Ask-Dr-Kirk

Collegiality a Great Perk at any University

I enjoyed this article giving advice to junior faculty on the importance of collegiality when deciding on that first job out of a doctoral program.   However, I would say this is important at any stage of your career.  I have accepted a one year visiting professor position at the University of South Florida for 2006-2007 and moved to St Petersburg two weeks ago.  I am getting to experience what it's like to be the "new kid" again...after 17 years (and a tenured full professor position at Drake University).  It's challenging not to know the dynamics in the college, or even where the office supplies are...I am looking forward to getting to know my new colleagues!

You Get to Decide on Your Attitude Each Day

David Maister points out a recent study by Professor Nancy Rothbard (Wharton) and Professor Steffanie Wilk (Ohio State) that reports that, "the mood you bring with you to work has a stronger effect on work performance than mood changes caused by events in the workplace."  If you come to work in a good mood, "you are more likely to be productive, efficient and do better quality work."

You get to decide on your attitude each day when you walk into the classroom.  You want to be upbeat and enthusiastic so that the students will be excited about the class also.  Even if you have had a bad day up until class time, being professional means not letting the students know this.

Does Your Syllabus Have Promise?

James M. Lang at the Chronicle of Higher Education today discusses how to have a "promising syllabus."   Essentially this means letting your students know the objectives of the course (what skills and knowledge they will acquire), how they will learn these (applications and activities), and how you, and they, can judge their progress towards these objectives.   Michael Spiegler uses a conversational approach in his syllabi to engage his students.

Remember, your syllabus is your chance to make a good first impression.  Put some of your personality into it and make your students excited to be taking your class.

Have an Open Door Policy

Professor Paul Horwitz (Southwestern Law School) gives some good advice on keeping your office door open.  He especially recommends that new faculty be more visible to their students and colleagues by having an open door policy.

I tell my students that most of the time when I am in my office, the door is open and they are free to come in to talk.  If the door is partially closed, it means I am busy but they can knock if it's important or to make an appointment.  If the door is closed, I'm frantically trying to meet a deadline...or I'm not there!

Dress For Classroom Success

Interesting blogpost on Dress from a law professor at the University of Mississippi School of Law who answers the pressing question of what to wear the first day of classes.  His answer?  "Dress what you are."  He goes on to explain that when teaching labor law, he dresses like a Teamster during the negotiation process (hmmm....) and when teaching employee benefits law, he goes with the nerdy look.  The comments to his post are interesting too.  Orly Lobel states that she was given the advice that as a new female prof, she should wear a suit.  I agree with Bruce Boyden who sees "students as like clients, and I always wore a suit for clients."

So...what do you wear the first day of class to set the impression you want?

Associated Press Article on Classroom Management Workshop

The Sioux City Journal, WHOtv.com, Des Moines Register, and other newspapers around the country picked up a recent AP article written about the workshop on classroom management I did earlier this month at Drake University. 

As I told the reporter, I'm not being mean or arbitrary by insisting that the students conform to my policies on attendance, coming to class on time, and turning in assignments when due.  I just think it's better for them to learn good work habits in the classroom than to show up for work late the first week after graduation and get fired.  My job is to help them be successful both in the class and in their careers.

SHHH Cards to Address Issue of Obnoxious Cell-phone Users

Nancy Friedman suggests dealing with obnoxious cell-phone users by going to Coudal Partners to download a PDF of a SHHH card.  The card says:

"We are aware that your ongoing conversation about _________ is very important to you, but we thought you'd like to know that it doesn't interest us in the least. In fact, your babbling disregard for others is more than a little annoying."

I'm thinking a fun first day exercise might be to have my students design their own cards to give out.

Thanks to Mike Wagner for pointing me to Nancy's post.

How Do You Get Your Students to Turn Off Their Cell Phones?

1.  Put your policy on cell phone usage in your syllabus as well as tell them the first day your expectation that they turn their phones off.  Ask them to let you know if they expect an emergency call and then to put the phone on vibrate.

2.  Make a point to bring your own cell phone to class and turn it off before them the first couple classes.

3.  Use humor.  I like to stop my lecture, look at the student directly, and say with a smile, “That better be for me.”  The students laugh but are then more diligent about turning their phones off before class. 

4.  One professor I know tells his students that the first time a cell phone rings in class, it's a warning.  The second time he gives everyone a pop quiz.

5.  Ask the students what they think the penalty should be for cell phones going off in class.  Professor Heather Sklenicka shared with me that her students deemed 10 push-ups to be a good punishment.  Apparently it works as she says she never has a problem with phones ringing.  In fact, one female student confided that she always turned her phone off before class because as she says, "have you seen that carpet?"

You will also find that the other students will turn around and glare at the Cell Phone User if they know your rule about turning the phone off before class.  Peer pressure is always a powerful tool.

technorati tags: Cell phones Classroom management Tips for teaching

Teaching Tip of the Week

Use "Deadline Date" rather than "Due Date" on your syllabus.  You'll have fewer students asking to turn their assignment in late.

Rubric For Grading Essay Questions

Here's a useful rubric for grading essay questions that was developed by
Professor Heather Sklenicka at Rochester Community and Technical College. 

Download Rubric.doc

Great Use of Syllabus to Set Tone of Class and Expectations

Michael Spiegler of Providence College has agreed to share his syllabus for his Abnormal Psychology class.  I like his approach.  His take is that you should "get students interested in the course, briefly explain its relevance to their lives, and what they will and will not learn" before covering the classroom management details.  He includes specific comments on what he is trying to accomplish in this example.  I especially like his use of humor.

