A GOOD DAY TO TRY SOMETHING NEW

I write about ten new teaching essays for this blog each year.  If you would like me to drop you an email whenever I post something new, just contact me at Jhoyle@richmond.edu.  I would be delighted to let you know.

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Although I am in my 53^rd year as a college teacher, I still want to get better each and every semester.  That goal never leaves my mind.  As I have written often, you can never improve without trying something new.  It can be a big, radical experiment, or it can be small and subtle.  But, if you never try anything new, you’ll be stuck at your current level.  Teaching is too important not to work on getting better. 

In all of my classes, I give three tests and a final exam.  I want every student to have plenty of chances to show me what they can do.  Yesterday, I returned Test Number Two to the students in one of my upper-level classes.  They earned 3 A’s, 7 B’s, 5 C’s, and 2 D’s.  That’s about normal for one of my classes.  I’d love to tell you they all deserved A’s, but they didn’t.

I am very aware that some of my students were ecstatic with their grades whereas others were sad and possibly devastated.  Handing back a test always leaves me with mixed emotions.  I want the happy students to stay happy and I want the sad ones to start thinking about improvements.  I don’t want that second bunch to give up and lose all hope.

Students often feel like a small cog in a class, almost invisible, someone the teacher doesn’t really know or care about.  I decided to try to change that perception yesterday.  I wanted all the students to know that they were real people to me.   So, I spent about 30-45 minutes and wrote each of them an individual email talking about what I had seen so far and what I hoped from them for the rest of the semester.  I only wrote them 2-4 sentences, but I wanted them to know that I had them on my mind.  I wanted to reach out and encourage each of them to make needed change and finish the semester strong. 

I wanted to provide encouragement.  I wanted to provide a positive future in my class. 

The emails didn’t take long to create.  I just wanted each person to know that I had high hopes for them.  Most of all I wanted them to know that I believed in them. 

Here are a few of the actual emails just to show you what I had to say.

“You are very close to making an A but have not quite gotten there yet.  In class, you are clearly as well prepared as anyone so you might be a bit disappointed by not having made an A so far.  Go back and look at the test -- what mistake kept you from making an A?   It's not the end of the world if you don't make an A, but I would very much prefer that you did make an A.  Just keep up the good, consistent work and be really careful on the tests.”

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“I know that you have worked extremely hard in this course and must be disappointed with your grades so far.  I am convinced that you are capable of much better work so don't get discouraged.  I did comment on the test that you seemed to struggle with the time limit.   Come by and see me some time.  I'd like to get a gauge on how much that hurt your grade.”

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“You have made a C on both tests so far.  That is not bad but I'm sure that both you and I would like to see the next test be a B or even an A.  Look at that test carefully.  I know you put a lot of work in so I don't know if more time is the appropriate remedy.  What changes could you have made in your study or preparation in order to move the next grade up?   I'm convinced that you are capable of a higher grade.”

**

“That was a truly excellent test, and it was not on easy material.  Congratulations!  If you keep up that level of work, you should do great.  The real secret to this class is to see what I want and then do it.  You seem to have reached that point.”

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“As I mentioned to you after class, your work has been very consistent.  I think you are more than bright enough to make an A but I think you'll have to get more focused.  There are just other students who walk in every day prepared to make an A and I'm not always sure that is you.  I'm fine with a B, but you can do better.”

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Okay, I suspect you get the idea.  Is this a good idea?  I honestly don’t know.  I will be very interested to see if this experiment seems to affect any of the students in their approach to the class.   If I don’t notice any change, I probably won’t try it again.  That is the nature of teaching experiments.  I like trying things.  It keeps me focused on getting better as a teacher.

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And, finally, my new teaching book, Transformative Education, has now been available for FREE for two months.  Without any type of real publicity, my book has been downloaded at the following site every 4 hours and 10 minutes around the clock, seven days per week, for all of those two months.  If you’ve read it, let me know what you think.  If you’ve not read it and want ideas on becoming a better teacher, here’s the download site.

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

I firmly believe educational ideas should not be hoarded.  I give this book to you and anyone else who is interested for free.  No tricks.  It is free.  My only goal is to help college teachers become better because I think our planet desperately needs better college education. 

Hope you will get a free download and start reading.  Please feel free to tell anyone you know who might be interested about Transformative Education. 

TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION by Professor Joe Hoyle (a free gift from me to you)

 I released a new teaching book this morning.   It is free.  If you will send your email address to me at Jhoyle@richmond.edu, I will send it to you.  No catch.  Or at the very bottom of this essay, there is a URL that you can use to get a downloadable version.  The book is 153 pages long and, in this posting, I am going to post the first 1 ½ pages.  I think that will give you a pretty good idea of whether you are interested in reading the book. 

--First, here is what I have told everyone about the new book. 

I spent the past weeks, months, and years of my life working on a book about great teaching.  It is finished.   The title is Transformative Education, because I believe that should be the goal of every course we offer.   

I give this book to you for free.  I made no attempt to have it formally published.  I strongly believe that colleges and universities should freely share as much educational material as possible.  The world desperately needs substantially more high-quality education.  Our planet’s problems are never going to be resolved unless we double or triple the number of well-educated people.  Educators should avoid hoarding our ideas.  I wanted to do my part.   

Suggestion 1:     Read the first 20 pages and decide whether to continue or not.  By that point, I am feel certain you will know whether this book is worth your time.  

Suggestion 2:      I do hope you will read the Dedication.  If nothing else, read that one page.

