LETTING STUDENTS KNOW THEY ARE NOT INVISIBLE

(ESSAY 339)  I recently gave my first test of the semester.  My primary course (Intermediate Accounting II) is extremely complex so every test is a challenge for my students.  I have 71 students this semester so that was a lot of grading.  

My goal for this first test is usually that 50-60 percent of my students make an A or a B.  On this test, 70 percent made an A or a B so I was pleased.  The group had worked hard and seemed to have made excellent progress.

However, 15 percent of the students made a D and another 5 percent made a low C.  That’s a lot of poor work.  I always tell my students, “I will always take half of the credit if you do well, but I assume I deserve half of the blame if you do poorly.” 

Students who do poorly always seem to feel invisible.  “No one really knows or cares if I am struggling.”  I don’t want my students to feel that no one cares.  They still have 80 percent of their grades to be determined.  Nothing in my teaching is more pleasing than turning a D student into an A or B student.   (I probably take way too much credit for turning A students into A students.)

So, I wrote emails to each of the students who did poorly just to give them some advice and make sure they knew that I cared and that they were not invisible.  Each of the emails was somewhat different but below is one example of what I sent out.

The first two students I wrote, emailed me back almost immediately to thank me for touching base and for my recommendation.  It was almost as if they had been waiting for some encouragement.

**

To:  XX

From:  JH

As you know, you made a D on our first test in Accounting 302.  I do not know how you did in Accounting 301, and I do not know what your grade point average is so I'm not sure whether you just had a bad day or whether I should be worried about your grade in 302.  It is important to remember that Test One was only 20 percent of your overall grade, but it was 20 percent and should not be ignored.  You can do better, but we need to get started. 

I'd really like to see improvement over that 69.   I'm not sure but I don't think you've been to my office to ask any questions or seek any assistance this semester.  Always remember that is why I have office hours.  I'm more than happy to help.   You don’t need an appointment, just show up during my office hours.

In addition, I want to recommend that you contact Roger Mancastroppa (he is copied here) who is the Associate Director of our Academic Skills Center.  I suggest that you make an appointment with him to chat about ways that you can improve your learning skills and especially your testing skills.  This is not a requirement.  I just think it might be beneficial.  You seem to work hard, but we need better test results and that needs to happen on Test Two. 

I think one visit (or maybe more) might be a good investment as we look toward making a serious improvement in the remaining 80 percent of the course grade.

If you want to chat about my suggestion, come by and see me.

**

And as I have mentioned previously, in case you are interested, you can watch my 12 minute TEDxYouth@RVA talk about transformative education at:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G20tup61ZxI&t=1s

And, my book on Transformative Education is available as a free download at:

 

https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/375/

 

 

GETTING THE STUDENTS READY FOR THEIR FIRST TEST

(ESSAY 338)  I teach a course that is generally considered to be extremely difficult.  Our first test is next Friday.  Today’s students are always a bit nervous so the first test in a course that is viewed as tough can push their emotions up to high anxiety.  That is not productive.  I want to keep them emotionally involved, but I don’t want them to get scared and freeze up.  Fear is not the goal.  Learning and understanding are the goals.  If done right, testing can be a big help.  

I always stress to my students that the objective is to have a great semester so any individual day, even a test day, is just a small cog in that overall process.  Obviously, I want them to do great on Friday in order to build confidence, but I don’t want them to become devastated in case they have a bad day.  So, a few days ago, I conveyed the following message to them.  I wanted to provide guidance.  I wanted to provide support.  Most of all, regardless of the grade, I wanted this test to improve the odds that every student was going to have a great semester.  To me, that last sentence is a very important aspect of any course if the teacher really wants to move toward greatness. 

At least in my experience, I have found the psychology of working with a group (I have 71 students this semester) is one of the most beneficial and interesting parts of teaching in college.  What are the magic words, what are the key steps, that turn an average class into something that the students will remember for the rest of their lives.  

Here’s the message I sent (slightly edited).  

**

Our first test is in two weeks (2/14). It will count 20 percent of your overall grade for the semester so it is important, but it is not the end of the world if you do not do as well as you might like. 

As I told some of you who were in one of my earlier courses, I call the first test of the semester “spring training.” It’s a chance to see how you are doing so far. 

--Is your approach to the class working well? 

--Should you have spent more time? 

