Ask-Dr-Kirk

Can I Be A Good Teacher and Have a Personal Life Too?

I recently received an email from Katherine, an adjunct instructor who teaches three different business courses at a community college in Illinois.   She writes:  "I can't seem to get organized in finding time to have a life. How can I structure my courses so that my students are engaged and I don't have so much work to do?  I am staying up until 3-4:00 a.m. and then getting up at 5:00 for an one-hour drive to the college."

This is an issue that I think we all struggle with.  We get into teaching because we care about our students and want to do a good job of educating them.  But as Katherine states, we can spend a lot of time preparing for classes and grading that doesn't always seem productive. My answer to her:

Hi Katherine,
It's hard to answer this without knowing what you are teaching. I try to schedule class activities that will be beneficial but not require as much grading. So in a class of 40 students, instead of doing individual papers, assign group projects/presentations to teams of 4-5 students.  Put together a grade sheet that allows you to check off comments instead of writing all these on each paper.  Give tests that are partially objective (for example, in HR Management classes when I am teaching about employment laws, I can give the students a scenario and then ask which law applies and they can answer this in M/C format).  Assign homework and then randomly pick which problems you will grade.  After giving back tests so students can see how they did, take these back up and keep them/use some of the questions again another semester.

How about you?  How do you schedule your workload to satisfy your intrinsic motivation to be a good teacher and yet also have time to have a personal life?

technorati tags: Effective Teaching Delaney Kirk Advice on teaching

Workshops on College Teaching

There are still a few seats available at the following workshops on classroom management.

Workshop I:  Classroom Management/How to Teach Like a Pro
June 8-10, 2006, at Columbia University, New York City
August 3-5, 2006, at Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa
January 4-6, 2007, at St Petersburg College, St Petersburg, FL

Course Description.  While most teachers are comfortable with the course content of what they are teaching, many do not feel they have been prepared in "how" to teach.  Especially lacking is how to manage a classroom (how to handle absenteeism, tardiness, cheating, difficult students; how to set classroom expectations; how to write an effective syllabus).

The three-day workshop will include issues such as:

How to establish and maintain your credibility as the instructor from day one
What to do that first crucial day of class to set class expectations
How to convince students that your class is critical to their future success
How to motivate students to take responsibility for their success or failure in class
What classroom policies to include in your syllabus
How to deal with those difficult students who come in late, disrupt class, sleep in class, dominate the class discussion, turn papers in late, etc.
How to prevent cheating and how to handle it if it does occur

Workshop II:  Tips To Help You Become an Even More Effective Teacher
July 13-15, 2006, at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

This scenario-based training workshop will include topics such as:

How to get, interpret, and incorporate feedback from your students so you can improve your teaching and  your student evaluations
How to get your students to be engaged in the class
How to work with students of all ages and motivations
How to use cases to facilitate class discussion
How to use humor in the classroom
How to talk one-on-one to that difficult student to get him or her to “buy into” the class and your policies
Tips for managing teaching, research, and committee work so you can still have a life!

Both workshops are for college instructors in all fields and will be useful to both new and experienced faculty who are struggling with how to manage this “new” generation of college students.  In general, if you want to improve your classroom evaluations and become a better classroom manager, these workshops are for you. Participants of these interactive workshops are encouraged to bring their own questions about classroom management. 

Registration.  Both workshops are part of the Chautauqua program funded by the National Science Foundation.  Registration fee is $50.  If you have questions or wish to register for the workshop, contact Dr. Tony Irving, UWA Chautauqua Director. 

technorati tags: Teaching workshop Classroom management Teaching effectiveness Delaney Kirk

Did I Miss Anything?

We've all had that question...A student is absent from class and comes up to you to ask, "Did I miss anything?" or "Did you do anything important in class today?"   The following poem by Tom Wayman illustrates the various thoughts that have come to mind as I struggle to politely respond...

DID I MISS ANYTHING?
Question frequently asked by
students after missing a class

Nothing. When we realized you weren't here
we sat with our hands folded on our desks
in silence, for the full two hours

Everything. I gave an exam worth
40 percent of the grade for this term
and assigned some reading due today
on which I'm about to hand out a quiz
worth 50 per cent

Nothing. None of the content of this course
has value or meaning
Take as many days off as you like:
any activities we undertake as a class
I assure you will not matter either to you or me
and are without purpose

Everything. A few minutes after we began last time
a shaft of light suddenly descended and an angel
or other heavenly being appeared
and revealed to us what each woman or man must do
to attain divine wisdom in this life and
the hereafter
This is the last time the class will meet
before we disperse to bring the good news to all people on earth

Nothing. When you are not present
how could something significant occur?

