TWO PATHS TO TEACHING GREATNESS – FROM GOOD TO GREAT, PART II

 

In my previous blog posting, I wrote about the challenge of evolving from being a good teacher to being a great teacher.  I talked about the criticism that often surrounds college education.  In general, the argument is, “It is not good enough and it costs too much.”  I believe if more teachers moved from being good to being great, that criticism would largely die out.  Our world needs more great teachers and our colleges and universities should make that a number one priority if they want to survive.

On November 29, I suggested that college teachers should invent a teaching award that they would then strive to win in their classes.  My point was that working toward such an award (even if completely made up) would help focus each person’s teaching in a very personal way.  I still think that is a great idea.  (If you have read my blog over the last decade, you already know the two awards that I seek to win each and every semester.)

Over the past two weeks, I have thought a lot about moving from good teaching to great teaching.  Such deep thinking is helpful for teachers (especially me).  We need more in-depth consideration of what great teaching is and how to achieve it.  I believe every university should start that conversation on some serious level. 

I decided to follow up today with another blog essay on becoming a great teacher, but I wanted to approach the challenge from a different angle. 

There is a foundational imperative for great teaching that I believe many people do not understand and, therefore, fail to address.  For me, the essence of great teaching is being able to go down two parallel paths every semester at the same time.  The first is the conveyance of subject matter.  Whether the course is physics, accounting, Shakespeare, art history, political science, or whatever, every teacher has a plethora of information that must be communicated to students.  College courses are built on helping students learn sufficient basic information whether it is about Einstein, Botticelli, Prospero, or Machiavelli.  In my mind, you cannot discuss art history without knowing who Botticelli is.

The second path is more complicated and is often overlooked even by some very good teachers.  It is the development of each student’s critical thinking skills.  When people complain about college education, I rarely hear them complain about a lack of subject matter knowledge.  Instead, they complain that, “Students today cannot think.”

I recently discussed this concept with a friend and I slowly moved my two hands upward in parallel, “The right hand is the subject matter.  The left hand is the development of critical thinking.  For a class to be great, the two hands have to play off each other—pushing each student along to achieve learning that is comprehensive, thoughtful, and usable.”    

I suspect that many, if not most, college teachers do a pretty good job teaching subject matter.  I do not often find that to be a huge problem.  I am a much bigger cynic when it comes to developing a student’s critical thinking skills.  From my perspective, lectures and testing, the heart of many classes, often seem to never go beyond subject matter communication.  If that is the case, then it is no wonder that college education is criticized.  No matter how good subject matter conveyance can be, it will not create great teaching by itself.  That, to me, is a firm belief.

If I were a provost, I would issue a challenge to my school, “How do we go about being truly successful at both subject matter communication AND the development of critical thinking?   I am not speaking of senior honors courses.  I am talking about every single class that a student takes at our school from their first day to their last.” 

I have taught in college for 51 years and I believe that is the essential problem that we have to solve if our educational institutions are going to survive. 

The sad part is that I do not have an answer for you on how to do that.  I know how I try to develop critical thinking skills in my students, but every teacher has to attack this challenge in their own way. 

Here are some of the tactics that I use.

--I have not lectured in any form since 1991.  In my mind, a lecture is only leading your students down one of those two paths.  By 1991, I was sick and tired of being a “one-path” teacher.

--I give questions to my students 48 hours in advance of every class I teach.  Some of those questions are easy.  A simple reading of the book will suffice.  Many of the questions, though, ask the students to go a step (or two) further.  They require the students to think about a situation and come up with a reasonable idea or a unique response or a possible hypothesis.  I want to know what they think more than what the answers are.  My favorite quote is from James Thurber, “It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.”  Nothing probably defines my class better.

--In class, we discuss each of those questions.  Obviously, the students struggle.  Thinking is really hard.  I cannot make that easy.  One of my favorite class responses is, “Figure it out.”  Even if they arrive at the wrong conclusion, I want them to arrive at a reasonable conclusion.  It is good practice for them.  Being wrong is no sin. 

