Entry the Fourth or: What I would do for a Klondike Bar

• The first issue in this week’s reading that I found valuable was the section on Grading Exams on page 143 of First Day to Final Grade. This section is pretty basic, and essentially just lists out some tips on how to make grading an exam easier for the professor. The reason I find this so valuable is because (a) I will be giving an exam in the course I teach very soon, and (b) because I tend to start doing things (such as grading) without any method and then later come to find that there was a much easier system available. I especially liked the advice on writing on students exams which I feel also applies to the way I grade speeches. The text says that if you find yourself writing more than the student did then you should stop and write “come see me” at the top of the paper. This doesn’t apply exactly to the course that I teach because all of our tests are multiple choice and true/false, but I think it applies to speeches because I found myself writing A LOT of comments on each students grade sheet, which made the grading process take even longer than it needed to. I think I need to stop worrying so much about writing the same amount of information on each grade sheet and focus more on writing good comments and keeping track of students who may need some extra advice. Again, public speaking is one of those courses where you have to mold this advice to fit the assignments and I plan when grading try this when grading the next speech and the first exam.

• The next concept that I find important is page 125 of McKeachie’s Teaching Tips. This page is an isolated table that illustrates what students’ teachers, and employers want from grades. It talks in detail about how each group views grades and what grades say about an individual from each perspective. According to this section student’s view grades as a means for gauging whether or not they feel comfortable with a certain field of study and if they feel they can succeed in that field. This is interesting to me because the majority of my students are freshman and are likely to change the major before the end of the second semester, as many do. I never gave much thought to how my students internalized or rationalized their grades, but it makes sense, especially with younger students, that they would use them this way. The text states that professors generally use grades as a means for determining what we think a students skills are and what type of person they are based on their performance in class. I mostly agree with because I know that I do this when I look at students grades, but I also think that we as professors often base some of our opinion of students on our own personal bias, and grades can either reinforce or negate those biases. On some level grading is subjective, we know we should be as objective as possible, but we are human and we run on emotion more times than not, which means we may really want a student to get grades that they just don’t deserve. This concept has got me thinking about the way I grade and whether or not I’ve let personal bias and emotions sway a grade one way or the other. I try to be objective, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fall prey to basic human emotion. This concept is present in all fields, and it is important that we as teachers are constantly aware of it. It’s made me a little paranoid.

• The third concept I find useful from this week’s reading is Handling Cheating. This section is on pages 119 through 121 in McKeachie’s Teaching Tips, and outlines some ways for dealing with cheating that help professors handle cheating in a way that is beneficial to both the student and the teacher. One of the points made in this section is that when handling cheating of any kind it is important to follow the college’s procedures; find out the legal precedents and how they can affect what you do. This section scared me a little because I haven’t had a problem with cheating (that I know of) thus far and haven’t really thought about what I will do if it occurs. I come from an undergraduate institution that is very small and thus tends to be a little more lenient when it comes to cheaters. I’ve never had to think about the legal precedents of a college before and it is a bit daunting. What I took away from this section was the importance of (a) finding out the college’s policies regarding cheating and, (b) making sure that if I see a student cheating that I do something about it. The section talks about young teachers who are afraid to call out students for cheating because they don’t want to make a scene or they themselves may have cheated in the past. I feel that I can be objective when it comes to cheating, but I guess I’ll only know for sure when the time for action presents itself.

Here are some links:
How to Cheat (funny)
NDSU Cheating Policy

Entry the Third or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Class

Although I don’t really care for the stylistic qualities of the writing in McKeachie, I did learn a lot of things that I feel will come in handy. I feel as though my classes are getting better, but there are days when I swear they are all devolving.

I. I found the following ideas useful:

• First, getting students to do the reading assignment. This is something I have been fighting in my classes. It is much harder to teach the material if everyone in the class is hearing it for the first time. I like a couple of the methods listed in the week’s reading; the one-minute-paper and having a quiz on the material. I think these methods are a good way to ensure that students, at the very least, do some of the reading. McKeachie makes an interesting point when he writes “to many, ‘read’ is simply to pass one’s eyes over tge words as one does in reading a story.” I think this is very true. Many students don’t read for comprehension, they do it as if it were a chore and once it’s over they can resume living, which leads me to the second idea that I found useful; Learning More from Reading
  
• Learning more from reading is something that we all hope our students are striving to do, but often times that is not the case. I have found that a very small percentage of my classes actually seem to have read and comprehended the text book material and an even smaller percentage can apply it to the questions I pose in class. McKeachie gave some great tips for dealing with this; specific instructions, taking marginal notes, underlining and high-lighting, etc… These are all methods that many of us graduate students use every time we read anything and we had to start sometime. I think it’s time my student’s learned how to read.

