ice-breaker as something that might be backfiring?
~Arielle Schram
During the orientation we have an instructor meet and greet over pizza. Instructors will tell the students a little bit about their background, why they enjoy teaching at our college, what the rules of engagement/expectations are and then will ask the students what they think they will need in to do in order to be successful while going to school. Then we get answers back and share positive and negative examples of that. The instructors joke with one another and the students to try to keep the atmosphere light and friendly.
Do you have any constructive criticism for me on this one? How we might improve our meet and greet? Questions to ask, questions not to ask? How to structure it more naturally or even just with more structure in general?
Thank you,
Arielle Schram
Susan,
Your idea here to play a video is extremely helpful. We video tape every graduation and we have one student from every program speak at the graduation. This would be an easy implementation tool to help inspire and remind them that just as they are sitting there for the first time in the classroom...these graduates did too. The neat thing about it is that constantly our graduate speakers are mentioning how they had fears and perceptions that with the help of an instructor or mentor they were able to overcome. Thank you for the idea.
You also helped me answer an earlier question I had...I believe I can actually begin to use this as a means to replace our current ice-breaker and tie this into the instructor meet and greet that we have. What are your thoughts on the following:
To replace the ice-breaker: Play the graduation video. Have students write down on a peice of paper: their goals, fears and one thing that they can hold onto to keep them persevering to reach their goals. We can collect these papers and without mentioning anyone's name, possibly read off a few of them and then continue this in the meet and greet section with the instructors. Do you think this approach might yeild the results similar to that of which the module was addressing?
Thank you,
Arielle Schram
We discuss all of that. I also let them know that it is normal to feel somewhat lost at first because with a new education comes a new languauge aka professional specific terminology as well as a new way of thinking.
Arielle--
Not necessarily. Most likely, they are not revealing anything to their 'new best friend' that they wouldn't want anyone else to know...after all, the person they are revealing these things to is also a stranger.
Susan
This sounds like a great exercise where everyone can learn from the groups ideas. Do you have the students actually write down somewhere (and perhaps collect them for their advising file) what action steps they feel they will need to do in order to be successful? This is a wonderful exercise to get them focused on intentional behavior...and would be very helpful for them and their advisor to use down the road as needed.
Susan
I feel that orientation into my class is a time to have the student stand up and tell his name, where he/she is from, their hobbies and what they expect out of my class. I also tell them about my work history and hobbies. It's a good tool, knowing what the student is into, that way when I'm explaining something I can use an example thay can relate to. I also think that one of the smartest things you can do for your student is to be available. I have lunch and break where they can talk to me. I've found that students sometimes will ask more questions in an informal setting than they will in the class room. Letting them know they can talk to me during these times has helped me save more than just a few students from quiting school.
We do a complete campus tour, we meet other students in the same program (but that are further along). I tell them exactly what is expected of them and what they can expect from me. We have a question and answer session, and I make sure I meet every student and understand their reasoning for attending college.
Some of the activities include having current students involved in the orientation process by addressing the new students. We also provide a luncheon on the first day so all of the new students can mingle with one another from all different departments as well as with the staff from all of our deparmemts.
We also try and set them at ease right away by discussing how important communication is betweeen them and our staff, and if they are experiencing any problems at all to let someone know and maybe some intervention can take place.
We do have our Graduate employment specialist address the students on the first day to discuss how the job search process will take place and how it will affect them as they get closer to graduating.
Sarah--
That's awesome that you take the time to meet each students and understand their motivation. That personal touch is very important and I'm sure the information you collect is helpful in retention efforts.
Susan
Let the students know the schedule of all the departments. Also let them know when they can get tutoring or assistance from myself and others in my institution.