--For my tests, I always allow the students to have a couple of sheets of notes.  Why?   Because those sheets, force me to write more thoughtful questions.  Any test question that tests memory is simply leading them down one of those paths but not the other.  Plus, with the Internet, memory is no longer as important as it once was.  I want to put them in a position that they have never considered so that I can see how they respond.  (If you have ever wanted to be a coach, that sentence should resonate with you.)

--I often set class questions and test questions in alternative universes just to force the students to think differently.  “Assume you are on the planet Krypotien and you have the following situation, what would you do next?”  “Assume Shakespeare was transported to the current year, what play would he begin to write first?”

I could come up with other tactics but you probably get the point and I don’t want you to become a clone of me.

**

Okay, here is my challenge for you today.  Make a list of the specific tactics that you use that are designed to help your students develop their critical thinking skills.  That is a simple, non-confusing requirement.  A tactic should involve subject matter conveyance but it must also force the students to do something that will have a positive effect on their critical thinking skills. 

When you finish your list, send me a copy at Jhoyle@richmond.edu and then send a copy to the students you will be teaching in the spring.  Students will always react better if they understand what the teacher is trying to accomplish by the work that is being required.

 

 

Choose the Award You Want to Win

Quick Announcement:  On occasion, I make the following announcement and I usually have quite a few people contact me.  I post between 5-15 essays on teaching in college every year.  In fact, this is my 308^th essay covering a span of more than a decade.  At the moment, the blog has had a total of 631,721 pageviews (or an average of about 2,050 for each essay).  If you would like to receive a short email whenever a new essay is posted, send me a note at Jhoyle@richmond.edu.  I will not use your email for any other reason.  You will always know when each new essay is available. 

**

"The fact remains that declining domestic enrollment will force colleges of all political leanings to compete harder to provide genuine value to students.”  I read this assertion in my newspaper over breakfast this morning.  (“Colleges face fewer customers but more competition” by Matthew Yglesias, Richmond Times-Dispatch, November 29, 2021)  Colleges must compete harder to provide genuine value to students.  Now, that is an interesting assertion with implications that should make faculty and administrators both pause for a moment.  What does that really mean?

 

This past week, I had lunch with my dean (he had salad while I went for the oyster platter).  We talked about many things, but one topic in particular is a favorite obsession of mine.  In colleges and universities around the country, I believe most schools and departments have a reasonable number of good teachers.  I have had the pleasure of knowing many such people.  However, I do not think we have a sufficient number of great teachers.  I believe that is a primary reason why college education is so often maligned.  We are not able to coax enough of our good teachers to become great teachers.

To provide a great education, schools need great teachers.  That seems so self-evident that I am hesitant to say it. 

We could have an interesting debate over the definition of “great teaching,” but I will take the easy way out and fall back on Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s definition of pornography, “I know it when I see it.”  Maybe, rather than establish a definition, we should list characteristics. 

--Great teachers change lives. 

--Great teachers awaken student curiosity. 

--Great teachers promote a love of the subject matter. 

--Great teachers inspire students to do their best.

--Great teachers have an effect on students that carries on for years and even decades.

--Great teachers help students learn to think.

--Great teachers push students to work incredibly hard.

This list could go on and on.

Going from good to great.  I am sure that Jim Collins has made a fortune writing about specific businesses that managed to bridge the gap from good to great.  It is a tricky challenge.  How can we encourage more professors to make that leap?  If, after seven years, they are good teachers, how can we entice them to be great after 14 years?  That seems like a reasonable transition.  That seems like a reasonable goal.  How do we encourage more to make it?

Maybe more importantly, does anyone actually think about that?  Or, is it a subject that is simply ignored at colleges and universities?  When is the last time that an administrator looked at a faculty member and said, “You are a good teacher.  I want you to become a great teacher.”?  The true answer might be, “Never.”   We need more great teachers to change more student lives.  We have a large number of good teachers.  How do we prevent them from settling for good? 

