My
classes for this coming semester will start one week from today. One of my classes will be an introductory
course with 24 freshmen. I want to make
sure those students are clear about what I want from them. So, I sent them an email today and I tried
to explain things as best I could. I
want to inspire them without seeming silly.
I want to challenge them without scaring them.
Here
(in part) is what I wrote to these 24 freshmen:
“Over
the past few weeks, you should have received quite a bit of stuff from me by email. Read it all.
Think about it. I want the coming
semester to be absolutely great for you.
I want this to be the best educational experience you’ve ever had. I want you to learn more than you ever
thought possible.
“I
like to make things crystal clear.
Things simply go better if you understand what I expect from you and
why. As I mentioned in one of my emails,
I will do half the work in this class but you must do the other half. It is your education. You have to be willing to do half of the
work. That’s only fair. Someone is spending $60,000 for this
education (either through tuition or scholarship aid) and they deserve a
$60,000 education. Heck, it is likely
the only shot at a college education that you will ever have. You should demand a $60,000 education. This will be a better university when
students go to the administration and their faculty and demand a $60,000
education.
“I
have also said this before but I’ll say it again. I do not want boring students. I want students who have energy, curiosity,
and interest. If all you want to do is
copy and memorize what I say, you probably should have stayed in high
school. I think that is a bad habit
that some college students have. If you
drag into class looking like a corpse, don’t expect me to be too
impressed. If you can’t manage your
time well enough to prepare for class, don’t expect to learn or get good
grades. This just seems like common
sense. I want students who have a
burning desire to know more by the end of the semester than they do at the
beginning. I want students who don’t
mind working a bit if they believe there are real benefits to be gained. I want students who want to be challenged,
students who pray that they will get called on.
I want students who want to be pushed out of their comfort zones. I want curious students—curious is much
better than smart. “How does this
work?” “Why is the number 27 here
instead of 9 1/2?” “Why did this
company report this information?” If
you have no curiosity about how the world works, college may well be a wasted
experience for you. My very favorite
students are those students who read the textbook/watch the videos/read the
newspaper and have more questions than answers.
I
will start every class by giving you a handout like this one. It contains the questions that we will talk
about in the next class. I never
lecture. 100 percent of class time is a
conversation. If a student struggles in
my class, it is virtually always because they are not adequately prepared for
the class discussion. Preparation
really is the key to success in 201. If
I ask you “do some thinking about the first three presidents of the US?” and
you pencil in “their names were Washington, Adams, and Jefferson” and nothing
more than I know you have not done any true thinking (you are back in the sixth
grade). I am looking for something like
“I think Adams was a better president than Jefferson because …” or “Washington
is an over-rated president because …” I
want college-level thinking.”
No comments:
Post a Comment