BEYOND SUBJECT MATTER

I appreciate that many professors do not feel comfortable pushing their students beyond the subject matter of a college course.  I have no problem with that decision.   I have simply made a different choice.  I want to be more involved in the growth of my students.  That is why I got into this profession.  If I read a book, see a movie, or watch a television show that I think is worthwhile, I often email my students with a quick review, “I found this interesting for the following reasons.   You might want to check it out.  No points.  No requirement.  Just a suggestion.”  I am especially likely to send that type message if the thing that caught my eye is outside the sphere of my subject matter.  As a friend of mine recently said to me, “I want my students to be successful in living their lives, not just in accounting.”  I could probably write 100 pages on that one sentence.  What is within the responsibility of a professor?

Just yesterday, I sent the following email to the 28 juniors who will start my Intermediate Accounting II class in 10 days.  I really want my students to get off to a strong start.  I find messages early in the semester get more attention than those sent after months of working together. 

I wanted to draw your attention to an article that was in the August 15, 2017, Wall Street Journal.  On page A11 is a long article titled "The Smarter Ways to Study."   Okay, many of the ideas are available with more explanation in the book I recommended earlier in the summer, Make It Stick, but this article is still interesting.  I agree with the author that many students underachieve because they rely (almost obsessively) on poor study techniques.  One section of that article in particular is worth repeating, "High-achieving students take charge of their own learning and ask for help when they're stuck, according to a 2017 study of 414 college students.  Students who performed better sought out extra study aids such as instructional videos on YouTube.  Those who asked instructors for help during office hours were more likely to get A's, but fewer than 1 in 5 students did so.”   ​I added the emphasis here because I believe this assertion is true.

This message is not going very far outside of my subject matter.  However, it does go beyond simply teaching accounting.  Notice several aspects of this note.

--I want to help students have the tools to succeed.  I am not relying on high school to have done this job.  Many of my students do know how to study well but certainly not all of them do.  I would prefer to address that problem now rather than after the first test. 

--I want this note to show the students that I am on their side.  I might be a demanding teacher but I try to make sure the message is clear that I am not the enemy.  One of my favorite sayings is, “We are all in this together.”

--Students can get more information from either the Wall Street Journal article or the book Make It Stick.  I am not doing the work for them.  I am just making a suggestion and pointing them toward the available resources.

--Students too often credit success and failure with natural talent.  “I am just not very good with numbers” is a lament that I have heard so often that it makes me want to gag.  Before the semester starts, I want my students to realize that their study habits might play a big role in their doing well.  I want them to forget about “talent,” “smarts,” “grade point average,” or “IQ.”  With the right study habits, they can all make an A. 

--From my perspective, the most controversial portion of this email is that I draw attention to the research findings that show that seeking help directly from the instructor is beneficial.  As the article indicates, a vast majority of students will accept a low (even failing) grade rather than getting assistance from the teacher.  That is nuts.  By including that sentence (and putting it in italics), I will probably get more students who come by my office for help.   That will take up my time.   For a busy professor, that statement creates a bit of a quandary.  I have chosen to include that information and even emphasize it.   However, that choice has a cost.   The assertion and the way I emphasize it might well improve the grade of several of my students this semester.  That is great.  But, it will likely take up some of my time.  Professors are very busy people.  In college teaching today, that is an extremely difficult choice.   

HERE IS MY REAL VOICE

Over the years on this blog, I have written what seems like 10 million words.   Today, I get to talk with you about teaching using my real voice—Southern accent and all.   Bonni Stachowiak has created a wonderful website titled Teaching in Higher Education.   Her podcasts are one of the most interesting aspects of this site.  She talks with a variet of teachers about what they do and what they are trying to do.  She has developed a wonderful following and is doing great work to improve education.  

Bonni was kind enough last June to invite me to appear on a podcast to talk about getting students ready for success.   That, of course, is one of my favorite teaching topics.   You have to prepare students if you are going to maximize what they can learn.  The podcast was posted yesterday as colleges now get close to the beginning of the fall semester.