I have taught in college now for more than 50 years and that is a conversation that I have never heard anyone bring up.  Most teaching conversations seem limited to helping poor teachers improve.  That is important, but more good teachers need to consider how they can grow into great teachers.

So, I want to offer one piece of advice today that I believe can help.  I was reading something yesterday that I wrote years ago and it contained the following quote from Ellen Johnson Eirleaf who served as president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018, “If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”

I believe that one thing that prevents many teachers from becoming great is a lack of ambitious goals.

When it comes to teaching, do you have goals that are so big and demanding that they scare you?  Because it is the drive to achieve those goals that will push you to become great.   Be honest with yourself, in the upcoming spring semester, what are your teaching goals and do they scare you?

Here is my suggestion.  You belong to some group:  a department, a school, or a college.  Assume that the students within this group are going to give out teaching awards next May.  They will invent several awards and all the students will vote for the winners. 

What award would you want to win? 

Design a hypothetical award that you truly want to win.  Most demanding teacher.   Kindest teacher.  Funniest teacher.   Smartest teacher.   Trickiest teacher.  Most caring teacher.  Teacher with the best Power Point slides.

What award fits your goals?  Of all the teachers in your group, you want the students to name you as the winner of this specific award.  How would you make that happen?

This will help you focus.  Even though the award is not real, creating an idea of what you want to become can be transformative.  Ambition is so important for growth but it has to be specific.  “I want to be a great teacher” is not very helpful.

Focus on one area that you deem important and it will serve as a springboard for overall teaching greatness.  You have to start somewhere and identifying “your award” will help you establish a greatness that works for you.

I always know, each semester, what hypothetical awards that I would like to win from my students.  It is essential to know who you want to be as a teacher, the role you want to play.  So, design an award that you would like to win and then consider what it would take for students to vote for you over all of the other faculty in your group.  Trust me, that can be (and probably should be) scary.  Ambitious goals usually are scary.

We need more greatness in college teaching.  That begins when you think about what greatness means to you.  What award do you want to win in the upcoming semester?

MARKETING YOUR COURSE

Author’s Note.  Before I start today’s essay, I want to make an offer.  In the fall of 2020, I created an online financial accounting course for the Robins School of Business here at the University of Richmond.  Rather than try to mold a live class into an online course, I honestly tried to rethink the whole process from start to finish.  I used some of what I had learned from the book Make It Stick as well as my 50 plus years of college teaching.  The online course seemed to go quite well.  We started in August with 74 students and we finished in December with 74 students.  No one failed. 

One of the common arguments against online education is that it is “watered down” and of a lower quality than live classroom education.  I focused on that challenge as I created each component of the course.  In the fall of 2020, approximately 70 percent of my students completed the school’s student evaluation forms.  From my perspective, here are two of the most interesting results.

--The course required you to think critically -- 4.672 on a 5.0 scale.

--The course significantly increased your knowledge of the subject -- 4.629 on a 5.0 scale.

For an introductory level course where virtually none of the 74 students would ever take another financial accounting class, I thought those results were good.

My point is this – for many important reasons, the world needs better online education.  That should not be the only alternative for student learning but it needs to be a better alternative.  As teachers, we need to educate more people.  We need to educate them better at a lower cost.  If it is well done, if it well designed, if it properly carried out, an online course can be a very efficient way for students to learn.

Online education does not have to be watered down.  It does not have to be a weaker version of a live class.  We need to really focus on how to make online education work better so that many more people can learn our subject matter. 

I have all of this material left over.  I have spent the last six months getting it organized.  If you are interested, I would be happy to share it with you. 

--I can show you how to use it to supplement your live or blended class. 

--I can show you how to use it to create your own online course. 

--Even if you never teach financial accounting, you can study it to stimulate your personal thoughts about online education.  We need more teachers thinking more deeply about online education. 

