R-E-S-P-E-C-T

How do you treat your students?

I have no doubt that most of us treat our students with respect, but what happens when a student doesn't show us respect back?

It's too easy to say, "They're not showing me respect, and therefore, they no longer have any reason to receive it from me." Easy, but is that the right attitude?

At one of my previous schools, one of my faculty lost it. A student failed to show her any respect, and the instructor snapped, calling the student a "bitch."

That may be an extreme example, but we don't need to call students names to show disrespect and unprofessional behavior. Acts of disrespect can be a lot more subtle than that.

We're in positions of responsibility, and we can't afford to lose our cool.

The following link provides ten ways to show respect, and I'll add some thoughts to each: http://www.alexshalman.com/blog/2007/09/18/10-ways-to-show-respect/

1. Listen harder
Listen not only to what your students are saying, but try to understand where they're coming from. Listen to what they don't say. Display empathy.

2. Be considerate
We all have tough days, but don't ever take it out on your students. And, I've found if you're having a really tough day, it's a good idea to let your students know. You don't have to get personal, but it's important to let them know when you're having a tough time outside of the classroom.

3. Keep your promise
If you make a deadline to return assignments, be sure it's realistic. Always keep your word.

4. Be on time
This shows that you care about your students' time.

5. Have manners
Nothing wrong with saying "please" and "thank you." Ever have an instructor that called all of their students "Mr." or "Ms"? I always thought that was kind of cool.

6. Encourage
Always. Don't ever stop.

7. Be fair
This one's tough. Can you be fair and flexible at the same time with deadlines, for example? I like to encourage flexibility, but flexibility can be "fair" too, as long as you're being flexible with everyone.

8. Go out of your way
A student can't meet during office hours? Arrange a different time.

9. Preserve dignity
Never let them see you sweat. Always remember to be the professional that you are.

10. Do Not Assume
Easy to say, harder to practice.

Why do you come to work?

Is teaching a "calling?" Do you feel as though you are on a mission?

About this time in the semester, everyone -- faculty, staff, and students -- looks forward to Spring Break. Stress-levels go up and patience evaporates. It's easy to forget why we're here and what we're doing.

So take just a moment to reflect. Ask yourself: "How can I make a difference in someone's life today?"

I think if you take the time to focus on this question daily, your approach to doing your job will be much different than if you just "do your time" and attempt to "exit stage left" as quickly as possible.

Showing Students How to Think

"Professor, how do you do that?"

That's today's question, and I think it's worth thinking about. The link below mentions that we're all experts in our disciplines, and as such we approach our subjects in ways that our students do not.

Our ability to conceptualize an algebra problem, a history question, or a composition topic is greater than our students'. The trick is: don't just give them the problem, question, or topic. Show them step by step how you would work through it yourself. That, my friends, is instruction.

http://www.csupomona.edu/~facultycenter/weekly_teaching_note_feb_18_2008.shtml

And I would add this: make sure they learn not only how your thinking process works; make sure that they understand how their thinking process works. Force them to consciously think about thinking.

Surviving the quiz onslaught by lazy teaching

Hello everyone. Here is something I have started doing this semester to cut down on the number of small quizzes I have to grade.
1. I give a reading assignment with a paragraph or two written response required.
2. At the beginning of the next class, I quickly check to make sure that all of the students have done the required writing. With 27 students, it takes about 5 minutes. If they have done it, I give them credit for that part of the quiz.
3. I then put the students into groups, assign a notetaker, and make the students report their work to group.
4. Then a spokesperson from each group reports the group work to the class at large. If each group can make a good report, I give each member of the group credit for that part of the quiz. At this point, we can open things up for deeper class discusssions.

It has been working for me so far this semester. I like it because it holds the students accountable, improves the quality of my class discussions, and cuts down on my grading.

"Open-Mike for Students"

As I continue to learn and adjust to the online learning environment, I have found one particular practice useful as an instructor, and, I hope, empowering for the students.(**This is not my original idea, but unfortunately, I cannot find the source offhand)

I create one discussion forum topic, entitled WGAD, or "Who Gives a Darn?," where students might anonymously ask any question or make any comment (using proper net manners, of course) about the course. I will then do my best to answer their question in an affirming way-if I set up the course in a particular way, my students are certainly deserving of knowing why I did so.

