Often students are told what to do but are never shown how to do it! Expecting a student to perform a new task without talking about it, observing how to do it, and having the opportunity to ask questions can be very intimidating. Make sure your student can observe you performing a skill prior to them attempting it. This is crucial!

When appropriate, let your student help in setting goals for progressing through the rotation. Set dates for completing parts of the eval on their own, and set goals for getting there. There are several benefits to this. With student involvement, they are less likely to say you're unresponsive, or requirements are meaningless. It's harder for a student to justify his/her resistance if there's been an effort to involve them.

Discussion, visualizations, observing other therapists, providing feedback, journaling, assignments, research, etc. are all ways of using different teaching methods. Reach out to others to help come up with ways to help your student learn needed information.

Students are pretty aware of the need to pass their clinicals, and the repercussions if they don't. However, some students need to know they are progressing well prior to their mid-clinical or final rotation assessments. Break up progression of learning into small chunks and assess likewise. 

For example, grade the student on their ability to interview, complete ROM, vision assessment, balance assessment, goal writing, discharge planning, etc. as individual milestones. By breaking up learning into sections, for some students it's not so overwhelming. Documenting student competence in small doses helps manage forward progression. 

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Also, if the student is not progressing with small tasks, it will be easier to determine if the student will make it to midterm/final and provide information to the school regarding continuation of the clinical.

You want to make sure your expectations are understood. It's impossible to over-explain expectations of a student in a clinical rotation! Check in often and don't be afraid to over-explain why you are asking a student to do something (such as put on a gait belt, wear a watch, sit the patient up at 30degrees before eating). This allows the student to know exactly your expectations during their rotation.

Fool-proof or failure-proof activities help gain trust, confidence, and acknowledge student efforts. It’s important to provide positive feedback on performance (especially the small stuff!). What seems like small beans for a seasoned therapist is quite a big deal for a student in a new clinical setting. Any sense of moving forward helps build momentum and decreases fear of the unknown.