Below is the link to that podcast.   For 41 minutes, Bonni and I chat about getting students ready to walk into class and be successful.  Nothing to read.  You can just sit back and listen to us discuss college teaching.  As you probably know by now, when it comes to teaching, I am a person with lots of opinions.

http://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/setting-students-success-start/

FOUR STORIES ABOUT THE JOY AND WONDER OF BEING A TEACHER

Last week, the School of Professional and Continuing Studies here at the University of Richmond held its opening meeting for the new semester.   I was asked to give what I would describe as a keynote speech to kick off the semester.  Often, when I am asked to speak in this way, I will present some type of Power Point slide show where I discuss a topic like “My Top Ten Favorite Teaching Tips.”   In truth, I can do those programs fairly quickly and often with good results.

However, I decided that I wanted to do something different this time.   Our world has become so cynical and sour.   Every politician with a microphone will stand in front of a crowd and spew anger and hatred.   The news channels do not help as they debate the pros and cons of every single political decision often deriving people who are trying to do their best.   I fully realize that people in every community can be frustrated but I am tired of the sole political statement being:  “I am mad and I am going to tell you about it.” 

Plus, I often believe that teachers are just under appreciated, especially by themselves.  Without teachers, we would have no doctors or lawyers or engineers or accountants.

I decided to use my microphone time to talk about the excitement and thrill of being a teacher.   Sure, I could have stressed the bad days that happen in the classroom (and we all have those) but I wanted to talk about the wonderful influence we can have over so many people, especially young people.   I am glad they pay me for this job but I might well do it even if I wasn’t paid.  I love the thrill of making a difference.  Don’t you?   I can’t see how anybody would not love being a teacher.

In case you would like to watch that speech and judge whether I was really positive and optimistic enough, you can check out the URL blow.   The first nine minutes are announcements.  I start speaking after that.   Eventually, I ask the group to answer a question.   I’d love to know how you would have answered that question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT428yjJ0Ls&feature=em-subs_digest

If nothing else, fast forward to the very end where I read a couple of sentences from a famous book.   Those words are worth hearing.

Starting a Marketing Campaign

As I have said occasionally on this blog, one important step in having a great class is selling the class to the students.   If they are not convinced that the sacrifice is worth the reward, even the best teacher will have trouble getting the strong effort from them that is needed.   Most college students have had plenty of classes over the years that seemed like a total waste of time.   They often start each new semester with that cynical expectation.   As early as possible, I want to begin selling them on the vital importance of what we are going to be doing.   I want to create that positive mindset.  I want them to anticipate something special.

Thus, although my classes do not begin until January 11, I have already sent out an email or two just to introduce myself and start building momentum for the semester.   This morning, I sent out the following email message to my future Intermediate Accounting II students.   I want the students to understand that I am not looking for them to sit calmly in their seats taking notes.   I want them to be very active participants in the learning process.   More importantly, I want them to have a completely different view of the learning process.   Learning is not a punishment to endure.   Learning is exciting.   Learning is not an obstacle to fight past.   Learning is a journey to be cherished.  

One email is never going to change the mindset of all my students but, hopefully, they will now begin to think about the possibility that this class will be different in a positive way.   I will have tickled their curiosity.   Of course, I still have to make the class different and challenging and unique and interesting and rewarding.   But, if I have opened their minds to that possibility, the chances of success for everyone has already gone way up.

**

To:   Intermediate Accounting II Students

From:   JH

Happy Holidays!!   Hope you got the GPA from the fall semester that you wanted.   The system that I always want to see is:   You work very hard and you learn a lot of amazing things and you get very good grades.   I trust that worked for you. 

About this time each semester, I receive a number of emails from future students who pose a question like this:   “I understand your class is challenging and I understand you have different goals than some of the other professors.   What can I do now while I have some free time so that I am ready to do my best when the semester begins?”  