Everything. Contained in this classroom
is a microcosm of human experience
assembled for you to query and examine and ponder
This is not the only place such an opportunity has been gathered

but it was one place

And you weren't here

technorati tags: Classroom management Difficult students Tom Wayman

Excuses, excuses...

Most of us have policies for our classrooms--we expect our students to attend, to be on time, to turn in assignments when due, to turn off cell phones while in class, etc.  However, there seems to be a tendency by some to ignore bad behavior from students, to not follow up and enforce these policies. 

Why do professors ignore undesired behavior by their students?

1.  Lack of training:  We haven’t been taught the skills necessary to handle behavioral issues.

2.  Fear:  We're not sure that the administration will support our actions when the student goes to them to complain.

3.  Feeling that we are the only one: Other professors don’t seem to care if students are sleeping in class or coming to class tardy.

4.  Guilt:  “How can I discipline someone else when I did the same thing when I was a student?”

5.  Loss of status:  We don’t want others to know we are having problems controlling our classroom. 

6.  Time loss:  It takes time to discuss behavioral issues with students.

7.  Loss of temper:  We're afraid of getting angry or upset when confronting a student. Or that the student will get angry or violent with us.

8.  Rationalization:  The student knows to come to class on time so why do we need to talk about it?

9.  Loss of friendship:  We want our students to like us.

However, once most students understand what is required in the class, they can usually be counted on to meet your expectations.  Following your own policies is how you reinforce those expectations.  I tell my students that just as managers can't make their employees do anything in the workplace, I can't make them come to class every day or on time.  But just like a manager, I can set consequences.  And I do this because I want to role model the types of behaviors that will enable them to be successful. 

Be sure to be consistent in enforcing your policies.  A few reminders would be appropriate.  The first couple weeks of classes, I would pull any tardy student aside after class and ask the student if he/she knows what the policy is on tardiness and “remind” them that coming to class on time is part of the requirements of the class.  Keep in mind that if students come in late and you don't address this (either at that moment or after class), you have essentially said the behavior is ok.

What's your excuse for ignoring your students' bad behavior?

technorati tags: Classroom management difficult students class policies Credibility Teaching effectiveness

Pedablogging: The New Teaching Tool?

Tonight I start teaching a new MBA elective at Drake University, (MGMT 298: Managing Diversity in the Workplace). I’ve decided to add a class blog to the course as a way of allowing the students to take more ownership of the class and of their own individual learning as together we build a collaborative learning community.  Anne-Marie Deitering, Oregon State University, and Shaun Huston, Western Oregon University, have written about their recent experiences with using blogs in the classroom in the Academic Exchange Quarterly.  As they note, computer mediated communication "offer opportunities for treating teaching and learning as truly social activities where knowledge is built through interaction and dialogue rather than lectures and recitation."

I’m looking forward to the conversation...

technorati tags: Pedagogy Class blogs Drake University Managing Diversity Teaching tools

We Could Change the World...Or At Least Our Part of It

I was sharing my experience that I wrote about in a recent blogpost (Perceptions of Discrimination) with one of my new favorite persons/blog coach, Mike Sansone.  His response was excellent:  Taking a Leadership role in Diversity should include engaging in a conversation first - leading with the first "hello" - no matter age, race, or social status.   Just think if we all did this...if we all got out of our comfort zones and spoke first to those around us, especially the ones we perceive as "different from ourselves"....

technorati tags: Teaching diversity Diversity training Mike Sansone

Are You Getting the Behavior You Want in the Classroom?

I was recently in a grocery store and overheard a three-year-old kid ask his mother for a candy bar.  The mom’s response was…no, it’s too close to dinner time.   What did the kid do?  You got it—he started screaming and crying.  And what did the mother do?  She gave in and let the boy have the candy.   After all, everyone was looking and might think she was a bad mother.  And what does the kid do the next time he wants something and mom says no?   

BEHAVIOR THAT IS REWARDED TENDS TO BE REPEATED!

In my book on Taking Back the Classroom, I discuss steps to set your expectations so that the behavior you get is the behavior you want.

