Whether international or domestic, students find the transition to post secondary education challenging. Support learners by trying some of the below suggestions.
Big, Warm Welcomes
Work on a big, warm welcome each class. The students are settling inand learning the campus. Start your class right on time but expect some students to be late and never lock students out. Showing appreciation for them having gotten to class is much more motivating for the next session than being disinviting. No need to ask the students in class where everyone else is. Best to focus happily on those who have arrived.
Community Building Icebreakers
Begin community building early by engaging students in icebreakers. These are an effective warm up for each class session.
Learn Names
Print out our handy name tent templates on card stock, and fold in half. (Download it if you want to make some changes.) Have students write their names and a little graphic or image to help you remember them on it. Use these to track attendance and learn names.
Continue reusing name cards until you are familiar with students’ names – or all semester if you wish. It also provides you with the opportunity to take attendance if you don’t want to use a sign-in sheet or if you find that students are signing in for each other. It also ensures that you are familiar with your students by the time you proctor an exam with them.
Discuss Course Resources
Encourage students to get their texts and course resources in a timely fashion, first by explaining how resources will be used in class and assessments.
Digital texts grant students access to resources from day one of classes, but physical texts are often expensive, and students may not yet have funds available to purchase them.
Give students one week grace before you expect them to have the books, and then use the resources in class. Create tasks that require students to use sources in group work. If you fall back onto lecture format because some students don’t have their texts, it may create the impression that the text is not necessary.
Tour eConestoga
The LMS is new to many students. Take them on a tour of how you have set up their course.
Go over the Assignments and Evaluations
Explain how the marks in the class will be allotted over the semester and be explicit about how the assignment is set up. Explain the intention and significance of even smaller tasks and how important those marks are to their overall performance.
Give Leeway on Early Assignments
Consider allowing students to re-submit the first course assignment at the end of the semester. Students may not achieve well on the first assignment, as they are new to Conestoga and may not know the style or standard expected. You can announce that any student wishing to re-submit a replacement for the first assignment (which would require new work) can send you an email by Week 13 requesting this opportunity. This way if a student has lost 15 percent in Weeks Two to Five, they can be more confident that continued diligence can still result in a pass or better. Many students may not take you up on the offer, but the leniency and understanding will be greatly respected. It also helps relieve anxiety and allows course earning to be demonstrated.
Consider Seeking Feedback
Early in the semester, try a feedback method such as an anonymous “Start, Stop, Continue” to give your students a chance to tell you what is helping them learn. Print some copies of our template, or have students use a blank piece of paper. You could also try adapting our O365 Form: Start, Stop, Continue template.