I used videos, guided readings, sequenced learning questions and answers, audio questions and answers, and a whole lot of quizzes.  I emailed the students each morning at 6:30 and said, “Here is what I need for you to do today.  We will have a quiz in 3 days.” 

It is not a perfect system, but I think it can be used to teach students efficiently.  Or, the materials can be used as a foundation for an even better program. 

If you are interested in seeing some of this material, send me a note at Jhoyle@richmond.edu.

If you know someone who might be interested, please pass along this message.  Thanks for your help.

**

Blog.  My spring semester classes start on January 10, 2022.  Registration for those classes took place last week.  I waited two whole days and then I emailed a long note about the upcoming semester to each of the students who had registered. 

Why would I do this?

--I want every student to walk in on the first day of class excited about the possibility of learning.

--I want every student to walk in on the first day of class understanding what I want from them. 

--I want every student to walk in on the first day of class feeling that they have the ability to do well in this class.

--I want every student to walk in on the first day of class believing that the material will be worth learning.

My students have all been in school for a large portion of their lives.  Too often, they are full of dread rather than anticipation.  Over the years, many of them have suffered through some dreary education.  I think this is one of the saddest parts of my job.  Students rarely arrive at class thrilled by the prospect of learning.  For them, there is just not enough joy in the idea of learning.

So, I will spend the next two months trying to get them to believe in me, to believe in themselves, and believe in the value of what I am going to teach them.  If I can win this marketing campaign, the quality of the learning in these spring classes will have no bounds.  That is what I want.  I want every class to be the best that anyone has ever seen.

So, what did I actually say to these future students in this introductory email?  How did I market my course to them?  Here are a few of the comments I thought were most relevant.

“I am delighted that we will be working together. I have taught this class most semesters for the past 50+ years.  I firmly believe that it is the most important course in the B-school and, in my opinion, the most interesting course (and, despite its reputation, it can be the most fun).”   

“There is not a day that goes by in this class when we are not trying to understand something important.   I’m not here to waste your time.”

“Attitude is always important.  Teaching students with a mediocre attitude is a trial.  Teaching students with a positive attitude is a joy because you can help them leap tall buildings with a single bound.”

“I want YOU to make an A.   There is no crime in making a B or a C in such a challenging course but there is a crime in shooting for a B or a C. The world needs more bright young people with serious ambition.”

“Go to any of the junior and senior accounting majors you know (in your fraternity/sorority, your dorm, or wherever) and ask the simple question, ‘I want to be one of those people who makes an A in Professor Hoyle’s 302 class.   What is the key?   Don’t try to scare me because I’m not going to run and hide.   I am not a timid, frightened mouse.  I want to make an A.  How do I go about reaching that goal?’  My guess is that they’ll give you good advice.” 

“The list of students who are well prepared every single day for my class and the list of students who make an A are pretty close to the same list.”

Okay, I could go on and on, but the message needs to come from you.  What message do you want to convey?  You are trying to get a head start.  You want to get the students interested in the class before they start dreading it as a dreary chore. 

I will write my students a few more times before the spring semester begins to give them other suggestions on getting ready for my class.  Nevertheless, the marketing key is this first communication where I try to set the tone for the entire spring.  “This course is interesting and fun and challenging and worthwhile” rather than letting them tell themselves, “This is going to be soooo boring and useless.” 

When it comes to convincing students to do the work you require, aggressive (but thoughtful) marketing is never a bad idea.

WHAT DID I MISS – SUICIDE ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES

The University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) called off its classes on Tuesday.  After two suicides in the past month, school officials decided to observe a Wellness Day.  The chancellor released this advice, "I encourage every student to use this time to rest and to check in with each other during that day. Reach out to a friend, a classmate, or colleague and ask them, 'Honestly, how are you doing?'” 

As a result, a good friend of mine emailed to ask me what I thought about the pressures college students are under these days and the actions of college officials.  He remembers college well but he has been away for decades. 

