Get Your Students Hired
Reginald,
Good steps to follow in order to help your students see the value of the course content and how it impacts their career growth.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Making that positive first impression is important because it sets tone for the course. It starts with being organized, knowing your subject real well, and thoroughly prepared. If you display these characteristics in the classroom, students will attend your class with a desire to learn. Adversely, if you come to class unprepared, students will lose interest in the course. In addition, engagement from them will be a challenge.
Raymond,
What are some of the ways you do this when you are starting a new course?
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Donna,
You raise a good point because we instructors start developing our impressions of our students at the first meeting as well. We need to be open to their personalities as they get settled into the course and we start seeing their work ethic and devotion to being successful in the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I think the students try to make a good impression as well. We usually see the real person on the second class. As long as we maintain the same person they met the first day.
Austin,
Thank you for sharing your perspective on the importance of a positive first impression when starting off a new course. You are right on with your comments in relation to impact the first impression will have on the rest of the class and how the students see themselves fitting into the course. This first meeting is something that we need to work hard on to be ready and make the maximum impact that we can on how students can approach the course for success.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Dona,
Like the way you start your courses off with your students. This approach is a fun and comfortable way to get them settled into the course and ready to move forward in their career development.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
The "don't judge a book by its cover" adage is an apocryphal text. In today's modern, highly sophisticated, mature professional, high-tech world, anything that is marked by lack of neatness or order or untidy can be easily judged as negative, ineffective and most likely unreliable, untrusworthy and therefore undependable.
Not a good start for any educator. We,the educators/instructors/professors are the model of learning, professionalism, academic preparedness, efficiency, productivity, punctuality, reliability, trust and every word and character tha define success.
First impression is lasting. Negative impression takes millenium to overcome it, if ever one can live that long. In a kinder way, if you will work very very hard to overcome it, you may overcome that impression - but there is no guarantee. Why take the chance?
First impression is not only important. It is a mandatory quality for real and legitimate members of the academia. Professional image for example is a great positive example. If I look, talk, act and dress unprofessionally, I don't think any student would even believe me, trust me or even comfortable to be even associated with me. If I were the student, I will definitely feel the same way.
First positive impression is important, mandatory and everything about anything in education and any discipline. No one knows when the second impression comes, if it will ever come. It is the reality.
Like the course stated, "You only have one chance to make a first impression." Instructors have a great responsibility for setting the tone for their class and being a role model to their students. It's important to take the edge off: get to the classroom early, introduce yourself, let the students know that they are in the right place, show that the instructor is organized. Be prepared to provide handouts, an overview and what you would like them to accomplish. It's a great idea to get to know your students by having them use a 3x5 index card with their name, find out why they chose this program, what they hope to learn and outside interests. Make instructing more meaningful when you can incorporate interest in your students.
DEBORAH,
Right you are. This is the foundation upon which the rest of the course is built.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Heather,
This sharing process is much like a pretest because of the information you learn about your students and their concerns. This gives you a start point in your instructional planning and lets you customize your content to overcome those concerns.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
The course that I teach is one where most students would be intimidated by the material. I like to understand what the student might find intimidating and try to work with them throughout the course to make the material understandable and accessible.
I like the idea of sharing in small groups on the first day what their concerns about the material might be so they can see that others may have the same concerns. This would also help me to address these concerns in my teaching.
Melanie,
This is a part of almost every career so our students need to be able to work with others toward mutual goals as they relate to the workplace.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I like the connection you draw of how collaborating with eachother will carry over into their future skills of collabarating with colleagues.
Eric,
It is the foundation upon which the rest of the course builds so it needs to be a good one. To be a good one requires planning and organization which will yield great results.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
A positive first impression sets the tone with the students that you are a professional and a master of your field
It is very important to make a positive first impression because it will tell the students what type of teacher you are. Are you prepared and organized? Enthusiastic? All of these things you want to set in the mind of the student prior to the class so they will respect you.
John,
Like your style in setting up a situation where prior to the class your students know you and that you care about them as individuals. This is the human factor that many students are seeking. This is the foundation upon which respect is earned and rapport is developed. A win win for everyone.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.