II. Here is how I can implement these things into my teaching:

• First off, I feel like I’ve been too easy on my students thus far. I am getting tired of have to break down every little concept because no one bothered to read. It is high time they learned that the text book is meant for something other than propping up wobbly chairs, and I think the best way to do that is to start having a quiz each week until they can show me that we don’t need them. It sounds harsh, but I really think it will work. I feel like they are skating through my course and that just is not okay. I really would like to come to class one day and have everyone actively participating in a discussion about the material and not just a summary of the material.
  
• Second, if I want my students to do well on their quizzes and be able to participate in discussion they should know how to read correctly. I don’t think it would be a bad idea to take a half day of class to go over how they should be approaching their text book assignments. My hope is that if I can show them how to read correctly it make our class more enjoyable and help them later on when they have to read for other classes. I don’t expect everyone to get the hang of it right away, but if I can get them thinking about the material instead of passively glancing at it then the rest will fall into place.

III. Other things that I believe my teaching would benefit from:

• I feel that it is important for me to be aware of, and understand the cause of, barriers to discussion. After this week’s reading I noticed that I was acting as an occasional barrier to discussion because I would answer questions before the students had a chance to really form an answer. This sort of broke my heart because I love in-class-discussions and always learned a lot from them. The fact that I wasn’t facilitating a good environment for discussion made me want to change, and change I shall.

• Student-led discussions are something that I have been afraid to try in my class. This is because it’s hard for me to relinquish control of the information. It’s not that I don’t think my students are capable, quite the opposite, it’s just hard to let go. I really would like to have my students teach certain information and am going to try to let go enough to make it happen. I feel that allowing them to teach one another will increase their comprehension of the material as a whole.
  

*Sorry about the formatting. Blogger (more like booger) kept messing everything up when it tried to transfer the text from compose to preview.

Entry the Second

Another week and still no pay. I’m beginning to think that this has all been a ruse and we were never going to be paid in the first place. No matter, I’ve begun to enjoy my time with my students enough to where getting paid is of little consequence. The readings for this week focused heavily on many of the concerns I had with running a classroom such as setting learning goals, facilitating student notes, and running an effective discussion.

I. I found the following ideas to be useful:

• First, setting learning goals for both me and my students. The text suggests that teachers try to focus on meeting one or two major goals for each session and sharing those goals with their students. I knew about learning goals prior to reading this chapter but I assumed they were a tool meant to help teachers. After reading this section I understand that it is as, if not more, important to let students know what the learning goals are so they are better able to gauge their success for that day and ask better questions. I will definitely be trying this out in my classroom.

• Second, facilitating student notes. This is something that had been worrying me since day one. I really want my students to be able to take good note, but was unsure how to make that happen. This section showed me that it comes down to how I structure the information during my lecture. I am really terrible at using the board as a tool for learning, but I know that many students won’t write anything down unless I have put it up on the board. All in all this section made me want to get better at structuring the information I give in class so my students can benefit from it, and have it come test time.

II. Here is how I can implement these ideas into my own teaching:

• First, I need to plan learning goals ahead of time. I have always been terrible at planning ahead and apparently my solution to this flaw is to accept a teaching position at a university. I realize now that being prepared is essential for a good session in the classroom and having a set of goals for the day is the best way to prepare. Setting the goals isn’t really my problem, sharing those goals with my students is. This week I’m going start off each session by telling my students what the learning goal for that day is and hopefully by the end of the week things will be noticeably different.

• Second, I will try my best to provide structured information when I lecture. This is the one thing that makes my truly nervous when teaching. It sounds silly, but I don’t live my life with a lot of structure so structuring anything is foreign to me. I’m trying to change I swear! What I plan on doing is using the board more when lecturing and using techniques such as numbering points and reviewing main points. I also plan on getting some feedback from my students, because no one knows what works for them better than they do.

III. Other things I would like to incorporate in my teaching:

• Organizing students to facilitate better discussions. I know that this may end up being impossible given the size of my classroom and the type of seating available, but I would really like all of my students to see each others faces. I feel this is vital to a well balanced and productive discussion and will help students become more comfortable in class. I’m thinking, based on the reading, that a half circle will work best for the type of class I teach.

• Asking the first question in a discussion. I hate the eerie silence that comes from asking a discussion question to my class, but this week’s reading suggested that I revel in the silence and wait for a student to fire the first shot. Asking good questions is crucial when starting a discussion, and can set the tone for the rest of the session. The reading outlined some ways of phrasing questions to get the best possible response and I plan on using these methods in my class.

Here are some things I found useful (on the internet, of course)

Quiet Students
100 Best Youtube Videos for Teachers

Entry the First

"Day 1: Hindsight is 20/20"

The fact that someone believes I’m qualified to teach college students still baffles me every time I step into my classroom. Seeing blank faces staring back at me still messes with my head, but after a few classes I am starting to warm up to my students and them to me and teaching is getting easier every day. However, I still haven’t found a good balance between teaching and my grad work, but I’m getting closer to a system that I think will work (at least for now).

