sometime it becomes very confusing to manage the scenario in which student found to be sleeping in the middle of the class; and he/she has the reason for it but not actually to be valid to consider for his deed, like viewing TV shows for late night or viewing foot ball for late night. should i take disciplinary action against him/her or let him sleep there or send him to his room to sleep?
We have been taught the traditional way and we tend to mirror our duties based on our experiences while we were students. I would like to put forward my views in this situation. However, kindly treat these as my perspective and not as set guidelines. :-)
1. I would like to begin by agreeing to the point made by Bennett. What a student does after college hours is none of our business. We are engaged with the duty of imparting education to adults and which should respect that and not interfere in their right to privacy. As an adult they should be aware that there are undergoing professional education and what is at stake. our role becomes different from teaching at school level in this aspect.
2. Agreeing with Ms Ho's suggestions,I would like to add that having a one to one discussion with the student would be a good idea. The student should be informed about the competency he/she has to exhibit by the end of the semester. Encouraging the student to discuss any issues he/she is facing. However,based on the environment, I still find it difficult to reach a level of comfort with the students. Most of them are afraid to approach us.
3. Our education system, like the developed world is trying to shift from the traditional ''teacher centered learning'" to student centered learning"". So we have to be a little flexible, focusing on the final goal that a student learns as much as possible.
4. I myself used to watch late night champions league football while I was a student. I feel a little recreation or engaging in a hobby is a great stress buster and helps to prevent burnout which a vast medical curriculum can cause.
5. While delivering a lecture, whenever I see a sleepy head it affects my concentration. I try to look at the students who are actually listening to me during the class. That way it helps me to work efficiently.
6. Recently, there was a talk by a very senior professor at my university. The talk was titled - Disappearing art of lecturing. He stressed that sometimes, the vast content of a lecture can result in such loss of concentration. In medical education there are usually back to back lecture hours. so if your slot is towards the end you will encounter more sleepy heads. What sir suggested that one needs to change the rhythm routinely during the course of a lecture. Also engaging the students in an interactive session helps.
In the end, I would like to say that we have to understand our students and work accordingly. Good Luck...
I think what he does at night is really his own business. You can infer his behaviour, but really what you're looking at is the consequence of his behaviour. And, since his behaviour may affect the rest of the class, you can deal with his sleeping in class by suggesting other consequences of his action. So, you could make him stand at the back of the room. If he falls over, send him home. Good luck.
Hold your finger up to your mouth to signal the class to be quiet. Take your heavy Health Science textbook, and drop it at his feet. He will wake up, and the adrenaline flood will keep him going to the end of the lecture.
Personally, I found both Dan Bennett and Ian Kennedy's suggestions are very practical as I trust they may do so previously. In addition, I will have a personal one-to-one meeting with the concerned student and explore what is the hidden agenda for him/her to view TV slows. Then, I will lead him/her to project the impact of his/her own action to himself/herself and even to the class. Seek for any possible strategy while maintaining a good relationship with discipline too.
I think, like people above said, the result or impact is more important. For the class which you are taking you should take it ignoring his sleep because taking any action would affect flow of the class. However, the concentration of other students should not be hampered by the sleeping pupil. After all, sleepers are better than noise-maker. But for the improvement of the concerned student you should take viva or practical or written test and judge whether the watching TV/football or anything has increased / decreased or has no effect on his performance.
After all sleepers are better than noise makers ! that's true Dr Bishal. thank you for the novel view about judging the student's performance.
Click pic, send on WhatsApp/email to parents and Principal. Good luck!
Thank you for the suggestion mam. The idea seems stressful for the student. will such idea really change the behavior of the student in long term ?
We have been taught the traditional way and we tend to mirror our duties based on our experiences while we were students. I would like to put forward my views in this situation. However, kindly treat these as my perspective and not as set guidelines. :-)
1. I would like to begin by agreeing to the point made by Bennett. What a student does after college hours is none of our business. We are engaged with the duty of imparting education to adults and which should respect that and not interfere in their right to privacy. As an adult they should be aware that there are undergoing professional education and what is at stake. our role becomes different from teaching at school level in this aspect.
2. Agreeing with Ms Ho's suggestions,I would like to add that having a one to one discussion with the student would be a good idea. The student should be informed about the competency he/she has to exhibit by the end of the semester. Encouraging the student to discuss any issues he/she is facing. However,based on the environment, I still find it difficult to reach a level of comfort with the students. Most of them are afraid to approach us.
