Identification of student needs will assist in the retention process

I've had the privilege of teaching in skills lab for almost three years now.  I did not even know that I was employing constructivism in my class.  I gather information from my students during our first day of class through a game.  This game entails for students to introduce themselves, and tell the class what they do for a living (professional student, bartender, etc.) and why they choose nursing.  I then take note of this information and formulate the ongoings of my class according to their educational levels and previous/current profession.  

This course allowed me to see myself as an instructor.  It has motivated me even more to enjoy what I do as an Instructor.  I am willing and ready to make changes in my profession that will enhance my teaching to prepare my students to build more confidence in maintaing their career goals.  Teaching is my passion and I would like to see my students to be passionate learners and prepare themselves to go to another level in their career dreams. A student is the product of their instructor.  Encouragement works both ways.  The instructor encourages the student and the… >>>

Very helpful! Thank you!

I enjoyed reading the material!  I could definintely relate to the REFOCUS section as it relates to my students instead of me.  Around mid-term, I notice my students look tired and most of them are, so I make sure that I add that extra support to encourage them to especially recognize and commit to "see it through!" 

I plan to apply this knowledge in class in order to be the best teacher possible and to help my students suceed in their educational career. 

My action plan to get the students attention was have a lesson plan prepared before class began.  I noticed when I was prepared it caused the students to understand what was going on and what to expect.

I love to hear the Harvard Professor saying please know your students and do not humilate your students. It is very important to be aware of our teaching methods if the method helps the student feel safe and welcome or are we belittling our students. This is very important to have a full group of students connected and motivated with the course and instructor. 

Although this course was very shallow and short, I plan on implementing the following:

1. Give students a printed copy of each class' objectives for notetaking and reflection.

2. Use more pair/think/share exercises to better engage all students especially those that are usually quiet.

3. Set up student pairs before class to help students gain exposure to different students.

4. More quizzes at the beginning of a class to reinforce learning and increase intrinsic motivation. (Not all have to be graded.)

5. Ask students for more feedback about classroom activities and sequences.

6. Continue building on active learning.

7. Think… >>>

I plan to focus more on greeting the student at the door and show a more caring atmosphere as an Instructor

Determining students motivators is important in rewarding them to support learning.

Course completed

I enjoyed the refresher on nonverbal communication

I find it very helpful to arrive 15 to 20 min before class starts. This allows me to interact with each student as they arrive. Before class even starts I share some personal experiences with them. I find this encourages students to arrive early. For some this is the best part of class. This allows them to get settled in and I can start class right on time.

Taking ED102 course has been a rewarding process. I have discoved some basic tipis for motivating, empowering, and retaining students. A big tips was learning about the need to REFOCUS so that I can recharge my battery thus maintaining students interest and focus in the class.

I learned that in order to retain our student populous, we need to sympathize and see where our student demographic is to relate to the student.

I plan on implementing more one to one time with each individual and talking with them to relate to each individual.

A best practice that works with some student populations is to have a positive quote of the day on the board.  I read the quote and may share an example of how it pertains to daily life as well as thier professional career.  Students are also invited to share a positive quote and indicate what it means to them.

This is an important issue. Many students (and people in general) need better time management skills. We all have the ability to choose to make the time we need to achieve our goals.  The underlying reason is to choose. I have in the past and will continue to show students how they can carve out the necessary time in their days/weeks/months to be successful. I am currently a student and live by this. I often help students create a calendar and allocate time for family, chores, work and anything else they need, then highlight the times they can do their… >>>

I just recently had a learning experince while teaching. I learned something about my teaching that I think I was not getting information across to my students. I was teaching one cohort after another 'how to round' (numbers). Yes, I had to teach college students how to round numbers. Sound crazy. Well not form the cultural perspecitve.

I learned that maybe, just maybe, not all cultures of the world teach rounding in elementary school like I learned. And maybe, just maybe other culture find no use for rounding. So I've changed my attitude toward teaching it and i hope that… >>>

By experience, I have observed that telling verbally students that they are doing a good job with their tests and especially on their mastery of newly acquired lab skills like vital signs, venipuncture, injections, doing surgical asepsis,etc. make them so much enthusiastic in doing their work even better the next time than not mentioning how well they've performed at all!