My response was simple, “I have approximately 75 students per semester in my classes.  At any point in time, it is not unreasonable that a couple of those students could be under a lot of stress and that, perhaps, one of those students will just not be able to deal with that pressure.  If so, I hope I am aware enough to notice and take action.  Ultimately, 74 of those students will be able to deal with everything—life, school, family, love life, whatever.  But, one might not.  It’s not all 75 that worry me.  It’s that one student that I want to notice.  I don’t want to wait until ‘Wellness Day’ to be aware of a student who is really struggling.  I want to pay attention every day.  When it comes to suicide prevention, my rule is ’74 out of 75 is not good enough.’” 

As college teachers, if anyone is going to notice a student in distress, it should be us.  That sentence is one we should tell ourselves every day.

This past August, I wrote the following note to all of my fellow faculty here at the Robins School of Business.  If you want to do something to address the threat of student suicide, you might write a note like this to your colleagues.  It is a million times better to be aware before a problem erupts than have regrets afterwards.  Hearing it from you might make it more a priority for other members of your faculty.

**

To:  B-school Faculty and Staff  

From:  Joe

I am on sabbatical this semester and one of my main goals is to be quiet and invisible so I can finish several projects (the 15th edition of my textbook, for one).  Nevertheless, you should have gotten an email today from the Vice President of Student Development about student mental health and this is one of the few things that I think is so important that I have decided to break my silence. 

We all have dozens of students in our classes, and we interact with them for at least 150 minutes each week.  Under the best of circumstances, college can be a difficult transitional time for them.  With Covid, this is hardly the best of times.  

From my 50 years of experience in the classroom, most of them deal with everything wonderfully well.  Almost invariably, a few of them struggle.  

I think virtually everyone knows that I put a lot of pressure on my students.  I think I hold the record for most tears in one office.  Consequently, I pay very close attention to my students to see if there are behavioral changes throughout the semester:  students who look like they have stopped sleeping or eating, students who go from always prepared to always unprepared, students who stop attending, students who seem to withdraw within themselves, students who say things that just don't make sense.

I usually talk with the students first to see what might be happening but if I continue to have any reservations, I quickly contact one of the deans of students or I complete the university’s formal link to alert officials as to my concerns.  I never hesitate to get the appointed people involved.

I have found without exception that those folks are ready and willing to help.  They will not question you or doubt you.

I probably hold the record for most contacts of the student deans over the years (I can be a mean guy as a lot of students will tell you and that leads to trauma) and I have never never never once regretted contacting them.  The student deans and the mental health folks will take you seriously.  

I could make a list of the things I want to avoid but you already know some of the bad things that can happen to students.   I never want to look back and ask myself, "Why didn't I see that coming?  What did I miss?"

 

HOW MUCH OF THE WORK SHOULD YOU DO?

This is the 305^th essay on teaching that I have written for this blog.  Almost all of my postings during the most recent few years have had several thousand page views.  That level of distribution is because of you, the readers, who think deeply about what I have to say about teaching and then pass the message along to a friend.  Thanks!!  That is how college education will improve.  We read and think about ideas and then pass them along to other folks so that the universal thought process about student learning will deepen and grow.  This message comes back to one of my primary beliefs about education:  The more you think about teaching, the better teacher you will become.  That is all I am trying to do here on this blog – help you think about teaching.

**

I was searching for something on the Internet this morning and came upon a 24 second video of me that had been carved out of a speech I gave a few years back.  I am not exactly sure how it got posted on the Internet, but I found the 24 seconds fascinating.  Here is my reaction to my own words.

When it comes to creating the learning experience for your students, how much of the work should you do?  I have known many teachers who did virtually all of the work themselves.  They explained things in amazing detail and their students needed to do little more than show up, take good notes, and then memorize them.  Such teachers are often popular because students have little work to do, but those students still feel like they are learning a lot (and should be able to make a good grade).  I often refer to this as a “conveyance of information” model: (a) little work for the students, (b) there can be a feeling of a lot of learning, and (c) a good grade comes with good notes.  If you are a student, what’s not to like?  You can tell students who have been taught in this manner in high school because they are obsessive note takers.  If you want good student evaluations, this is a promising path.