I. I found this weeks reading interesting mostly because I had already lived much of it, but there were a few key things that grabbed my attention.

• First, the point made in First Day to Final Grade that students do most of their learning outside of the class room was a humbling section to read. It makes sense, but it still stings a bit. I find this useful because it can be used almost like a mantra on days when I feel like my students have lost interest or when I’m not confident on the quality of the day’s lesson. This is not to say that I expect my students to learn everything on their own time, but it is nice to know that they are ultimately in charge of their learning, not me. This idea of out-of-class learning also helps me to realize that giving good and applicable assignments will help the overall learning environment when we actually meet for class. It is up to me to provide quality learning exercises that are seen as useful and fun.

• Second, that issues of gender inevitably make their way into the classroom and must be dealt with accordingly. The notion that female students may be intimidated by male professors and vice versa is something that I was aware of but had never really taken the time to process or prepare for. I like to think of myself as very approachable and not at all intimidating, but I always have to remind myself that my perception is biased and that I may very well (and most likely do…because of the beard) come off as an intimidating figure. This concept got me thinking about the first impression my students had of me based solely on my gender. I want my students to feel that they are all held in the same regard and that no one is favored due to gender.

• Finally, how dressing up for the first day can set the tone for the rest of the semester. This is something that I thought I knew all about. We have been taught for years that making a good first impression is key to success, but I had never thought of it in terms of the teacher student relationship. On the first day of class I dressed in a button-down shirt, khakis, dress shoes, and a tie. I wanted my students to see that I was the professor and that I belonged at the front of the room and not in the trenches with them. I assumed that it worked, but it wasn’t until yesterday that I noticed the impact it had on my students. Yesterday was the first day that I chose not to wear a tie, and the first thing that a student said to me (in both classes) was “no tie today?” This simple question illustrated the importance of dress in the classroom and reinforced my belief that a professor should be dressed appropriately.

II. I noticed a few good tips in the reading that can be implemented into the field.

• First, the importance of learning students names. I know it sounds trivial, but it really makes a difference. I was struggling the first few days to remember who was who and I always felt bad when I would call on someone in class and have to ask them what their name was…again. What worked for me was reading over my class roster and then picturing the face of the student based on where they sit in class. I was able to learn 90% of their names this way, and when I came to class on Wednesday and started addressing them by their names I could see that they were impressed. This also helped set a more comfortable atmosphere in each of my classes and I could tell that my students were more responsive.

• Second, having students fill out vital information cards can save me a lot of effort later. I had always planned on doing this in the first day but only because I had done it in just about every undergrad course I took. I never thought about why we actually did it, and just passed it off as a formality with little application to class work. I was wrong. I had my students fill out these cards and just sort of threw them into a binder carelessly because I thought they would be of little use. I was wrong. I had a student who didn’t show up for class one day email me to explain the circumstances, but when I tried to email her back I kept getting an error message. It turns out that she was using an alternate email than the one provided by NDSU and I had to use her vital information card figure it out. I feel that every teacher should do this, because you never know what you might need to know.

• Finally, the subtle art of preparedness. The communication department has sort of spoiled us in the sense that we have everything we will need all ready to go before we start classes, but this typically won’t be the case for other teachers. The McKeachie book outlined a number of way in which one can prepare to teach a course. There are milestones that serve as a guide to when things should be done prior to actually teaching a course. I know that at some point I’ll have to design my own course and I’ll be clutching this book like grim death.

III. Here’s a quick litany of things I would like to include in my teaching in the future:

• Front-loading effort. I am terrible at planning ahead, so I feel that this might be a good way to change that bad habit. When I think about it I know that getting a weeks worth of lesson plans done at once will save me a lot of time later on in the week. I want to be better prepared for each class and I think front-loading can help me by introducing the concepts I’ll be teaching early, and then allowing time for me to change them as I think about activities and teaching methods.

• Being specific in the syllabus. I thought this would be easy, but I found myself thinking “oh crap, that should have been in the syllabus!” I think this first semester is a great way for me to learn what works and what doesn’t. Having a detailed syllabus can only help me in that it will answer students initial questions and prevent confusion later.

• Not showing up early on the first day! I showed up for my first class 10 minutes early (it was really more like twenty, but I sat in my car for a while) and the silence in the classroom as students began to arrive was intolerable. I didn’t know them, they didn’t know me, and so I just puttered around the front of the room and bobbed my head up and down with a forced smile every time a student entered.

Recommended Reading:

• This is what I used to outline my dress code for speech days. Business Casual Attire
• Teaching Tips (for teachers!)
• my other blog. The Moon Red Handed