In my class, I may have assigned certain readings (or number of readings), assignments, papers, analysis or thought pieces, that may seem irrelevant or "busy work" to one or more students. This discussion topic, then, gives the student the opportunity to freely ask about the issue in question, or offer constructive criticism, etc., anonymously; otherwise, they may believe their grade will suffer for asking impertinent questions or daring to question the instructor's judgment. For example, one student has asked me why we spend so much time on the founding period (I teach American Government). This is a legitimate question, and I hope that I was able to give this student a legitimate answer.

Furthermore, this forum offers a special, non-threatening discussion space about the course and online learning in general. It may alert me, as an instructor, to something that must be changed or modified. For example, one student suggested that I include a review after each section covered (e.g. the legislative branch, the executive, etc.) in order for him, as a student, to better able focus on certain important concepts that may otherwise remain hidden amongst the mountain of information, required and supplementary, presented in an online class. A good suggestion; I believe that it will be helpful to other students as well.

Finally, such a forum serves an open-mike for the students. I have yet to have students use it as a "whining board" or as a means to criticze meanly or unfairly my course's content. Instead, it empowers the student in that the student knows that he or she truly has the option to anonymously voice their concerns.

Reverse Lecture

The reverse lecture is kind of a cool twist on an idea I'm sure most of us have tried as a small group activity.

Have you ever assigned small groups to lead the discussion on a chapter? What were the results? Sometimes groups do a really good job, but in my experience, there's still the "authority" problem. The rest of the class, the "audience," do not necessarily pay the same level of attention to the group-led presentation as they do to the instructor. And, of course, not everyone in the group always participates equally.

So, why not add a bit more structure to it?

1. Instead of designing the assignment as a group project, make it an assignment for the whole class to be involved in.

2. Assign the reading, and then have the class collectively work through how they think you would design the lecture.

3. Once the class has done that, compare their composite lecture to yours.

For more information on how to set up the reverse lecture, see the link below. And, if you try it in your class, let me know how it turns out.

http://www.csupomona.edu/~facultycenter/weekly_teaching_note_nov_5_2007.shtml

Using Grading Rubrics

Believe it not, students sometimes come to see me because they're not happy with a grade they received from their instructors. Shocking, I know.

Perhaps the number one complaint is: "My instructor wasn't clear in how the assignment would be graded." I also hear things like, "My instructor didn't like me" and "The grading for the assignment was very subjective."

What's the solution to avoiding these kinds of complaints? I think the solution might be using grading rubrics. "Rubric" is just a fancy word for "scoring chart."

Here are some tips on using grading rubrics effectively:

1. Clearly show the students how the assignment will be graded. That means, share your grading rubric. In other words, if you give them the rubric only when you return their graded papers, you've still left them in the dark.

2. Keep the grading rubric simple. I've attached a link to some sample rubrics, but some of them look far too lengthy and complicated to me. I would recommend that you stick to five categories or less. This will make it easier for your students to understand, and it will also make it easier for you to use!

3. Put a specific point value on each category. Generally, if you're using five categories, I recommend giving each the same value -- 20 points. That way, the assignment adds up to 100. Not all assignments will have five equal categories, but think about ways to revise it so that you can keep the categories equal. This will make the grading rubric easier to use for students.

4. Use a likert scale, and don't be afraid to use a sliding scale. Instead of numbering your scale from 1 (poor) to 4 (excellent), I like to use the point values asssigned to each category -- poor becomes 10, average is 14, above average is 17, and excellent is 20. And, if I believe that a student is in between two categories, I simple highlight two categories and give the student the average (above average + excellent = 18; average + above average = 15, etc.)

5. Write a paragraph to explain your rubric evaluations. Grading a student's assignment with a rubric is quick, but don't cheat the student out of written feedback. I like to write a paragraph at the bottom to explain in a little more detail how the student fell short in certain categories (or succeeded in certain categories).

For examples of grading rubrics, check out the link below. If anyone is interested in seeing the grading rubric I use for assessing English papers, just let me know. I'll be happy to email it to you.

http://www.english.udel.edu/wc/faculty/tipsheets/rubrics.pdf

Time Killers

The following link offers common ways that people use time ineffectively.

http://www.csupomona.edu/~facultycenter/weekly_teaching_note_jan_21_2008.shtml

Do any of these seem familiar?

1. Checking email too often or keeping the “you have mail” indicator on

I'm guilty of this one myself. Email is the first thing I do every morning at work -- sometimes for up to an hour or even two hours. Then, I'm checking it throughout the day. (I don't have the same problem with voicemail; with voicemail, I have the opposite problem: remembering to check it at all.)

