I had "helped" a family member put on his roof. They didn't know anything about the tape measure, fractions, or much of anything that was useful. I ended up doing it largely myself. Both dudes graduated from high school.
I am sure the liberal controlled school system, does not serve in the public's interest.
Last edited by Win94ae; 01-14-2017 at 01:19 AM.
I was in the same position as the kids you're worried about, once. I wasn't a special snowflake, but I was lazy and just a bit smarter than my own good, so I DGAF and graduated early from high school, DGAF and sailed through a year of community college. DGAF at a real university the next year and got shit grades, failed a class, dropped others to avoid failing. Quit school, joined the Marine Corps, had a few fun years learning how to stop being a child, did the GI Bill thing and kicked all that math and physics and whatnot in the ass.
You can warn them up front, you can open up your office hours, you can make yourself available for help during your free time, you can tell them about all the study groups and tutoring options, but bottom line is some of them just shouldn't be there and they'll find that out soon enough one way or another. Help the ones who want help, encourage the ones who need encouragement but the rest of them will either figure it out or they won't. Not your problem and not your responsibility.
"Customer is very particular" -- SIG Sauer
Great thread.
I've taken A LOT of leadership training, studied it extensively in college, study the topic constantly and have a decent amount of leadership experience. I say all of that to say this: it's still very difficult to get individuals to act responsibly. The method I employ in my business is simple. I preach accountability constantly. The first thing I give a new hire is a copy of the book "Extreme Ownership." I've outlined my disciplinary system in the welcome pack I give them and let them know that their success and failure is 100% on them. I constantly communicate with them and teach leadership development and other various things. I'm also extremely organized and systematic and teach everyone a system on virtually everything to begin with, so they know exactly what to do and what is expected on day 1. I obviously allow a wide range of variance in this over time, but I want everyone new learning proper habits and techniques that they can build off of later.
As far as your class, that sounds like an extremely difficult task. Taking an 18-22 year old from our "blame everyone else" and "safe space" culture and trying to get them to act responsibly in a short amount of time is probably one of the most difficult thing you can do. I'm not an expert on these things, but I'd preach ownership daily or for a block of time of the course, give them a systematic approach on how to be successful (study habits, time management, etc), and then I'd stay in communication with them.
I'm sorry if I missed hiwbthe course is setup (I'm in London on business and am operating on almost no sleep), but if this is 1 class per semester, gather all of their contact info and talk to them almost daily. Text, call, email. Set-up checks throughout the way to confirm they are using the correct study habit/time management system you've outlined. Ask them how their classes are going and what areas they are struggling in. If you don't have time to communicate with them yourself, then have an aid or assistant do it to your specifications (teach them what to say/ask etc). If you don't have any assistants, I'd get someone responsible from the class to do it for extra credit or for some type of acceptable incentive. One thing I've had success with is the "Group Me" app. Throw them in the group and you can send out messages daily to everyone. You could even set up short daily tasks for them to complete and email back to you. I WOULD NOT rely on office hours and such, just from personal experience. You wouldn't believe the amount of people who would rather fail and force me to make a change as opposed to coming to see me in my office. I'd be proactive, not reactive.
So basically I'd just teach them ownership, a system, and communicate with them regularly. They are noobs at life, so this may not be a short term solution. This is why I put so much emphasis on figuring out an effective communication strategy that fits your business or teaching model. I understand that there are other layers of accountability beyond you when they leave your class, but you've been tasked with preparing these men/women to be successful so I wouldn't rely on anyone else caring about their success.
Apologies for grammar errors. I'm typing on my phone.
Last edited by Kirk; 01-14-2017 at 07:09 AM.
I've round tripped the university thing twice with a BS in biochemistry and a BS in mechanical engineering. The snowflake phenom has exploded and the university setting really seems to allow it to thrive.
My suggestion for this specific situation is to reduce or downright eliminate the grade inflation. This will wake people up. It sure did when I went through mechanical engineering.
Hopefully you have an administration that will back you up.
Edited to add...Like Rich Jenkins said: there is no 'curve' in the real world. Its not joke when you suck at your job in engineering, want to blame it on others, people get hurt, die, and everything in between.
Last edited by fixer; 01-14-2017 at 07:15 AM.
Life is going to kick these snowflakes in the ass. Hard.
I'll be laughing...
I am someone that fits that no clue before I hit college and almost flunked out category. These kids need real mentors. Parents aren't there to support and as you said it's a fuck ton of life experience being thrown at them without any guidance. Advisors generally have too many kids to deal with.
I appreciate you actually give a fuck about these snowflakes.
And to put a point on missing out on talent, I went from almost failing undergrad to having a 4.0 in grad school and getting a second master degree.
Good luck and don't give up!