October 8 Blog

I believe when we think of students, we envision our students to be the perfect student there to gain knowledge and skills. Students with prolems are not the first thing to enter your mind.

The discussion highlighted different problems students may be dealing with and gave some tips on how to handle the various situations. I am an observer and have personally witnessed the majority of the behaviors from students in my classes. As a fellow student, I just listen to the student and noted the instructor doing the same.

The portion of the chapter dealing on reactions to sensitive topics was of particular interest to me. This is something we deal with on a daily basis in our workplace. The author gave some good tips on how to handle these situations that I can apply to both my work and in the classroom.

We recently had a display on campus that created numerous reactions from students. Based on the reactions, the group which opposed the displays handed out material across the street. I know this is on a much larger scale than a topic in the classroom but I truly feel that what we learn about teaching from our readings can be applied to every day life.

Talking to colleagues is also a great way to learn how they address these types of situations. We can always learn from one another.

When it comes to meeting with students I generally have a set routine in place. I require them to set an appointment during working hours, require them to check in with the receptionist, leave the door open an inch or two and always make sure there are other staff members in the office complex when I have meetings.

I also require my student staff that works late to follow a similar process. First, you must protect yourself at all times. By this, I mean, create a safe environment for everyone by having other people in the office complex should the situation turn bad.

I may look at student meetings quite differently than others based on my experience with supervising full time staff. There have been a number of situations where an employee was being released and during some of those conversations I had another person with me. It is just better to proceed with caution and take the necessary measures to protect both yourself and the university from any type of law suit. I view meeting with students very similar.

I discussed plagerism in an earlier log. I have faith that the majority of students may forget to add a reference versus intentionally leave it out. I have been very fortunate with my instructors talking with me and asking about a reference I may have missed. It is part of their grading process and it helps jog my memory when I am writing to make sure I have included all my sources.

Some of the problems with plagerism may be eliminated if there were short courses offered in proper ways to use internet sources and citing them. This may be just the boost a student may need to do it correctly.