2. Being a perfectionist when it's not necessary, overdoing the non-critical 80%

I have perfectionist tendencies, but I've learned to keep them in check. :)

3. Putting off the unpleasant 2-minute task (all day)

This goes to my last post about Stephen Covey. If an unpleasant task falls in the "urgent & important" category, just do it. But I'd say, if it doesn't fall in that category, putting it off may or may not be a bad thing.

4. Adding more and more – and more – content or factual material to lectures

How much content do you need for one lecture anyway? :)

5. Surfing the internet while doing research

Surfing isn't always bad. If you haven't checked out http://www.stumbleupon.com, give it a try. It's the ultimate way to kill time. Remember, though, not to use it when you have serious business to attend to! Also remember that it's important to schedule regular breaks. Work hard for 15 minutes (or an hour), and then remember to play for a few minutes.

6. Not finding valid shortcuts for tasks

Finding a shortcut isn't cheating; it's smart.

7. Not scheduling regular time for important tasks such as writing

Trust me: if I didn't make specific time to write, I would never write. The same goes for anything: studying, researching, practicing a musical instrument, exercising, etc. Make time for what's important. Get yourself on a schedule.

8. Doing things that other people say are urgent but are not

In the end, you are the one that must decide what is "urgent" and what isn't. And, again, remember Covey: some things very well may be urgent, but are they both urgent and important?

9. Allowing interruption while working on important tasks

Yes, not all interruptions can be avoided, but do your best to avoid the interruptions that you can control. :)

Who has the time?

You've heard it around campus, and heck, you've probably even said it yourself: "I don't have time to do one more thing." Question: is that true?

While I'm the first one to promote the value of saying "no" from time-to-time, the reality is, we all have time to do whatever needs to get done. So where do you find the time?

1. Set goals. Where do you want to be in a month? a year? five years? If you don't set short-term and long-term goals, you might eventually reach your goals, but they will most likely take a lot longer to reach than if you consciously laid out a plan.

2. Make lists that align with your goals. What do you need to get done today? What deadlines do you have on specific projects? If you haven't read Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, you really should. In that book, he lays it all out there for you. I especially like his take on time management (see page 151). We all have activities that fall into four quadrants: 1) urgent & important, 2) urgent & unimportant, 3) not urgent & important, and 4) not urgent & important. But it's the order in which we approach these activies that matters most.

3. Budget your time. How much time will a specific project, activity, or goal take? Give yourself the amount of time that you need, plus a little cushion. But don't nibble at it. For example, when my baby Octavia wants to, she can drink a full 8 ounce bottle in 15 minutes; but when she's not really into it, a feeding can last an hour or more. If we know that we have 15 minutes to complete a task, though, we certainly can finish the task in the alloted amount of time.

4. Take scheduled breaks. No one should work 24/7. Make sure that you've scheduled breaks -- daily, weekly, and monthly. You don't see this on the commerical, but even the Energizer Bunny needs to recharge its batteries on a regular basis.

For more ideas on time management, check out the following links:

http://www.csupomona.edu/~facultycenter/weekly_teaching_note_jan_7_2008.shtml

http://www.csupomona.edu/~facultycenter/weekly_teaching_note_jan_14_2008.shtml

http://www.csupomona.edu/~facultycenter/weekly_teaching_note_jan_21_2008.shtml

What to do during office hours

Office hours often go unused, or at least not used for their stated purpose -- faculty/student interaction. When I was an instructor, I would require my students to meet with me at least twice per semester. These were structured meetings with a stated agenda. The first meeting generally happened very earlier in the semester, and the students and I would work together to make sure they were on the right track with the first assignment. The second meeting usually happened around midterm, and I would provide them with a progress report, as well as give them the opportunity to chat about their final research papers or projects, etc.

It's tempting to use office hours to catch up on our own class prep, to surf the Internet, or to sleep, but I strongly feel that we owe it to our students to get them into our offices at least once per semester. It's good to develop individual relationships outside of class, and it's amazing what a short 10-15 minute meeting can do to student morale (not to mention student retention).

The Cal Poly Pomona Faculty Center for Professional Development web site has a lot of good suggestions on how to use office hours more effectively. I know some of them might not be popular with faculty, but I would submit that faculty should give the suggestions some thought, implementing the ones that make sense.

http://www.csupomona.edu/~facultycenter/weekly_teaching_note_jan_28_2008.shtml

http://www.csupomona.edu/~facultycenter/weekly_teaching_note_feb_4_2008.shtml