TERM'S END THOUGHTS and How to Engage Me at Your School

THOUGHTS ON NEARING A TERM’S  END

The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.

~Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

The deep purpose of education, in its best sense, is to support people in developing the capacity to live well together in the world.

~ Emily Lardner:  The Evergreen State College, Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education. 2005.

I wanted a perfect ending . . .  Now, I've learned the hard way that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle and end.

Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and  making the best of it,  without knowing what's going to happen next.   Delicious ambiguity.

~ Gilda Radner, 1946-1989 American comedienne

Executive Summary  During 2008-2011, more than 250 Hawaii Pacific University faculty--both full time and part time--signed on to a web-based faculty-support program called Adjunct Success.  Through this program, faculty had available a series of 16 web seminars (live and in recorded archive), a bimonthly newsletter and many other resources.  The author of this program, Richard Lyons, offered in 2008 some end-of-term counsel that highlights adjustments to consider at this time when students stress out right along with some of us.  His newsletter advice is so concise, timely and on-target that I asked permission to reprint it below in mail I sent monthly to faculty.

Seven years later, it remains excellent counsel.

CONCLUDING YOUR COURSE EFFECTIVELY

By Richard Lyons, Faculty Development Associates

Originally published in the bi-monthly e-newsletter of Adjunct Success, and reprinted by permission.

As the term enters its last few weeks, it is common for some students to demonstrate signs of fatigue and a loss of momentum. Telltale signs might include:

• Arriving late to class, often in a flustered state;
• Missing one or more classes when their previous attendance was exemplary;
• Failing to meet due dates for assignments;
• Being under-prepared for in-class assignments;
• Submitting assignments that don't meet their previous standards, and/or yours;
• A decline in mental engagement and participation in classroom discussions;
• A decline in spontaneity and/or sense of humor.

Remembering that today's students are often working too many hours and trying to maintain balance in other aspects of their lives, try to practice Stephen Covey's "Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood." The key to overcoming barriers to students' acceptable completion of this course is proactive, helpful communications. Talk with individual students - especially to those whose loss of momentum has been most dramatic, and to the class as a whole, to develop a grounded perspective. At this point in the term, students frequently perceive doom in not only yours, but other courses they are taking. Consider making slight adjustments in assignments that will be perceived as demonstrating understanding for students' welfare, without markedly lowering your standards. Often, students will perceive even a slight relaxation of high standards as a huge stress reducer.

In addition, examine your plans for the remaining few class meetings. Consider modifying activities to induce added energy into each by:

• Shortening the length of lectures;
• Using more visuals, such as video clips of current news events, to increase the relevance and applicability of course material in students' minds;
• Employing more collaborative learning activities in which application is made of concepts studied throughout the course;
• Scheduling an upbeat guest speaker who can synthesize course material studied throughout the term;
• Provide informal feedback to each student more frequently;
• Adding humor when appropriate, e.g. "top ten reasons why . . ."

We can probably all recall a time when we "hit the wall" -- physically, intellectually, and/or emotionally. And we can also probably recall a coach, mentor, or teacher who helped us get over that overwhelming obstacle. Becoming that kind of supporting person for your students during the last class meetings will enable you to have a long-term impact on their academic and career success.

________________________________________________________________________

MORE END-OF-TERM IDEAS

Do a Quick Self-Evaluation of Teaching  At least one class before you do the required end-of-term student evaluation, consider a quickie of your own:   a fast stop-start-continue, perhaps done on index cards:  A + What worked best for you in this class?  A -  What made learning here difficult for you?  On the card reverse If you were making a recommendation about something I could change, what would that be?  [Even if you haven’t done regular self-evaluations, doing this can blunt the useless and sometimes hurtful end-of-term “bombs” that sometimes appear in written EOT comments.]  When you share the results with students, offer your own view of what worked best.  (At the link just below, you’ll find a variety of templates, including a quickie recently contributed by Malia Smith.)