Good question.   In many ways, I don’t care much about the amount of accounting you already know.   In my class, C students can (and often do) become A students.   With some effort, all of this accounting stuff can be learned.   It is neither rocket science nor brain surgery.    Although it is nice if you have a 4.0 GPA, it is not a requirement for doing well in Intermediate Accounting II.

What do I want from you?   I want a raging curiosity about how the world works.   I want enthusiasm and energy.   I want a willingness to put in an hour or so of study each and every day.   I want to see a genuine excitement about learning and education.    I want to see you set priorities rather than simply march ahead in a random fashion.   I want you to decide what success means to you and then go full speed ahead to make that success happen.   I want you to take control of your life rather than have it take control of you.  

I am not nearly as interested in students who seem bored by everything they don’t already know.   I am not wild about students who find an endless variety of excuses for not working.   I am not excited by students who want to give up the first day they are asked a question that requires them to think rather than spout a memorized litany. 

As odd as this might seem, I really do want you to walk in to class each day excited to be there, excited by what you might learn.   I want you to learn this material so deeply that you will come to the point where you won’t need me—where you have a true understanding so that you can figure out new and unique problems by yourself.   That is what college is supposed to feel like.

   

If this intrigues you, let me make a suggestion.   If you go to the following URL, you will find a speech that I gave a few years ago about what I wanted from my students.   Because you are going to be in my class, you might find it “educational.”   You can skip the first ten minutes or so.   That is just a bunch of introductions.   Watch the speech.   

At the end, I pose a question and ask the crowd for an answer.   How would you answer that question?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjwHxVbZq1o

Two Super Articles About College Teaching

Here is an email that I sent to the faculty of my school (the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond) this morning as we all get ready for a new school year.   Time to get excited about the upcoming challenge.


Greetings -- welcome back for another bright and sunny school year.    Possibly because I am so lost in the classroom, people send me articles about teaching that they have found worthwhile.   I received two within the last 48 hours.   I thought they were both great.   They got me back into thinking about how I might teach my classes better in the upcoming year.   I started getting excited about the opening day of class.  

I might even send these articles to my students.   I find it helpful if students realize that there is some justification to all the weird things I do in class.   (I seem less eccentric to them.)

The first article comes from a buddy of mine in New Jersey who thinks almost as obsessively about teaching as I do.    This article reminds me of my favorite quote about teaching (from the book "What the Best College Teachers Do" by Dr. Ken Bain).   A well-known professor is talking about how he teaches and he talks about puzzling the students:   “Those puzzles and knots generate questions for students, he went on to say, and then you begin to help them untie the knots.”   What a brilliant description of teaching in college:   puzzle the students and then help them solve those puzzles.

Here is the URL for the article I received from New Jersey.

http://chronicle.com/article/Confuse-Students-to-Help-Them/148385/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

The second article comes from Shital Thekdi who was kind enough to share it with me.    Here is my favorite quote from this one:   "I myself became a decent teacher only when I started to relinquish some control over the classroom―stopped worrying so much about “getting my points across” and recognized that those moments of disorder that would sometimes occur, those spontaneous outbreaks of intelligence, were the most interesting parts of the class, for both my students and myself. We were going somewhere new, and we were going there together."

And the URL is:  

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2014/08/the_best_teachers_and_professors_resemble_parental_figures_they_provide.html


Have a great new school year!!!!   Since I am currently sitting with coffee in hand at a table near Charleston, I will leave you with another of my favorite quotes about teaching.   This comes from the book "Prince of Tides" which is set in this area of the low country of South Carolina.   It is about Tom and Savannah Wingo who are twins:  

“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 be as his teacher and it always has. -- I’ve honored myself and the entire family of man by becoming one.”

**
Later -- after I posted this blog entry, another colleague forwarded yet another fascinating teaching article.   So, here's a third super article for your consideration:

http://www.vox.com/2014/6/4/5776804/note-taking-by-hand-versus-laptop?utm_