Other teachers explain little and then expect students to work like crazy to basically teach themselves.  These teachers are much less popular because the work is hard and grades are often low.  Nevertheless, for students who can motivate themselves and work independently, the depth of learning can be impressive.  The pressure is great but it can form can great learning.  Few students, though, are able to sustain that level of discipline for too long.  I call this the “you are on your own” model. 

I prefer something in the middle.  I always believe that I should do my 50 percent of the work but not one bit more.  The students must also do their half.  But not one bit more.

As I discussed in that 24 second video this morning, I have always viewed class as a dance.  I explain this to my students early and often each semester.  When two people dance together and everything works perfectly, it is just beautiful to watch.  If one person is trying but the other is not, it is a mess.  However, two dancers can create magic.  In the same way, when it works, the best college classes resemble a ball room dance (such as the waltz or the tango).  Two parties working hard to push each other to be great. 

For me, those are the best days of teaching.  If you have taught for long, you have probably experienced classes where everything works perfectly.  You lead the students through the most complicated material and they responded with excitement and mental discipline.  On those days, learning is practically palpable. 

The real key to making a class come together in this way is getting the students to do their half of the work.  Trust me, if you can do that consistently, you will quickly become one of the best teachers in your building.  The question that haunts every college teacher:  How do you get students to do the necessary work, not just now and then, but in preparation for each class session? 

Here are four tips that can help encourage students to do their half of the work.  Nothing works all the time but these tips can help.

1 – If possible, before the semester begins, tell your students how much you expect from them and why.  You must realize that they will have had scores of teachers over the years.  Each one of those teachers has had a different level of expectation.  Never think your students know what you want from them.  Most teachers are not very clear about what they want their students to do so confusion is often the permanent result. 

Before each semester starts, I write my students and simply say, “I need for you to put in a minimum of 2 hours of work between each of our three classes each week.  I don’t mean six hours per week.  I mean two hours before each class.” 

Then, I explain why those hours are important, “In class, each day, we will build on what you have prepared.  Class only works if you walk in every day prepared.  And, that only comes from doing the work.” 

2 – Always tell the students exactly what you want them to do in preparation for the next class.  If you don’t give them specific instructions, they will do nothing.  “Do some work” means nothing to a student.  “Do this assignment before class” means a lot.  I give my students 3-7 questions to prepare for each upcoming class.  We never miss a day because that sends a confusing signal.  I purposely write those questions at a level to stretch my students.  If they are too easy, my students will have no need to think about them or to come to class.

3 – Make some use of that preparation at every class.  If you ask a student to spend time on an assignment and then you don’t address that assignment in some way, don’t expect your students to ever be prepared again.  You are making them feel foolish.  “Do this work but we are going to ignore it" is a momentum killer.  I have found that college students are willing to do almost any amount of work but they need to see a clear benefit that results from that work.

4 – Make the student work interesting and intriguing.  In other words, DON’T BORE STUDENTS TO DEATH and then expect them to put in a strong work effort.  Ask oddball questions.  Create bizarre scenarios.  I am convinced that the development of critical thinking skills comes from setting up unusual situations and then asking/helping students to work their way to a logical conclusion.  If you have free time to spend, invest it in learning to write questions that will awake your students to a sense of excitement in the subject matter.

**

In a dance, both parties need to do half of the work but one party does have to lead.  Likewise, in a class, both parties need to do half of the work but one party does have to lead.  As the teacher, you are the one who has to lead.  And, it is that leading that will encourage your students to get up and do their half of the work so that the class will go beautifully well every single class session.

A question to ask yourself:  How do YOU lead your students into doing their half of the work each day?  For every teacher, that’s a critical issue that must be resolved.