3. Our education system, like the developed world is trying to shift from the traditional ''teacher centered learning'" to student centered learning"". So we have to be a little flexible, focusing on the final goal that a student learns as much as possible.
4. I myself used to watch late night champions league football while I was a student. I feel a little recreation or engaging in a hobby is a great stress buster and helps to prevent burnout which a vast medical curriculum can cause.
5. While delivering a lecture, whenever I see a sleepy head it affects my concentration. I try to look at the students who are actually listening to me during the class. That way it helps me to work efficiently.
6. Recently, there was a talk by a very senior professor at my university. The talk was titled - Disappearing art of lecturing. He stressed that sometimes, the vast content of a lecture can result in such loss of concentration. In medical education there are usually back to back lecture hours. so if your slot is towards the end you will encounter more sleepy heads. What sir suggested that one needs to change the rhythm routinely during the course of a lecture. Also engaging the students in an interactive session helps.
In the end, I would like to say that we have to understand our students and work accordingly. Good Luck...
Sometimes I have sleeping student in my class (I teach musicians who give concerts in the late evenings, so in the morning class they might be very tired). When this happens, I consider the importance of the topic and the activities we perform in the class. (I never wake up the student myself.) If it is important, I ask his neighbor to wake him up and I require the sleeper to pay attention. If it is not so crucial, I ask the neighbor to wake him up and then I ask the student, if he will be able to stay awake and focus on the class or not. If his answer is no, I send the student to the other room to take a nap and come back after 10-15 minutes. Most of the time the sleeper feels that he should be able to concentrate and he stays in the class. In fact, it only happened once that he left the room, but as it turned out later, he was sick, went home and stayed out of school for couple days.
I recommend AGAINST embarassing the student in public, i.e. singling the student out in front of other students. This matter is much more appropriate for a private consultation.
The point is NOT what the student does outside of class to prevent getting enough sleep. The point IS behavior in the classroom.
I also suggest putting something in your syllabus about the consequences of being late for class and/or not paying attention. Unexcused absence resulting in lower grades is appropriate.
Very fruitful talks by experienced people. Perhaps the assimilated finding should be utilized for effective teaching-learning.
I want to thank every experienced people for very fruitful discussion on the matter of concern. hope to implement the these suggestions in such conditions if faced in near future.
I see this differently. Human brains are changing, affected by technology, exposure to voluminous screen time, multiple inputs. I hate to be the one to say it to this group, but the talking head is dead. Even highly educated adults, in voluntary situations, cannot stand to sit for hours on end anymore. Class should be more focused on the higher end of the learning pyramid: towards analysis, synthesis, and this often the best use of class time, not lecturing on what can be read outside of class. The world needs the skills of collaborative thinking, design thinking, not ability to rehash and regurgitate. Tolerance for this is long gone, and I fear many of us have failed to retool. Rethink, retool, reboot our schools (or class)!
I usually walk towards the student and gently wake him/her up, I suggest he/she get out and wash the face and come back. After class, we have our conversation about it. Actually, days back I had that experience however I used to work graveyard shifts (11 pm to 7 am) and then go to class. I had the experience that Ian suggested, yes I woke up and almost hit the professor, but thanks God never did it. I simply went out washed my face and came back smiling...
I used to feel sleepy usually even after getting good 8 hours sleep. Today I know that I was suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea since so many years..
My comment was made in jest, of course. I would not resort to such action myself. Agree with Virginia that a lecture should not be a soliloquy, but PowerPoint has taken the power out of a good lecture.
I am usually 100% engaged with the class even as I tell them at the outset that anyone is allowed to sleep and not disturb the rest of the class. I start with telling a story taken from reel or real life, discuss the relevant points, asking the views of the class, and winding up with important questions for the exams. Both my class and me get good bang for our buck because I try to make sure I make every lecture count, and I don't wish to be out there wasting my time and energy. More than the sleepers, it is the hummers and the mumblers who get my blood boiling. Still I continue for the sake of the remaining class and I have them interacting and engaging with me all the way to the end.
My problem is with those students who think they can get away with anything, and those institutional policies which allow this to happen.
such type of behaviour is increasing now a days but it can be dealt with in case we promote interactive teaching where students participation is ensured by teacher and promote active participation of the students, leaving little space for such behaviour. we should also have optimum use of power-point presentation where also if the students are not interested, may like to reflect in such type of behaviour.
