Deal with stress.
Responding to changes has always been difficult, but more challenging at age 70. There is 29 hours a week at the old desk job sandwiched between traveling to teach up to 40 adults in three classrooms.
Preparation has always been part of the coping strategy. I take advantage of the keyboards at three locations to get ready several days in advance. We kill many trees. I arrive at the classroom an hour before the students and lay out written support. I prepare the classroom and pull up any media resources. The students receive a greeting and know that we are available for individual concerns. A remaining source of stress are those few students who act out or fail to complete their assignments. Failure to confront the problem head on can mean increasing stress. Asking a supervisor for support is better than carrying the problem home.
I believe we all have students that for some reason or another, are not able to complete their homework or assignments on time. I hear they work, they are to busy, the list goes on. I first find out, why? If you work all week, I suggest, on your days off, do your homework. I ask, if I gave you $500.00 a week to do your homework on time, what would you do different. To my surprise all excusses are gone. So to me their is no urgency on their part to do their homework or it's not that important to them. My next question is if you don't pass this class for lack of incomplete assignment, what other choice do you have,for career options. Most important, they need to know you care. That's why your asking.