And, in case you are interested, here is the 24 second video that led me to think about class preparation this morning.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfJ7YkE01u0

 

 

 

Improving the World a Little Bit at a Time

I am a college teacher so I am deeply interested in education and how it can be improved.  I teach in a wonderful Business School so I am also equally interested in business operations and how they can be improved.  Whether it is education or business, how can we help to make things operate better?

A dear friend of mine sent me this (slightly modified) email from one of her students this week.  I thought it was “teacher as mentor” at its best.

“I remember I did well on our first test, and you wrote a comment saying that I should consider the major. While it may have been meant as a light-hearted statement, simply congratulating me on my test grade, it actually helped me out. At that time, I was really unsure of what I was going to major in at school, and as a result, what I would focus on in the future. Although I had been interested in your class, your comment actually helped me realize that it may be the right path for me, and now I plan to declare it as a major.

“I just wanted to thank you for that comment, however unimportant it may have seemed, because I would often think about it when trying to decide which direction to go in terms of my education and beyond. It was a constant reminder of my skills and interests, and I believe I have now made the right choice.”

Many of us originally became teachers because we wanted the opportunity to have a positive effect on the lives of others.  Looking back over my 50+ years as a teacher, that has certainly been one of the true highlights to this career. 

Therefore, I found it interesting how little the professor in the above email did and how significant the effect was.  You do not have to move mountains to have a significant impact.

(a) – The teacher took the time to notice that the student had done well on a test.  The student really had done a good job.

(b) – The teacher took a bit more time to compliment the student on those efforts. 

And then--

(c) – The student was encouraged to take what might turn out to be a very significant step if that person’s life. 

Does it get better than that?

We all want to change the world but, usually, we are so overwhelmed with all the problems that we feel helpless.  Nevertheless, whether you teach in school or work in a business or some other organization, there is one thing we can all do that will help make things better.

Pat someone on the back for a job well done. 

It is so easy and, yet, the ramifications can be enormous.

Who in this world doesn’t want a compliment, a pat on the back?  “You did a good job.  Thanks,” will make anyone sit up straight and smile.  Trust me on that.

Unfortunately, from my vantage point, the number of pats on the back that are given out each day is miniscule.  When is the last time someone did that for you?

Or, maybe more importantly, when is the last time you patted someone on the back with a compliment?  Not just a quick, “Thank you.”  I mean, “I saw what you did and you did it very well.” 

All you have to do is:

--Be observant.  Always, be on the lookout for well done work.

--Communicate the compliment.

Think how much more upbeat your business organization would be if all of the people in charge gave out a pat on the back once each day rather than once a month or once a year. 

No wonder so many people seem surly – humans need to be recognized for what they are doing.  I think that is vastly under-appreciated.

Think how much harder your students might work if you (their teacher) found one thing in each class to compliment.  Go back to your office after class and send an email to a student and simple say, “That third question today was really hard and you did an excellent job with your answer.”  That will take you 10 seconds and you might literally have changed the student’s life.  Even at the very least, you will make that person happy and proud and that is well worth doing.   No one works harder than the person trying to get the second compliment.  

Make a pledge as your small part of improving the world to pat one or more people on the back each day with a compliment.

Yes, you will have to pay attention.  You will have to be aware of the people who are working hard.  Then, you will have to have the nerve to say something.  I would love to see every business person and every teacher take that on as a “habit activity” – something we come to do all the time as a natural part of our lives.

The world could certainly use more pats on the back.  Maybe things would start to look a little brighter to all of us. 

THREE PERSONAL WORDS

 

Last week, I had the great pleasure of speaking at Longwood University to approximately 40 seniors who were getting ready to leave campus to do their student teaching.  They were going out to elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools in order to get practical experience in the art of teaching.  I can only imagine how tense and excited they must all have been.  It has to feel like stepping off into the unknown.

They had meetings all morning followed by a nice lunch.  I was asked to be the after-lunch speaker.  That was truly a pleasure and an honor.