Many have touched on good suggestions. I think one could propose be a multi prong strategy:
1. Create an expectation of an interactive lecture from the first day of class. I tell students that I will call on them and that my expectation is not for a perfect answer but for their engagement. They are told this on the first day so it’s no surprise and they generally come ready to participate and stay awake!
2. I completely agree with trying to have a one to one conversation with the student. Do we really know that they’re watching late night TV? I have learnt never to assume. Take them aside, tell them what you have noticed and give them a chance to either explain and take responsibility or see that you care enough about their learning. I find most students respond to this rather than shaming. After all as educator, our goal is to have them learn!
Such scenario also reflects on quality of teaching. in case we have a system of regular feedback from students and act accordingly than also some corrective measures may be undertaken to solve such issues.
Another reason may be too many students in class room sometime it is more than 200
Let your student watch https://universaltcm.com/da-zhou-tian/ to have self-healing energy on his hands before the class.
Either
If you want, you can watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5c0c5I1wdg for more issues.
Let a large class know that you will ask 5-10 big-picture, challenging questions each session that require both insight and skilled analysis based on the preparation you expect. Each question will be followed by a 2 minute silent thinking period, then by the blind/randomized selection of 1 name from the class roster. This sets the expectation for every student to be prepared to speak every class. You will be surprised the difference in preparation this can make.
Dear Virginia
Provided all students do not work very late or have specific problems. Such a situation s considered ideal. So, the possibility of having all conditions constant and all students ears up exist mostly in Ivy Universities. The poorer the country the greater the number of anomalies!!
If a student is found sleeping in the class room, the teacher may first wake him up and then ask him to go out wash his face and come back to attend the rest of the period; and further ask the student to meet him after the class. During the one to one meet with the student, the teacher may tell him that he might have good reasons for feeling sleepy in the class room, but since this is breach of discipline, he must not do that in future. He should not attend the classes in such cases. Discipline and attitude are important for learning.
Nice sharing and valuable information, in my opinion I think "communication" will be the main key. Do the student sleeping during all class even in different course/subject or only for certain course/subject? Do the student have any attitude problem? Do the student felt sorry when they realized they fall asleep/ sleeping in the class?
In a student perspective, everything happened come with a reason. Watching movie TV show till late night really is the main reason or other?
May be yes, but how if they have other reason?
If no: teacher need to communicate with the student to figure out the problem before further the problem to parent or even principal, because inner self of the human have the "small fire" the willing to take responsible if you trust them (treat them as adult). "why no let start encouraging them to be responsible for their study and future with focusing during class?" (may be you will say ... the student helpless, but try rethink, at least "the student make effort being in the class!")
If yes: then may be the TV show really interesting, then I do think the student won't mind to share it with whole classmate and DO ask the student to add moral value in the end of his outcome. (may be you will think if so it will embarrass the student, but if the student have attitude problem in class, it will influence other students indirectly, so it is a need for teacher to guide them to reflect their thinking by guiding them during the story telling with the questions such what if they no watch the TV show late night what will happen?, what if they watch the TV show late night what will happen?, or even can say what if they record the TV show (if the TV Show really have a good value) and we will plan other time do some activity like watch together with all classmate since the TV show too good but should not neglect their responsible toward their learning/study.
* I just shared my opinion and view, please ignore it if not fit with your situation. (learning should be fun and meaningful, Don't let little negative view change your originality "reason behind as a teacher")
As I know some students are super smart, the class with them is too easy to learn. But, it will reflect on the grade. If so, why not give him some assignment to see if done extra research for you or give tutor to the lagging student and give him extra credit for doing extra jobs to take away his TV watching time? An interview with the student is needed.
Basically attention span varies from person to person. You can make students more attenttive by an interactive class. How ever class management is an art which varies from person to person.
Great question and very interesting set of answers so far! If the student is not snoring or otherwise disturbing the class, I'd ignore the student but approach him/her after class and mention that I noticed their drowsiness and ask if everything is ok. Usually they get the picture and stop sleeping in class. But as others have said, having an interactive class helps, with the instructor asking leading questions to select students during the lecture to move the class along. Just ask your sleepy student a question during class and that'll probably keep them awake.
really it is an approach by which we involve students in lecture by multiple ways. it may be asking questions, eye to eye contact, using traditional methods of teaching rather than such as power point presentation and so on.