--Did you spend too much time? 

--What changes should you consider going forward? 

People need a chance to gauge whether their efforts are bringing the desired results.   As I often tell you in class, “perfection is never the goal.”   However, I do firmly believe that, “Evolution is a key goal.”  I always want you to be getting better.  Every single day.  

As I have said to you previously, the test will cover absolutely everything we cover in class (or in any emails that talk about accounting) through the end of class on 2/12. I have a good memory and I keep good notes. I know what we have covered.

I want you to know it or I wouldn’t have mentioned it.   

Here are some questions that you might consider. 

--How many hours should you devote to test preparation? (I’d vote for 10-15, but I’d keep a record just to see – that’s never a bad idea.) 

--When should you start? (I’d shoot for 7 days ahead.) 

--Should you schedule out specific times to prepare? (Yes, that’s a great idea. Set up a calendar with expected days and times and then stick with it.) 

--When should you write your two pages of “cheat sheets?” (I’d keep a rough draft as you study and then recopy it on the night before the test as a last minute reminder of everything.) 

--When should you try the questions on last fall’s test? (I’d probably read the test now just to get a feel for the type of questions.  Maybe more importantly, I’d read the answers especially carefully because they show how I would have worked through the questions. Spend some serious time following the process I used. I’ve never been sure that actually working the previous test is much help. It tends to scare students more than help them but I do like for you to read those answers.) 

--Should you study with other people? (That’s always a wise idea. I’d try to spend 30-50 percent of study time in groups.) 

--Should you look around and ask people to study with you if they don’t seem to have a group? (Yes, please, kindness is so important in life – even more important than accounting. Kindness begins with your opening your eyes and looking around for people who could use some help.)

And, finally, just because it is factual information, here are the first test grades of the students who made an A in this course last fall. As you can see by these numbers, a good grade is nice but it is not essential. 88. 96, 83, 97, 92, 85.   That’s two A’s, three B’s, and one C and all of those students wound up with an A for the semester.  I suspect there was some evolution in their study habits after the first test.  

This test is just spring training to help you get off to a good start and determine what changes you might want to make in how you study every day in this course.

**

And, as you probably can imagine, I follow the test up almost immediately with a another email on how to take what they discovered from the first test and then use it to have a much better semester going forward.  If I can, I will add that email to this blog in a week or two.

**

And as I have mentioned previously, in case you are interested, you can watch my 12 minute TEDxYouth@RVA talk about transformative education at: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G20tup61ZxI&t=1s

And, my book on Transformative Education is available as a free download at:

https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/375/

MARKETING YOUR CLASS TO YOUR STUDENTS

(ESSAY 337)   (Before I get started with today’s essay, I want to wish all the readers of my blog a Happy New Year!!  I hope 2025 turns out to be the very best year ever for you, your family, and your students.  Thanks for checking in on my blog now and then.  This is my 337th essay on teaching and we have had more than 790,000 pageviews which is about 786,000 more than I expected when I first started writing this blog.  

I genuinely hope it helps you move toward better teaching!)

**

My classes for the spring semester start in about 10 days.  For years now (I guess ever since email was first invented), I have spent this period of time marketing my class to my students.  I want them to walk in on the first day already looking forward to an exciting challenge.  I think a lot about how to make my class better than any other class they might have ever had.

 

Before he retired, I used to tell one of my marketing professor colleagues that marketing was the most important skill in the entire world – one that we should practice every day in every possible way.  Not surprisingly, he readily agreed with me. 

 

So, I woke up a few days ago and thought, “I need to begin working on my students’ attitudes for the spring semester.”  I hopped up and wrote the email below and sent it to them.  It was basically marketing.  If I am the one professor who writes such things, I will catch their attention and push them to think about what I am trying to do.  

 

Will it help get the semester off to a great start?   Geez, I hope so, but we’ll see.  You can ask me in a couple of weeks, and I’ll let you know whether it was a positive factor or not.  But, it only took me about 20 minutes so I didn’t invest a fortune.  I look around a lot for small teaching investments that can have big returns. 

 

**

(The following is a slightly edited version of the email that I sent to my students for Intermediate Accounting II.  Clearly, I think that class is extremely important and I wanted to convey that opinion to them before I meet them on the first day of class.)