Click here to: Download syllabus_example.doc

technorati tags: Sample syllabus Setting class expectations Teaching tools

Using Videos to Teach Management

Have you seen the books by Joseph Champoux (University of New Mexico) on how to use videos to teach a variety of management concepts?

technorati tags: Teaching tools Joseph Champoux Using videos in the classroom

Rubric for Grading Online Discussion Participation

Check out this rubric for evaluating online discussion participation found on Buena Vista University's website (Thanks to Amy Poland for sharing this).

technorati tags: Rubric Grading online discussions Grading blogs Teaching tools

It's All About the Shoes!

I will be leaving Drake University this week to accept a one-year visiting professorship at
the University of South Florida in St Petersburg.  My friends and colleagues at
DUCKI (Drake University Creative Knowledge Institute) wrote me a going-away
poem (I see Tim Johnson's footprints on this!), part of which I have to share...

Delaney, you're leaving us
Now we're singing the blues
For of all the lessons you've taught us
It's all about the shoes

You're a publisher and blogger
on Amazon, your book jumps
Yet the real question of accomplishment
is "Heels, flats, or pumps?"

Your students can't use cell phones
They can't dawdle, whine, or snooze
They'll learn a lot, but more than anything
It's all about the shoes

So you're leaving us, Delaney
Gone...Kaput...POOF!
But it's hurricane season in Florida!
Are your shoes waterproof?

Very funny stuff!  I'll be sure to contact my DUCKI friends this winter when it's below zero and snowing in Iowa and I'm blogging by the pool in Florida!!

technorati tags: Shoes Drake University University of South Florida DUCKI Delaney Kirk

Good Advice!

At the end of the Chautauqua workshop on classroom management that I taught at Drake University yesterday, I asked the participants to share one tip on teaching with the rest of us.  My favorite came from Evert Van Kuiken of Vennard College.

"Live an interesting life so you'll have cool stories to share"

Good advice for all of us!   

technorati tags: Advice for teachers Chautauqua Teaching workshops

Do Students Have Different Expectations of Their Female and Male Professors?

One question that comes up in the workshops on teaching that I facilitate is, "Are male and female professors viewed differently by their students?"  The consensus seems to be that students expect more from their female teachers...more nurturing, more understanding, more leeway with grades...

A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education concurs.   The author notes that "...at the small, liberal-arts college where I teach, both men and women on the faculty juggle teaching, research, service, and personal lives. Both men and women have very busy schedules. Yet, in my experience, students tend to expect female professors also to be available to counsel and nurture."  She goes on to say..."students hold so many unspoken expectations about their instructors. And some of those expectations are based on gender stereotypes that have important consequences for the authority and respect we are granted in and out of the classroom."

Anyone else see this difference in student expectations?

technorati tags: Gender differences Male vs Female Professors

Website Offers Free Tool in Developing Rubrics

Mathilda Doorley, of Southwest Tennessee Community College told me about this great website which helps you create rubrics for grading projects and other learning assignments.  You can also look at rubrics developed by other professors. 

technorati tags: Rubrics Grading Tips for teaching RubiStar

Help Your Colleagues By Setting and Enforcing Your Classroom Policies

Baruch College, (of The City University of New York (CUNY) system) lists a number of suggestions from, and for, their faculty to be used as each deems appropriate in managing their classrooms.  Among the items: 

"...some students have no idea what behaviors are inappropriate.  In light of contemporary norms -- talking in cinemas, cell phones at concerts, feet on subway seats, litter thrown on the ground -- less than respectful behavior might not be surprising, even in a college.  Faculty should make clear to students (preferably both orally and in writing) that the classroom environment is a special one, with special normative behaviors.  Syllabi distributed and discussed at the first class session are an important tool for communicating these precepts.

Most students appreciate having limits clearly articulated and enforced. Those limits can include: phones and beepers turned off; no leaving class for calls; a request that students visit bathrooms before or after class, not during; no talking while the instructor is talking; no sleeping; questions to be directed to the instructor; no reading of materials unrelated to the class; no use of laptop computers other than for taking notes, etc.

Faculty who do allow students to talk or to leave the room during a lecture help to create/reinforce bad habits that students then bring to other classrooms. The absence of stated limits encourages this behavior, as does faculty disregard of cheating during exams, or plagiarism on written assignments.

Students who arrive late may be unintentionally disruptive. A separate seating area near the door can minimize this disruption. Late arrivals are always disruptive to some degree: faculty may discourage these by counting a certain number as the equivalent of an absence. Faculty who are not ready to begin lessons on time set a bad example."

Good for Baruch College faculty for addressing these classroom management issues!  We are modeling the kinds of behavior that we expect in our classrooms.  Any thoughts as to how we could make some of these the norm at all our universities?

Rubric For Grading Student Presentations

Professor Roy Marler of Cascade College in Portland, Oregon, has agreed to share his rubric on grading student presentations. 

Feel free to use as is or adapt for your own classes.

Download rubric.pdf

technorati tags: Rubric for grading presentations Roy Marler Tips for teaching

Does Your Syllabus Create A Good First Impression?

Michael Spiegler, a psychology professor from Providence College attended a workshop on classroom management that I taught recently and asked a very good question.  I had been talking about the importance of first impressions and what we do on the first day of classes to establish our credibility and get our students to "buy into" the course.

His question? 

What do I put on my syllabus to create the first impression I want that this is going to be an useful class and that I am qualified to teach it?

Good point.  I'm afraid my syllabi look pretty much like everyone else's.  But I'm working on it.  I'll share the revised one as soon as I finish it.  In the meantime, feel free to comment and share any tips you have on creating that, "WOW, this is going to be a great class!"

technorati tags: Syllabus Tips for teaching Classroom management