nteresting people they are. Most critically, heroes routinely fail to deliver on their initial promise. They are the erratic, optimistic underachievers who initially excite an instructor with their intensity and grand plans for independent projects, only to disappoint later with poor execution. Heroes would very much like to be the independent, creative students they see themselves as being, but some underlying hostility toward authority figures or inability to maintain their commitment to a goal prevents them from playing this role to the end. Ten per cent of Mann »s students fit this classification, and almost even,« class has one or two.examples suffice to make the point: Heroes promise much but usually deliver little. Heroes occasionally drop out of school to work for a year or two and return as more mature and better students with high graduate or professional-aspirations. Heroes typically have high, even grandiose expectations for themselves, and many are capable of outstanding careers if they lower their expectations slightly and resolve their ambivalence about authority and achievement. Heroes are more likely to produce good work if given such special handling. To be successful in motivating heroes, a college teacher must maintain a good relationship with them over the term. Heroes are very prone to withdraw their initial investment in the course and put their energies elsewhere. If heroes believe that an instructor expects great things of them, they are more likely to live up to their own billing-but only if the instructor keeps close tabs on them and applies persistent, soft control.sniper is a hero who is hostile toward college teachers, unlikely to approach them, and filled with cynicism. Like heroes, snipers (9 per cent in Mann »s group) have very high expectations and positive images of themselves, but they have little hope that the world will recognize their worth or give them a fair chance to demonstrate it. Their hostility seems untempered by positive feelings. They are habitual rebels who sit as far from the instructor as possible and often comment with cutting remarks. Some also show their rebellion by wearing unusual or provocative clothing to class. Because they apparently feel guilty or fearful about their hostility, they retreat quickly when questioned about their sallies. Unlike heroes, who never seem to tire of debating, snipers strike their colors after the first salvo is fired. In the classes studied by Mann, silent students (20 per cent). The easiest mistake a college teacher can make with silent students is to ignore them, for they will not attract attention or pose problems. To guard against this, a good teacher goes through the class roster every few weeks, noting how each student has been behaving in recent meetings.Under Special Stress. Some students enter classrooms under considerably more pressure man others. Though few college teachers advocate assigning less work to such students or grading their work differently, these students do require special understanding if they are to perform maximally. Some instructors act impatient or irritated by a visiting student «s interruption. The teacher should encourage students to talk about what is bothering them, but only on one or, at the most, two occasions. A teacher should not let an emotional response to a student »s remarks dictate his or her behavior.
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