I always like New Year’s. I like the feel of freshness and optimism that comes from having the chance to start a brand-new year. Except that it can be cold, it is one of my favorite days year in and year out.
I usually make one or two resolutions every new year. This provides me with the chance to think rather deeply about what part of my life I want to focus on in the days, weeks, and months that are ahead. How do I want to be better in 365 days than I am right now? I take these resolutions seriously because they serve as a guiding light as I move through each new year.
This morning I was thinking back on the past 51.5 years of my teaching and I started wondering what teaching resolutions I should have made 20, 30, 40 or more years ago. If I could go back to 1986 or 1974 or 1993 where should I have put my focus so that I would teach better right then (and, hopefully, be teaching better now).
If I were to discover a magic portal so that I could go back to a much younger version of myself, what resolutions would I have given to that poor, young, and inexperienced teacher?
Three things came to my mind without too much thought. So, here are my new year’s resolutions for Joe for (let’s say) 1971.
1 – Learn how to test better. If you test memorization, your students will assume that what you really want from them is memorization. That is a natural conclusion. I think this one resolution, more than any other, can help you grow as a teacher. Testing just sets the tone for everything else you do in a class.
Here is one hint that has helped me over the last 10-15 years. Type up a test for your students and give yourself plenty of time so that you don’t get rushed. Then, immediately, type up a detailed answer sheet. Typing up those answers will give you a sense of the true complexity of each question. What percentage of A students should get this question correct? B students? C students? Why would a student miss this question? What knowledge is required to work this question? What level of thinking is required? Reading a question and then evaluating it is risky. Take the time to type out your answer just as if you were one of the students.
I have not given a test in many years where I did not type out an answer sheet in advance and use that process to evaluate each question. Why am I including the question? How will it help me differentiate the depth of a student’s understanding?
More than anything else you do, the time you spend writing a test and answering it will improve the learning of your students. This is the easiest way to get their attention and show them what you really want them to learn.
2 – Do everything you can to get your students to prepare before they arrive at class EVERY DAY. Let’s be honest. Most students have rarely had classes that required them to prepare. Preparation is a foreign concept to them. Consequently, for many, note taking is a more important skill than preparation. In my opinion, most students underprepare for every single class. Therefore, when class begins, they don’t know what you are talking about so they madly copy down notes in hopes of figuring it all out later. And, most professors let them get away with that. That is embarrassing or, at least, it should be embarrassing.
Don’t be innocently delusional. Ask yourself one essential question at the start of every class, “If I stopped right now and asked five easy questions based on the suggested class preparation, how many students would get all five correct?” I don’t expect perfection, but I would hope in my classes that 100 percent of my students would get at least 4-5 of those questions. That will give them a foundation to build on during the class session.
You’ll be amazed how smart your students suddenly become if you can get them to prepare before they arrive at class. And, you’ll be pleased by how much more readily they will become engaged in class. Few students want to talk if they don’t know what the class is talking about.
I cold call on my students from the time they walk into the room until they walk out of the room. The questions are constant, not now and then. This is simply the way I teach. I give students daily assignments in advance and then start probing into those assignments through my class questions.
I do this for one reason – it forces the students to prepare.
Students hate this approach for about one week and then they begin to realize that they like being actively engaged in the class. Don’t let that first week frighten you off. One anonymous student on my student evaluations for the fall semester wrote, “His system of calling on students during class makes it all more engaging. I think the Business School should make cold calling a mandatory part of every class.”
Last night, I was watching an old television show and they were discussing a line from Confucius that was written about 2,500 years ago. “Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.”
2,500 years might have passed but I cannot think of a single thing I would prefer for my students to ponder as they get ready for the coming semester.
3 – Don’t get caught up in grade inflation. When I graduated as an undergraduate student, I had earned a grade point average of 2.72. I actually have my transcript sitting over here on a book case. What I find most interesting is that I graduated in the upper 36 percent of my class. Nowadays, because of grade inflation, a 2.72 would be looked at as the bottom of the barrel, but, for me, I was in the top 36 percent. Grades have changed that significantly over the years. Most grades at most schools are A’s.
One of my all-time favorite quotes comes from the movie A League of Their Own.
"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great."
The hard is what makes it great. What a great quote. I often think that grade inflation has robbed college students of some of the spectacular thrill of working hard and making an A and I think that is sad. If 50 to 90 percent of your students make an A, why would anyone get excited by an A? I’m not in favor of giving no A’s but, next week, on the first day of class, I will write on the board in big letters, “A means Excellent.” I will then turn to my students and look them in the eye and say, “I know what excellent work is and so do you. If you give me excellent work, you will make an A. If you don’t give me excellent work, you will not make an A.” And, they will understand what I mean.
Learn how to test better.
Do everything
you can to get your students to prepare before they arrive at class.
Don’t get caught up in grade inflation.
I could have come up with 15 more resolutions. Nevertheless, if I had told these three to my younger self way back in 1971, I imagine they would have helped me on my long slow path to becoming a teacher.
Happy
New Year!!!!
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