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?
If I am not mistaken, "baruch" means "blessing" in Hebrew. Setting these kinds of standards might well result in all kinds of educational blessings for the college, the faculty and the students.
Good find; it seems like there is more and more conversation among teachers on this subject since the publication of your book. Is that just me or do you sense it too?
Keep creating...and teaching, Mike
Posted by: Michael Wagner | August 03, 2006 at 12:41 PM
Love the idea that we are giving educational blessings--to help the students, faculty, and college succeed. And yes, I do think there is more conversation about classroom management--I like to think I had a small part of addressing some of the issues and providing solutions. Thanks for commenting.
Posted by: Delaney J. Kirk | August 03, 2006 at 01:45 PM