With about two weeks left until the start of the semester, I want you to know that the most important thing you bring into this class is NOT your grade in the previous class or how much material you already know.  The most important thing you bring with you is your attitude toward our class in the spring of 2025.   

So, here’s your assignment for today.  In just three words, describe your attitude toward Accounting 302 as you approach the spring semester.  Don’t just write down the first three words that come to your mind (scary, impossible, challenging, cruel, torturous, sadistic, overwhelming).  Think about it for one solid day.  This is your life.  This is your education.  This is your future.  In three words, what is your attitude toward Accounting 302?

Before we meet on the first day, I want you to have defined YOUR ATTITUDE toward this course.  I think that is very important self-awareness as you get ready to excel in my class.

Okay, so here are my three.  I realize that I have a completely different perspective than you, but we are working together so we might as well understand each other.

NUMBER ONE –  “ENJOY” – I have no interest in being miserable.  I have no interest in dreading coming to class every day.  I want to enjoy working with you this semester.  In reading the course evaluations from last fall, I was interested in how many students seemed mystified when they wrote something like, “This course was actually a lot of fun.  I am going to miss it.”  They had expected to be miserable and they weren't.  I have no reason to want you to be unhappy.   I truly want you to find every single day of our exploration to be enjoyable.

NUMBER TWO – “LEARN” – I am always baffled by students who seem set on staying ignorant.  Learning makes you a better person.  Why wouldn’t you want to learn?   I have long had a class saying, “The more you learn, the more the world opens up to you.”   I want you to learn so much in the spring that your head will feel like it is going to explode.   I talk a lot about the transformative nature of education.  Your learning is the primary driver of that transformation.  Heck, forget your grade – in the long run, who really cares about that?  Focus on setting the world’s record for learning.  That will get you somewhere.

NUMBER THREE – “USEFUL” – In truth, I majored in accounting (in 1967 – or about 1,000 years ago) at least in part because I loved the useful nature of the material.  I could actually look at a set of financial statements and understand what they meant which just amazed me.  Some of you might have used my financial accounting textbook in Accounting 201.  In Chapter Two, I have a quote that I love because I think it is 100 percent true.  It comes from the Wall Street Journal from about 25 years ago.  

       “When the intellectual achievements of the 20th century are tallied, GAAP should be on everyone’s Top 10 list.  The idea of GAAP—so simple yet so radical—is that there should be a standard way of accounting for profit and loss in public businesses, allowing investors to see how a public company manages its money.  This transparency is what allows investors to compare businesses as different as McDonald’s, IBM and Tupperware, and it makes U.S. markets the envy of the world.” 

After you read those three sentences, who wouldn’t want to learn financial accounting because it is so darn useful?

I realize the semester hasn’t yet started so I’ll make this an optional assignment.  Send me the three words in your brain that describe your attitude toward our upcoming class, but you must wait at least one day to let them percolate in your brain.  Three are enough.  This is not a "quantity" assignment.

Or, don’t do the assignment.  You’re adult.  It’s your education.  It’s up to you.

You might start by figuring out your attitude toward the previous course last semester and then decide if you want to stick with those three words or evolve to some new ones.

**

A couple of days later:

I have had quite a number of my students write to tell me their three words.  Some wrote fairly extensive essays which indicated they had spent some serious time thinking about them.  In every case, I wrote back with a quick comment or two about their choices.  I wanted to bring down the wall that might be present between us as far as communications.  I want to feel comfortable with my students.

Here is a sample of the attitude some of my students were bringing to our first class.  I was fascinated by how many different words have been put forward.  There are a wide range of good attitudes my students can bring with them to our first class.  What would your students say?

Diligent, Enthusiastic, Challenged 

Curious, Rewarding, Beneficial

Excited, Anxious, Determined

Opportunity, Critical Thinking, Choices

Eager, Open-Minded, Certain

Optimistic, Open-Minded, Hungry

Utility, Resilience, Excitement

Patience, Confidence, Growth

Determined, Cautious, Open-Minded

Perseverance, Open-Mindedness, Learning

Collaborate, Challenge, Enjoy

Discipline, Excel, Growth

Understand, Engage, Progress

Build, Better, Fearless 

**

In case you are interested, you can still watch my 12 minute TEDxYouth@RVA talk about transformative education at: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G20tup61ZxI&t=1s

And, my book on Transformative Education is available as a free download at:

https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/375/