Last Minute Sign-ups

In my program area I am experiencing higher than normal last minute sign-ups. This causes a big problem for me and for the instructors. You may have experienced this. The problem is we don’t know whether to cancel a class or let it run. Case in point, on a Wednesday I had 3 people signed up for a class. I needed to cancel it by Thursday and needed, in this case, 5 people for it to go. On Thursday I got number 4 with a possible number 5 so I let it ride one more day. The class ran on Monday with 7 people in it. Had I cancelled on Thursday as I had planned…well, you get the point.

I wish I could say this is something we can fix but it isn’t. With the tight economy, last minute planning and the current culture, this kind of thing may be with us for a long time.

What is an instructor to do? Decide a cut off time that works for you and communicate it to your programmer. If you are good to wait till the last minute, great. If you aren’t, that is great too. Just let us know. Make extra copies of your handouts for those last minute arrivals. Be flexible with your class plan. If you believe you are going to have 5 in class and 10 show-up, be ready to make some changes. No, this doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. Finally, be aware we are watching the registration numbers but can’t monitor them all the time. We do our best to let you know who and how many you will have in class.

Please share with us any thoughts you have on this subject and what kind of challenges you face.

How many in my class?

Wondering how registration is going for your class? You can check it online at any time. Click on the link below to take you to our new registration system and do a search for your class by class title. For instance, I did a search for Macintosh Basics. It brought up the screen showing there were 7 seats. This means that there are 7 seats available. Now I happen to know that this class has a total of 20 seats so that means that there are 13 students signed up for this class right now.

If you don’t know the maximum seats for your class you can find it in two places. It is on your contract which was emailed, mailed or otherwise sent to you or you can call your Program Manager and ask her/him. We will send you a roster before your class, but knowing the number ahead of time can help you prepare.

http://selfservice.cocc.edu:7001/flexibleregistration/index.jsp?frc=CLMAIN

Helping Without Talking

Try these help-aids with your students when you don’t have time to stop and chat.

• Redirection. If the student is off-task and/or looks lost, point to the task they should be on.
• Permission. A nod of the head is a good way to tell a student it is okay to ask a question.
• Understanding. Have the students use a signal to indicate where they are with the material. For example, raising one finger means I'm lost, two fingers means I'm catching on and three fingers means I've got it.
• Praise. Use a non-verbal gesture such as thumbs up or a vertical nod of the head when something good happens.

Did you notice the hand gesture in the photo in relation to the text?

Student Feedback: Information That Makes a Difference*

When you are a new instructor with us, you will receive a student feedback packet during the first two terms you teach for Community Learning. What follows is information on how to handle those packets.

1. Conduct the student feedback during your last class session.

2. Present Student Feedback forms to the class and ask for open, honest responses that are to be anonymous. Tell them to supply their contact information if they would like a response from our office.

3. Ask for a volunteer to distribute the forms and collect them when completed.

4. Leave the room while students are completing the feedback forms.

5. Have the volunteer collect the forms and place them in the envelope provided. You may read the surveys for helpful information prior to sealing the envelope.

6. Put them in the mail immediately following the class, using the enclosed envelope (postage prepaid). Please do not ask a student to mail the envelope.

Every attempt is to be made to secure open and honest feedback without pressuring the student.

Your programmer will contact you with a summary of each feedback survey.

After the first two feedback forms are completed, contact your programmer if you would like to pursue addtional feedback.

*Thanks to Rachel and Paul for this post.

Can We Talk?

One element that is often lost in a classroom is the opportunity for the students to interact with one another about a topic. The Socratic method of instruction helps restore the lost element.

An aspect of the method is for the instructor to pose a question with students then given time to discuss it. Students use classroom material, prior knowledge, and facts to bolster their opinions.The instructor steps back and observes the process, but it’s the students who are talking and, therefore, learning.

Studies suggest that students retain what they learn when they talk to each other about the question. They tend to focus on both the similarities and differences in opinions and compare the ideas of others to their own. Thus, they begin to develop their own voice regarding the subject.

Teaching the Correct Level of Material

As previous posts have suggested, having a successful class for both the students and yourself requires a number of classroom management strategies. This suggestion involves making sure your class material is the same as the description in the schedule and that you inform the students as to what will be taught.

For example:

1. If you are teaching a beginning class, confine the content to beginning material.

2. If you are teaching an intermediate class, you might briefly recap relevant beginning material but be sure to teach intermediate material.

Four More Classroom Management Startegies

Giving praise to your students can be a great way to have the students feel good about themselves and reduce classroom management issues. Following are four tried-and-true strategies that are easy to implement.

1. Praise should be specific and linked to behaviors that you want to encourage.
2. Praise needs to be tailored the individual.
3. Praise can be meaningless if you have no other positive, personal interactions with a student.
4. Some students need praise for small acts that others might take for granted.

Classroom Management Strategies With a High Priority

With a new session beginning, it is a good time to mention some basic classroom management strategies.

• Use nametags or the equivalence to call students by their names.
• Do not compare people and classes.
• Set realistic expectations for the class.
• Never ignore or ridicule questions.
• Try not to help too much.
• Do not focus on mistakes.
• Resist having a favorite student.
• Manage your frustration.