Favor:      Without the support of a publisher, I must rely on the help of friends/colleagues/strangers/enemies to circulate the book.  If you know anyone, anyone at all, who might be interested in better teaching, please forward it along.  “Free” really means, “Without the kindness of others, this book will never be read.”   

Advice 1:      This work is not a novel.  Read it slowly.  Read a couple of pages each day and think about those ideas and suggestions.  You might not agree with every idea.  Hopefully, you will find some that can be helpful and have a significant, positive effect on your teaching.  Take your time.  Read three pages each day and you will finish the entire book in less than two months.  Speed is not the goal here.  Thinking and improving are the goals.  Take your time and shoot to be a better teacher by the time you finish.

Advice 2:     Set up a Word file on your computer.  When you read a suggestion or tactic that seems helpful, cut and paste it into the file.  Everyone needs a system to keep up with ideas that you want to remember.  Saying, “I like that,” probably means, "this will be forgotten," unless you create a system to store ideas.

Assuaging Reader Worries:      This book has absolutely nothing to do with teaching accounting.  This book is about becoming a better college teacher no matter what subject you teach. 

--I do not write here about any accountants, but I do write about Paul Simon, Nelson Mandela, Raphael, Martin Luther King Jr., and Doonesbury. 

--I have no quotes here from any accountants, but I do have quotes from Ricky Nelson, Miss Piggy, Lao Tzu, and Scarlett O’Hara.   

--I have no comparison here of any accounting rules, but I do have a comparison of Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina.   

--Off the top of my head, my five favorite statements discussed herein came from Bruce Springsteen, Mark Rothko, Tom Hanks, the author Cheryl Strayed, and a man who played catcher in Major League Baseball for 18 years.   

If you have questions, let me know at Jhoyle@richmond.edu

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--Now, here is the beginning 1 ½ pages of the new book.

An Opening Reading

Teaching Is Personal.  Fair warning:  This book will be personal because teaching is such a personal experience.  Some books about teaching have a clinical structure like the description of a controlled laboratory experiment involving rats and mazes.  Those works can be quite beneficial, but my writings will sound different.  For me, improving the educational experience for every student is a personal goal, probably bordering on an obsession.  I want to encourage, guide, and assist college teachers in their quest to become better.  I never camouflage my mission. 

I do not want to overanalyze myself, but I suspect that my desire to improve as a teacher comes, in part, from my regret that I did not have better teachers in college.  A few were good.  Several were awful.  Most were average.  None were great.  I was frustrated that the bad ones did not try harder.  My parents paid a significant amount of their hard-earned money to a major university, but many of my teachers did not seem to care whether I learned one iota.  How could they settle for being mediocre at such a vitally important responsibility?  At 18, I did not understand their lackadaisical attitude.  I do not understand it any better now that I am well past 70.

I simply want every student to have a legitimate opportunity to earn an excellent education.  I have a great appreciation for teachers who work hard to help students think, learn, and understand.  Our schools can achieve better, more in-depth results if teachers are both willing and able to assist students in maximizing their potential.  I am always distressed when I read of educational inefficiencies.  “At some of the most prestigious flagship universities, test results indicate the average graduate shows little or no improvement in critical thinking over four years.”  (“Many Colleges Fail in Teaching How to Think,” Douglas Belkin, Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2017).  Such failure should be unacceptable to every person involved with college education but also to our society as a whole.  Such indictments should lead citizens to mass at the college gates with torches and pitchforks demanding better from us.

An Opening Reading.  I grew up in a tiny mountain town in North Carolina and attended the local Southern Baptist church.  Before every service, the pastor or a member of the congregation would stand before the assembled group and read a few verses, usually from the Bible.  These words often served as the basis for the comments that were to follow.  At other times, the selected reading provided inspiration or helped listeners get into the proper frame of mind to receive the speaker’s message.

In this book, I plan to examine the day-to-day activities of teaching.  How can you improve the learning process in your classes, not in a year or two, but right now?  How can you better educate your students, not a few of them, but 100 percent?  Just as importantly, why does it even matter? 

Given my background, I want to open this book with a reading.  I have selected a few lines from Pat Conroy’s novel The Prince of Tides.  It tells the story of Savannah and Tom Wingo, twins who grew up in a dysfunctional family in the low country near Charleston, South Carolina.  The epilogue to this book provides the following interaction.  Savannah speaks first and Tom replies. 

She took my hand and squeezed it.  “You sold yourself short.  You could’ve been more than a teacher and a coach.”

I returned the squeeze and said, “Listen to me, Savannah.  There’s no word in the language I revere more than teacher.  None.  My heart sings when a kid refers to me as his teacher and it always has.  I’ve honored myself and the entire family of man by becoming one.”

Conroy died in 2016 after a prolific career.  I doubt he ever wrote other words that were better than these.  I am not here to judge, but if Tom’s response does not pull your heart into your throat, then reading my book is probably not a good use of your time.

Why are you reading this book?  What do you hope to gain?  When you read the above conversation in Pat Conroy’s novel, is it more than just mere words to you?  Is the message personal?  I will provide you with scores of ideas and suggestions that I believe can lead to improved education.  The goal is simple.  I want teacher everywhere to get excited about their careers, about the effect they have on so many college students.  I believe that you can become a better teacher and with work eventually a great teacher.  My advice is simple:  Go for it!

The book can also be downloaded from the University of Richmond Scholarship Repository.   

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