NOTE: This is my 267th posting on this
blog. Over all the years, the writings
have never really varied. They have
always been about my observations on teaching in college, which is, I truly
believe, one of the most important professions in the world. We should all approach this job as if the fate
of our planet depends on us.
I
tend to author 5 to 15 new essays each year. If you would like to receive a short
notification from me whenever I post a new essay, send me an email at Jhoyle@richmond.edu. I will not email you for any other reason –
I respect your privacy. I will just let
you know when I have posted a new entry to the blog.
Over
the years, these 267 postings have had 450,644 page views (as of two minutes
ago). That is approximately 450,000
more than I expected when I first began writing. Periodically, I feel a need to thank everyone
who has read these postings, who has emailed me with comments/questions/suggestions,
and who has passed along these thoughts to their colleagues. Spread the word. As teachers, we have a responsibility to
share ideas about motivating and guiding students. College education can and should get better every
day. Sharing thoughts is an important
aspect of that evolution. (Start your
own blog, for example.)
In
case you are interested, here are the individual essays in this blog that have
had the most page views over the years.
--What
Do We Add? July 22, 2010
--What
Is the Purpose of a Final Examination?
May 12, 2010
--The
Most Important Days of the Semester
October 1, 2017
--Thinking
About Teaching – How Do We Get Them Excited?
December 7, 2015
--Two
Words for Better Teaching January 7,
2015
--Be
Daring September 14, 2015
*******
When
I talk with college teachers, I often notice that some tend to define
themselves by what they believe they cannot do.
“I cannot be a great teacher.” “I
cannot make this material interesting.” “I
cannot get my students to participate in class.” “I cannot get the students to think.” “I cannot convince students that this
material is important.”
These
teachers are frustrated. That is why
they tend to focus on “I cannot.”
Nevertheless, I am not sure how this mindset is beneficial. Dwelling on what you believe you cannot do is
of no help to either you or your students.
A good way to improve your teaching is to identify one basic goal that
you CAN achieve and then begin the task of making that happen. As you get better in any one area, I suspect
that your overall teaching will begin to improve. The many, varied components of teaching are
interconnected. Get better at one thing
and many other aspects of your teaching will also show improvement.
Okay,
the next roadblock is that teachers tell me, “When it comes to improvement, I
don’t even know where to start.” Change
can be difficult to initiate. So, let me
provide a suggestion. It is summer time. Hopefully, you have a bit more time to consider
how to make good things happen in your upcoming classes.
After
a semester is complete, I frequently get an email or two from students with a
kind (but vague) message. “Thanks for a
great semester.” “I learned a lot in
your class.” “I appreciate all of your
help.” I never fail to be grateful to
any student who takes time to provide feedback in a positive manner.
A
few weeks ago, I received an email from one of my spring-semester students. The note really made me stop and think
because it was more specific. This
student is from China and had worked hard in my class. She did not thank me for a great semester or
for my assistance. She did not mention learning
a lot. In fact, she wrote virtually
nothing about the subject itself.
She
had a different type of observation, “I hope that I can pursue things in my
life with the same passion as you have for educating your students.” Over my 47 years in this business, I don’t
think any previous student has ever said anything like that to me. She had come to see that I really did care about
my students so that I genuinely wanted them to learn. She hoped eventually to find that same
passion for things in her life. Maybe, I
began to think, she had identified a foundation step for becoming a better
teacher.
Simple
question – do your students think you teach purely to earn money? Or, do they believe you have a passion for
helping them to learn? Be honest – how
much passion for teaching would your students say that you have? A lot?
A little? Almost none? That is an interesting question to ponder. Moreover, here is an aspect of teaching where
you can get away from “I cannot.” There
is nothing to keep you from demonstrating an intense desire for each of your
students to learn. That does not require
a particular talent. If students
believe you want them to learn, I believe they will be more likely to do the
work that you ask of them. If they don’t
believe you care about their learning, then why should they do more than the
absolute minimum that is required? I had
teachers in college who clearly did not care if I learned one iota and my
feelings quickly came to mirror theirs.