How To Do This?
Decide what classroom policies are necessary in order to establish the classroom culture that you want.  Is attendance important to be successful in your class?  Do you want your students to arrive on time?  Expect them to turn in assignments when due? 

Put these policies in writing in your syllabus and communicate these to your students on the first day of class. 

Remind your students of your policies the first couple weeks.  When a student asks to turn in a paper late, ask him/her...What does the syllabus say? (thus, you're not the "bad" guy, the syllabus is)

Enforce these policies fairly and consistently for the rest of the semester.

According to Jacob Kounin, “how a teacher handles one student’s misbehavior influences the other students who are not misbehaving,” something he termed the “Ripple Effect.”  Thus, the rest of the class is looking to see whether you enforce your own policies.  In order to Take Back Your Classroom and prevent the Ripple Effect, you need to be proactive in addressing inappropriate or undesired behaviors.

technorati tags: Difficult students Teaching Effectiveness Ripple Effect Jacob Kounin Classroom Management

Teaching About Discrimination

Jim Cobb (University of Georgia) recently wrote about a student in his US History course who went into a semi-hissy fit (his words) when he spent four class periods on the Civil Rights movement.  Her issue?  That she apparently thought he was making stuff up.  "I don't know where he's getting all of this," she complained, "we never discussed any of this in high school."  According to Cobb, she went on to say, “I'm not a Democrat! I don't think I should have to listen to this stuff!" 

As I put together my syllabus for a class on Managing Diversity in the Workplace that I am teaching this summer, I feel very afraid…Are there really students who don't believe that discrimination exists?  Or that don't want to hear about it?   But as Dr. Morris Massey says, we can't change the future unless we are willing to examine what has happened in the past...

technorati tags: Diversity training Teaching diversity Morris Massey Drake University

Perceptions of Discrimination

Today I attended a booksigning of a new book by Timothy Johnson on project management (check it out at Carpe Factum).  While there I witnessed a sad but interesting encounter.  An African American male in his 40s came into the store during the booksigning and stood looking at a display of books while listening to his iPod.  Several customers, including me, continued talking with the bookstore employee and Timothy.  The man never approached the employee or cash register and did not ask for help.  I assumed he was browsing and didn't give it much thought as there were several other customers doing the same.  After ten minutes he looked up, declared that he had come in the store to buy a book but that we apparently did not want his business.  He then stomped out to the puzzled looks of those of us in the store.  His perception was that he did not receive service because he was Black.   My take was that it was not apparent that he had a question or needed help. 

Who is right?  What part does our past experiences have on our perceptions of a current event?  I personally would not have made the assumption that I was not wanted in the store and would have asked for help.  He obviously had experienced discrimination in the past and saw the experience through that filter.  I will be teaching a class on Managing Diversity at Drake University beginning mid-May and am curious to see what my students think.  How do we get away from making assumptions when these have been reinforced by past events?

We All Have a Brand

Professor Patsy Fagan wrote a recent blog post (Math is Everywhere) which asked the question, "What is Your Teaching Brand?"  Excellent question, right?

We all have a brand.  The way we dress, what we have our students call us, how we decorate our office all identify our brand and how our students and colleagues perceive us...whether we are consciously aware of this or not.  I think of myself as extremely organized...however, I just realized that right now my desk is a mess.  If a student who does not know you asks what your classes are like, what would your current students say?

technorati tags: Brand identity Classroom management Credibility Teaching effectiveness

Frustrated With Your Students? You Can Get Back At Them Now With This Blogsite!

Recently, I posed the question as to whether students ask "stupid questions."  Jamie VanGeest (Minnesota Daily, April 26, 2006) writes about a blogsite that allows faculty to post their frustrations with both inappropriate comments and behaviors from their students. One professor rants about his/her students in an anonymous post saying that his students are lazy, unmotivated, and liars, and that they disrespect him by being tardy to class, making up reasons for missing class, and plagiarizing.  Other professors cited in the article state that they believe it is unprofessional to complain about students in a blog.  However, the site, Rate Your Students was created in response to teacher-evaluation sites such as Rate My Professor where students can "grade" their teachers with smiley or frowning  faces as well as indicate the professors' "hotness" factor. 

Should professors voice their frustrations about students in a public forum?  And why are we having so many problems with inappropriate behaviors in the classroom?