in a bit of a quandry and having anxiety attacks non stop lately. i and three other instructors were brought into a new lvn program for the first batch of students, after they had had a horrible experience with their pre-req instructors. the students were not screened nor was there any requirements (i.e. grades, pre-reqs) required for this lvn program and while i am rooting for them, i'm afraid thye are not coming into things prepared for an excellerated program.
we started in november and at the christmas break, 3/4ths of the students are failing. they are given nclex style questions written by the head of the program, thye are given copies of the power point lectures and myself and the other instructors have sat and tried to teach reading comprehension, spelling and study skills. during lectures , they don't take notes, they demand to have their answers spoon fed to them and the majority are not grasping critical thinking. we have had several severe attitude and behavior issues, and we now have police that patrol our halls. in skills lab, ( they are doing fundamentals at th emoment) they think they know it all already and i refused to sign most of them off on skills because they couldn't do it properly which set us back. at xmas break, i reported to the head of the dept that there was no way i was moving past head to toe assesments, until they actually caught up with everything else. during christmas the school hired a woman with years of experience to take over the day to day skills and theory. i did a dance of joy! i cherish the idea that i can learn from someone with so much experience. while the two new instructors took stock of what the tests scores etc were, they did not speak to the other instructors and i don't think it was intentional kept asking, what do you mean you don't know how to do this or you haven't learned that. this has fed into their inabilities to accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions or inactions (as it were). itis now a hostile environment for the rest of us instructors as we walk by in clinicals and here how stupid we must be because we can't get them to pass.
here's the thing:
they have admitted to us, that they never opened their books. they should probably have studied more! ya think?
i put up a website with all sorts of resources for them (many came from here so thank you!)i posted the power points, i posted links to sites that did learning style quizes and how to study for their individual styles. the other instructors spenttime tutoring. well, now this may surprise you, but they have just found out how many hours they must makeup before the end of the module. (oooohhhh, maybe showing up to class might also help) for their makeup we are doing remediation as well. with out that, over half the class would not move on. administration is none to pleased that they might lose this income, so they are breathing down our necks.
here is my question: any suggestions to get them to study for a fundamentals final and remediation test, any tips or techniques, anything!!! that could help me. i'm at a loss, at the end of the rope and so is my job. i am anxious, depressed and ****** off that a bunch of students who don't drink when we lead them to water could be the reason i lose a job i've finally found to love.
i'm sorry if i ranted to much. i'm just concerned and really truly want to see people succeed. any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.!
ya think?