Establish a goal for one teaching change in your next classes   Plan to try a new strategy, observe a colleague, ask a potential mentor to observe you.  Consider regular self-assessment in your next class: Self-Assessment of Teaching Builds Trust & Provides Practice-Improving Data=    (this will redirect to the new location at HPU’s web site)

Find out what students learned in your class   Students learn much more than content in your class; they often also discover or build/enhance skills in how to learn, from us or from each other.  Often they enhance self-awareness of their own learning strengths and challenges.  Why not ask them to identify their major learnings?  This could take the form of the simplest of one-minute papers, or a “letter to a future student.”  What was your top learning, about content or about your own learning process, that would help you if you started this class again, and that you could pass on to other students?  Sign if you wish, and I’ll acknowledge you as the author; or comment anonymously.  In doing this, you’re giving them an opportunity to reflect on the most helpful parts of their experience; an opportunity to serve future students, and a document you can make part of your teaching portfolio.  The same kind of experience could be generated by a journaling exercise.

HOW TO ENGAGE ME

I’M NOT WORKING FULL TIME

BUT I STILL LOVE HELPING OTHER DEVELOPERS

I can do focused, interactive workshops

on active learning and college classroom management

and other topics.

Local expenses (rental car, lodging) as needed, or a small honorarium.

I live in VT and can travel easily and cheaply on the east coast.

During each year I am 6-8 times on the west coast, especially

in Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Reno, and Los Angeles.

In mid November I am in Honolulu for two weeks.

I’m not a lecturer; interactive workshops that model

good practice are my focus. Write for references.

CONTACT

email:  coach.faculty@gmail.com

phone (cell) 808-781-3294

Michael Dabney

702 Wake Robin Drive

Shelburne, VT 05482

Reposting 5/18/15 Classroom Management Primer for College Teachers and TAs

Reposting of copy originally posted 5/13.  The interactive workshop on which this is based has been updated many times.  See bottom of post for contact information.

This post is meant as a management primer for newer college teachers, or a refresher for veteran faculty who wish to re-tool their approach to building trusting classroom relationships.

It was first delivered as a 40-minute workshop at the June 2010 Lilly Conference in Bethesda, Maryland, with the title Taming the Unruly Elephant:  Tools and Attitudes for Successful Classroom Management,  and later that summer in a 2-hour interactive format, featuring group activities, in July 2010 at San Diego University.  Please contact me at coach.faculty@gmail.com about doing workshops elsewhere.

Mano Singham, Director of the case Western Reserve Center for Innovation in Teaching and Education, has suggested there are two ways to deal with behavior challenges:  

(1) when possible, prevent problems from happening and (2) resolve or manage problems that do happen.   Five principles, briefly elaborated below but each worthy of detailed examination, form the foundation of effective classroom management.

The best strategies are proactive:  things you can do easily to nurture your relationships with students, connect them to each other, and thereby prevent behavior problems from arising at all.  The key:  create a calm, orderly classroom climate right at the beginning and establish a friendly, trusting personal relationship with students.   The perception of trouble forms through the intersection of two personalities; what appears a minor irritation to one faculty member may make teaching very difficult for another.  So, while there is no one-size-fits-all solution, five principles help guide us.

Prevention:  Principle 1   Develop Positive Relationships and Trust

Build trust and empathy, in every possible way; in doing so you will make problems far less likely to happen.  The majority of small conflicts evaporate when you are trusted.  How to do this?Here are a few ideas:

A --  Learn names; meet students outside class early; find out more about them. A vast array of suggestions for how to do these things can be found in an internet search, or developed in a workshop exchange.  (This applies for all suggestions below.)

B -- Make coming for office-hours help a routine and expectation; maybe even make an initial visit a formal assignment.

C --  Know your non-negotiable bottom lines, but:  Discuss expectations with students.  Be clear, but don’t just list in the syllabus.  When they talk about it, they own it.  Thus:

---- What can I reasonably expect of you?

---- What can you reasonably expect of me?

---- What is reasonable to expect of classmates?

Prevention: Principle 2   Get Regular Feedback about Your Teaching   

Self-assessment of teaching is the single most important source of trust and practice-improving feedback; it defuses anger about issues you can’t control, and it brings those you can control to your attention.  Too few faculty do it; be an exception.  Getting feedback builds trust, provides a roadmap for improvement of practice, and ends end-of-term-evaluation bombs.  How to do it?

A --   Collect feedback data regularly, so that it becomes an expected routine.  Never wait until the last week of class.  COnsult print and web resources, or write me for specific suggestions (for which I do not have space here.)  Ask colleagues and faculty developers how they do this, expect some puzzled looks from colleagues, and forge ahead.  

B --   Feed the data, good and bad, back to students.  Acknowledge all feedback, whether you can act on it or not.  Some folks do this in writing as a handout; some do it verbally.  Don’t omit the negatives.