I used to face with that situation when I was teaching my students. In my point of view, I will ask that student to be out of class to continue his/her sleep at his/her place. because, his/her sleep in class may effect other students attitude and concentrating in the lesson, even for me.
the point here is, the students are adults. they are adults who are studying. they must know their goals of studying. if they loose the chance to attend the class, they loose the chance to gain their knowledge. that means, they should prepare themselves to achieve their goals, to deserve the chance of gaining knowledge.
thank you so much!
When I taught in my mother school of college or teach CEU classes for acupuncturists, I used the real world encountered problems to ask students. They do not know the answer. So, I could see the students open their eyes widely to listen to my classes.
By asking the real world problems, I remind the students that what they learned is not for school grade only. But also be prepared to apply the knowledge in the real world. Meanwhile, show them how to apply. I also explain why and how to use what they learned. So, the class is never boring.
Thank you so much @Frieda Mah,
I usually start my class with several questions that related to my lesson and how to link it to the real situations. I also ask questions or group discussion during my speaking so my class usually run well without boring, too.
However, during the class, if the students feel bored to attend, it's better for them to leave the class. Because, they may use their time to do something they really want to do, and do not affect other students who want to study in the class. They have the right to choose what they wanna do.
We as a teacher should ensure students participation in order to avoid such situation. we should know how to make every students responsive & interested in attending the class .
I have this problem occasionally. Usually I talk to the student to find out where the problem lies. I offer help within the range I can give it and then I hand it back to him. It is his or her responsibility to learn the material and hand in the required work. Failure will lead to the usual consequences.
If the student asks for help, I will provide it…but the initiative has to be his or hers. Otherwise it is simply a matter of me doing my job and the student doing his/hers.
After this is clear I usually ignore it and address it from time to time in a simple manner.
While the problem may be in the student's lifestyle, I need to practice compassion towards the student, the class, and myself (I am not entitled to have every student listen to me all the time).
I believe that it is problematic if I am a boring talking head! So, yes I need to aim towards higher level learning activities and continually improve my teaching methods.
If I see a pattern, and only if I see a pattern, then I may request to speak with the student one-on-one. I need to understand the student before I do or say anything.
Let us recall that anyone of us who had heavy work schedule and studying, such situation must have happened. So, I always believe that when others pass in the same situation I use my empathy to recommend constructive measures, among them to wake up the student gently and ask him/her to freshen up and come back to class. It works.
Free time is (among other things) for relaxing, so if the student watches TV shows, it's his/her choice. But...
Sleeping during the class can have negative impact on other students and mostly on overall atmosphere in the class. However, I would distinguish two cases: 1) Falling asleep accidentally, and 2) going to class to sleep.
1) I believe happened to everyone at some point of our lives, so I believe that could be forgiven. But if it happens on regular basis, I would personally talk to the student after class and tell him it is not appropriate.
2) Absolutely unacceptable, not respectful and rude. If the student knows he/she will not be able so stay awake and blatantly puts head on the desk the moment class start, staying home is better option than going to class, being 'present' physically in class is not enough.
I would consider disciplinary action if case 2) happens on regular basis. Otherwise I would send the student home in order to maintain order and good learning atmosphere in the class.
Review your way of presentation, at least it is less motivating for that studend.
Thanks
It is difficult for any body to resist the sleep need of the brain .This scenario is increasingly seen in these days because of the changing world activity time, in the era of internet and social media , that does not respect the normal sleep-wake cycle of the human being.
I think this problems needs a different approach (other than just disciplinary) that addresses this rapid change in the life pattern that interferes with our scheduled activities and commitments.
Best wishes
Ali Almothaffar
I had a very tired NLP class. Due to the instructor declares that if our brain is overwhelming, then, our subconscious takes over the learning. So, the training class is from 8:00 A.M. to after 10:00 P.M. Sometimes, after 10:00 P.M.
So, I taught some of my classmates to practice https://universaltcm.com/da-zhou-tian/
Every day during the NLP class, I let them to practice 5 min/day. When the fourth and fifth day, many classmates felt sleepy during the class. I told my dad Zhou Tian learner to put palms face up on the table while listening in the class. Within 5 minutes, they felt their energy be charged and without tiredness or felt sleepy.
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