1. Be Organized.
If
you want to impress your class, show up the first day of class with an outline
that is comprehensive but not overwhelming.
I’ve seen faculty members show up on Day 1 with twenty-page outlines. In my mind, this is overkill. You’re not going to impress them. If you need twenty pages to keep on
track, fine. But, don’t put his burden
on your students. On the other hand,
I’ve also witnessed two-page course outlines that are so generalized; they are
seldom worth the paper they’re printed on.
Somewhere between these two extremes, there’s a happy medium. Think of your syllabus as a road map to get
your students where they need to go. Maps usually provide multiple ways to get
to your destination. Just like your
automobile GPS, you sometimes need to make adjustments in your journey. So, too, is it with course outlines.
2. Undergraduates Are Not Ph.D. Candidates.
Being
a freshly minted Ph.D. usually means you’ve come out of two or more years of
intensive academic work. You’re like a
well-conditioned athlete…mentally ready to take on almost any academic
challenge. For most undergrads, their
biggest mental challenge of the day is to wake up, get to the snack bar and
find a hot cup of coffee. In my mind,
most of them are intellectually flabby.
You need to get them warmed up before you can start your conditioning
program! Move slowly but firmly ahead. A
boot camp approach won’t impress them; only alienate them.
3.
Graduate Students.
I
remember my first graduate Reading Research class. Fresh from my Ph.D. program, I was required
to have a comprehensive knowledge of the past ten years of Reading
research. At the time, the Reading
Research Quarterly published a yearly edition that summarized the major
research investigations of the year. I
could cite study details that would bore individuals to death. This knowledge was the expectation of my
professors who composed my preliminary exams.
When I arrived on campus for my first teaching job, I thought it would
be a good idea if my students also possessed the same knowledge. While I wouldn’t call my class’s reaction a
mutiny, I would say they were shocked and overwhelmed. I had failed to realize that these people
were full-time teachers coming back to take one course per semester. They didn’t have the luxury of being
full-time students. I rapidly needed to
adjust my student expectations.
4. Be Willing to Negotiate With Your Students.
I
can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve had to negotiate with my
classes. Even the most well laid plans
can become unglued due to circumstances beyond one’s control. Last year, for example, we had numerous
campus closures due to freak snowstorms.
I had to readjust my student expectations. At times like that, I like to involve my students
in the decision-making. They are more
willing to work toward common goals when they have some buy in. Besides, it’s fun to see how their minds work
when faced with tough decision-making choices.
5. Cover
Your A__.
After
almost 40 years of teaching, I’m happy to report I’ve met some of the most
interesting and exciting people I’ve ever met while I’ve been standing in front
of my classroom. I still get cards and
letters from individuals who’ve told me I’ve changed their lives. The kudos are a real ego trip. In that same time period, though, I’ve had
two students who have made life miserable for me. In both cases, I’m glad that I’ve kept all
paperwork involved in disputes. In one case,
a student came back several years after I had her as a student. When she was in my class, I bent over
backwards helping her deal with some personal issues. (Now that I think about it, the same was true
for the second student.) Imagine my
surprise when I saw a sheriff at my office door issuing me a summons to appear
in court. It seems that the student had
lost her teaching job and was now attempting to make me the scapegoat. Thank goodness for a good college lawyer and
my thorough job of record keeping and documenting everything. Never in a million years did I think that
something like this could happen to me.
When you consider the fact that some mental health experts contend that
roughly 20% of the adult population suffers from some type of mental imbalance,
I shouldn’t have been surprised. The
lessons: a) Always CYA, b) let no good
deed go unpunished. I suppose two out of
almost 10,000 students isn’t a bad batting average, though.
6. It’s
Not Just Knowledge…It’s Attitude, Too.
One
of my old colleagues and I used to spend many late afternoons in each other’s
office discussing the ultimate goals of teaching and learning. They were heady conversations where we picked
and probed each other’s thinking. In the
end, we concluded that it wasn’t just about the content we intended to impart. As important, if not more so, was the
attitudes we wanted our students to develop.
He was a Math professor; I was a Reading prof. In both cases, though, we wanted our students
to feel good about what they had learned and we hoped that after taking our
courses, they would continue to embark on the journey of learning our
respective disciplines. In the end, it’s
all about the journey and not about the destination.
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