C  --  Act to change what you can, consistent with the overall best interests of the class.  This demonstrates your learner-centered intention.  

Respond or Resolve:  Principle 1  React to a challenge only if you face a real emergency.  When non-emergency:  think, plan and respond later.  

Reactive behavior from an instructor often feeds more objectionable behavior, inviting conflict escalation and negativity.  Instead:

A --   Document, think and plan first.  Move to action only when you are ready.

B --   Don’t refuse, but defuse.  Defer talk with an angry student.   buy time to cool your head, cool an upset student, listen, think, plan, ask for counsel or bring in a third party.  Avoid public confrontation, which can escalate to public humiliation.

Example Language:  I can see how upset you are.  I agree we need to have this discussion, but not here on class time.  Would you like to talk after class, in office hours, or before tomorrow’s class?

Respond and Resolve: Principle 2:  Don’t Ignore, Do Respond Thoughtfully to Boundary Violations   

Recurring anger or irritation usually signals that a boundary has been crossed.  Don’t react, but don’t ignore.  Don’t try to make rules that cover everything. Consider, plan and respond.  Ignoring inappropriate behavior (in hope it will go away) gives tacit consent for that same behavior to continue or to escalate.  Guidelines:

A -- Know what you want to achieve.  A good action plan can develop only when your end-point outcomes are very clear.  If you’re not clear, defer all action until you are.

B -- State, re-state or re-set the boundary;   plan wording carefully.  Choose a best time for approach, one that will least distract and upset others.  Do this in private when possible.   Public confrontation humiliates people and damages relationships.

C -- Consult with peers as part of your planning, if their experience might help.  What happened to you has probably happened to others.  Silence is your enemy.

D -- Script and rehearse if necessary.

E -- Plan and explain boundary-cross consequences—what you will do next.  

F-- Avoid threatening language, posture, tone or gestures.  You don’t need to sound angry to make a point.

Example Language This was used, just as written, with an adult student who was verbally harassing a teacher, and delivered quietly when students were working independently.  The second part was delivered out of view or hearing of others. - Jim, please follow me to the hallway (do not pause for an answer; get up and go; Jim will follow; this makes the intervention as private as possible) - When you complain publicly about the work I’m giving you or about my behavior, you affect the learning of others and negatively affect the class culture.  Say anything you wish in private, but please (or I expect you to) keep the negativity out of class. - Can you agree to this?  (If s/he says “no,” explain what steps you’ll take:  I’m going to assume I’ll get your cooperation.  But if this behavior reappears, I’ll ask the (dean, department chair or counseling staff) to discuss this with us together.

Respond or Resolve:  Principle 3  Develop an Emergency Toolbox    

Consider what might go wrong if all preventive measures fail.  What are worst-case scenarios?  Think through what you might do if one of them happened.

What’s In a Toolbox?  Here are some ideas.

Know what to do and have a plan for when you are threatened or may be in real danger.

This varies by campus and should align with your university’s student handbook or discipline protocols.  Know and keep handy emergency numbers; carry your cell phone with those numbers programmed in; get to know the responders.   

Document, to keep facts straight and to avoid blind-siding a supervisor.  In advance, plan a supervisor backup with whom you can file reports as needed.  (This person might be a department chair, or a colleague.)  Recording significant incidents in writing helps keep memory intact, should back-reference ever be made.

Develop peer relationships for counsel with more experienced faculty you trust.  Silence is your enemy.  Asking for help is a strength.

Develop consulting and referral relationships with student support personnel.  This includes counselors, advisors, or other staff to whom students can be referred.

Crisis in the Air?  There are times that the mood or buzz in a class tells you something is wrong.  When you read this signal, whether the background crisis is real or imagined, there’s something more important than teaching content.  Stop to ask students:  What’s happening?  Then, listen to them.

This post is a simple guide.  

Detailed discussion in small groups, such as interaction planned for a workshop, commonly result in important insights.  In turn, those insights can become the foundation of a personal plan.

My permanent residence is in Shelburne, Vermont.  

I travel often to the New York City and Washington, D.C. areas,

and to the west coast:  Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego.

To inquire about the possibility of a live workshop in your area

please write me

Michael W. Dabney

702 Wake Robin Drive

Shelburne, VT  05482

or call 802-985-0088

coach.faculty@gmail.com