I began by telling them that I was going to give my speech but, first, I wanted to start with a three-word message that came directly from my heart personally to them. 

I had three words that I wanted them to hear independent of the speech.  Those words were personally from me.

However, before I unveil those three words here on my blog, I have a bit of a different story to convey first.

**

This morning I received an email from a student who was in one of my classes here at the University of Richmond a few years ago.  He had graduated and, from what he told me, seemed to have created a successful career for himself.  The message that he wanted to tell me this morning was, “Looking back on those classes, I developed the confidence to be okay with giving an answer that may be wrong. We were all learning at the time.”

What a nice story:  his career was going well and he had developed confidence and knowledge in my class.  Confidence and knowledge – hard to ask for a better outcome.

What made this story especially interesting to me was that (and I checked this to be sure my memory was accurate), he finished the semester with the lowest overall average in my class that semester.  Lowest.  Bottom.  His test grades were consistently poor.  If you looked at just my grade book, you would have viewed this as a loss for me and a loss for him.  A wasted class.  But clearly, it wasn’t. 

His email reminded me of some advice I gave the student-teachers at Longwood:  Don’t become so enamored of your A students.  Yes, we all love the students who make 100.  They make our jobs easier.  We swell with pride when a student makes an A+.  However, from my experience, many (if not most) of the A students really do not need much from us.  They often know how to study, how to do the difficult thinking that is needed, and how to be efficient test takers.  They are well formed as students before they get to us. 

Where we can provide the most benefit is with the other students.  The ones who struggle.  The ones who don’t have the strong background needed to do well from the start.  The ones who can fall through the cracks if we are not careful.

As a teacher, what should make your heart sing?  What should you look for that will bring a smile to your lips.   I am always most pleased with the students who truly try.  That sentence sums up a lot of my teaching.  Those students take on the challenge and put in the work even if the grades are not great.  However, it is not just putting in a lot of time.  To a certain extent, I think the amount of time spent studying is a bit overrated. 

When I use the word “try,” I am thinking of students who break down the topic and work to ascertain how to view the material logically and how to come to an understanding of the subject matter.  There is a significant part of learning that is not tied to a certain high grade.  I liked the last line from my former student, “We were all learning at the time.”

I love it when students tell me that I helped them to learn to think and to learn how to learn in a more efficient manner.    

So, as you begin yet another semester as a teacher, never become too enamored of your A students.  You might be adding only a little real benefit to their academic journeys.  Look past that group to the students who struggle, for whatever reason.  How can you encourage those students to try (more and better)?  How can you add value to their learning, a value that might prove to be what they really need in order to succeed going forward? 

If a student simply will not try, there is little that you or I or any other teacher can do for them.  However, if a student is pushing themselves to learn and understand, the assistance you provide might make a world of difference in their lives even if they do wind up with the lowest grade in class. 

Here is my point:  Most of us got into the teaching profession in hopes of changing lives.  Where that happens is most often not with the A students.  They will certainly make you feel good but, as you look back over the years, the benefit you truly add is most likely to be with the students who struggle but never give up and keep pushing themselves from the first day to the last.

**

Okay, what were the three personal words that I told to the student-teachers at Longwood even before I began my speech?

I ENVY YOU!!

I think I repeated those words several times over and over like a mantra.

After 50 years in the classroom, my career is beginning to wind down no matter how hard I fight the urge.   Those students were standing at the doorway of a new teaching career.  Quite honestly, it will not work for all of them.  Some will be teaching the wrong grade or wind up in difficult environments.  Nevertheless, many of them are going to be changing lots of lives for many years.  That is for certain.  What a wonderful future they have in front of them.

They will be under paid.

They will be vastly under appreciated.

They will work way too hard.

I can promise them all of that. 

But, at some point, down the road, they will look back and say, “I have been a teacher.  I have helped my students learn—learn to work and learn to think.  I have helped to change lives.”

That is not a bad way to spend a career.