We
all get frustrated as teachers. There
might be a lot of things about teaching where “I cannot” feels like the
appropriate answer. But, there is
absolutely no reason why you cannot demonstrate a genuine passion for educating
your students. And, that passion might be
the first step in making a lot of other things about your teaching start to
improve. If you show a belief in the importance
of education, I believe many of your students will respond with more effort than
you might imagine.
How
do you convince your students that you have a passion for their learning of the
subject matter? Let me give you a couple
of tips. I am sure we could list 20
more tips but these four will get you started on convincing students that you
have a passion for their learning.
Tip
1 – You cannot fake it. Students can
sense when you try to create a false enthusiasm for the learning of course
material. You actually have to want each
student (from the best to the worst) to learn what you are teaching. If you really don’t care, why should they?
Try
this. About every 2-3 weeks during each
semester, take your grade book and slowly read each name and pause. If your classes are small enough, picture the
person in your mind. You want to think
of every student as an individual person and not simply as a member of the
herd. I usually look at their grades to
date and try to decide whether that person is living up to his or her
potential. I want to remind myself that
I am working with distinct human beings who desperately need a good education
(whether they want a good education or not).
It is easy to mentally group students (“good students” and “bad students”),
but I want to think of John Doe and Susan Dough as separate individuals and not
merely as a part of the mass of humanity sitting in front of me each day in
class. I don’t mean to sound like Mother
Teresa, but I do believe she inspired the world because she was not faking it
when she talked about caring for each individual person.
Tip
2 – You have to communicate. As
I often say, students cannot read your mind.
You have to tell them and tell them, “Here is what I want you to learn
and here is why I want you to learn it.
There is a reason and it is for your benefit.” As of this afternoon, I have already written
3-4 emails to the students registered for my fall classes that will not begin for
three months. For me, that communication
is vital. Will the students read every
word? Of course not, but all I want is
to start building up a sense in them of (a) the importance of the material and
(b) my desire to help them learn.
Of
all the things I ever write about teaching, the one that I probably believe is
most true is that teachers tend to under-communicate with their students and
then wonder why the students don’t do what the teacher expects of them. Don’t drive them crazy with useless
information but make sure you establish a system of essential communication. Tell them exactly why you want them to learn
the material.
Tip
3 – Be willing to be available to help. If
you teach your classes and then go hide, there is no sense that you have a
passion for your students to learn.
Again, as I have written previously, you cannot urge them to leap tall
buildings in a single bound unless you are willing to stick around and help
them learn how to fly. “Here are my
office hours. If you have a problem, I
expect you to be at my office with your questions. We are in this together. I want you to succeed. I am on your side.” Most students are leery of seeking help from
a teacher because it might make them appear stupid or lazy. Unless the material in your class is easy,
most students will need assistance now and then. That is just a fact of life. You have to make sure that they know you are
ready and willing to answer their questions and provide needed help.
Tip
4 – Be proactive. If a student is not doing well in your class,
you simply cannot look the other way.
If a student is not preparing for class, if a student is not able to
answer simple questions, if a student is skipping class, if a student is doing
poorly on quizzes and examinations, you cannot wait for them to seek help. Many will simply give up and fail. Before that happens, call them into your
office. Explain your concern. Ask them, “Is there a problem that I need to
know about? I need to see better work
from you before the semester gets away from you. What can we do to get you on a track toward
success?” If a doctor walks by a
bleeding person, the doctor would try to provide assistance. The doctor would not wait for the person to
seek help. A teacher cannot sit idly by
as a student drifts off toward failure.
No teacher can save every student but every teacher can make an
effort.
Want
to be a better teacher? For one
semester, try these four tips. What do
you have to lose? Don’t sit there and
simply repeat, “I cannot.” That doesn’t
solve any problems. There is nothing on
this list that you cannot try. Just see
how your teaching might be different.
Convincing students that you really do have a passion for their learning
might well be the key that makes other aspects of your teaching grow stronger.
