This blog went over 50,000 views a few days ago. Obviously, no one would have ever heard of this blog over the past 27 months if it weren’t for people like you who have spread the word. First, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I cannot tell you how very much I appreciate your helping out by telling other people about my writings.
Second, I’d like to ask you for a very personal favor. The second edition of my Financial Accounting textbook that I wrote with C. J. Skender (of UNC) came out today. (Today!!!!) I feel like I just experienced the birth of another child. I thought the first edition was good but I honestly think the second edition is great. It approaches the introduction of financial accounting differently because it is written in a Socratic Method style. It is the book that I have always wanted to write and I am thrilled with it. It covers what I think college students should learn in an introductory course. And, although I am obviously biased, I like to think it is written in an interesting and engaging style – using hundreds of real world examples.
After 41 years, I know two things for sure: (1) faculty members are often very critical of textbooks and (2) faculty members rarely change textbooks. I hear a lot of excuses for the tendency to stick with a textbook even if it is hated by all involved (the teacher and the students). I think adopting a bad textbook semester after semester is an awful educational practice, one that can only cause students to suffer.
Textbooks will never get better if professors aren’t open to new alternatives. That’s how the market system is supposed to work. Without real competition for adoptions, the products grow stale and stop being innovative.
Okay, so here’s the favor I am asking. If you teach financial accounting at a two-year or four-year college or in an MBA program, request a copy of the second edition of our Financial Accounting textbook and read one chapter. That’s all I ask. Don’t believe me. Heck, I’m biased. Read the buildings and equipment chapter (chapter 10) or the investments chapter (chapter 12) or the accounts receivable chapter (chapter 7). Or read the very first chapter where we talk about why learning financial accounting is important. Pretend you are a 19 year old college student. Could you read this book and understand it? Is it interesting? Does it cover what you want to teach?
Or, if you don’t teach financial accounting, if you know someone who does teach that course, forward this note to them. The book is published by Flat World Knowledge so the students get to use the book online for free. Yes, the students don’t pay $250 for this textbook. They can use the book online from day one for free. Why have them pay $250 for a book you hate and they hate?
Anyone who would like to receive a copy for adoption consideration should send a note to Becky Knauer at faculty@flatworldknowledge.com. It’s easy and quick. Be a wise decision maker – look at the alternatives.
And, in case you are interested, here is how the book opens. This sample provides a pretty good picture of the whole book. My goal was to catch the students’ attention right from the start and try to stimulate their curiosity. And, maybe most importantly, I wanted to push the real world into the students’ laps.
Question: In the June 30, 2011, edition of The Wall Street Journal, numerous headlines described the recent activities of various business organizations. Here are just a few:
“TMX and LSE Give Up on Planned Merger”
“Ally Financial Faces Charge for Mortgage Losses”
“HomeAway Jumps 49% in Debut”
“Ad-Seller Acquiring Myspace for a Song”
Millions of individuals around the world read such stories each day with rapt interest. From teen-agers to elderly billionaires, this type of information is analyzed obsessively. How are these people able to understand all the data and details being provided? For most, the secret is straightforward: a strong knowledge of financial accounting.
This textbook provides an introduction to financial accounting. A logical place to begin such an exploration is to ask the obvious question: What is financial accounting?
Answer: In simplest terms, financial accounting is the communication of information about a business or other type of organization (such as a charity or government) so that individuals can assess its financial health and future prospects. No single word is more relevant to financial accounting than “information.”
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
My Favorite Quotes About Teaching – Number Six
Let’s assume that you are a true baseball or soccer or basketball fan and you’ve just been appointed manager/coach of your favorite team. You are absolutely thrilled. Your goal is to win the world championship with your team. How exciting is that? How would you go about achieving this goal? My guess is that you would willingly spend hours analyzing every aspect of your team. You would try to think of how you could help each player reach their potential within the team to bring on the victories. You’d study everything about the game to help everyone do better. Heck, this might be so thrilling that you’d do all the work for free just for the opportunity.
Is winning a few sporting events in basketball or baseball more important than helping your students to learn? Of course not – we may occasionally forget how important our jobs are but we should never lose sight of what we are accomplishing. I would argue that you already have a much more important job than any big league manager/coach. They play games; you change lives. They entertain; you make a difference. They occasionally play big games; you have the chance to improve lives every day.
Do you treat your teaching with enough importance? Do you approach your teaching with the same seriousness that you might have for the preparation of a sports team?
Over the past few months, I have been writing periodically about my favorite quotes concerning teaching. I find that certain things people have said can make a difference in how I think about teaching in general and my teaching in specific. Few quotes (maybe none) have influenced me more than the quote for today.
About four years ago, my teaching tips book got some publicity and I began to hear from a few people who talked about their teaching and their thoughts on teaching. One day, I got an email from England. It was from a person that I did not know. The note said something like “we have never met but I have read your writings on teaching and I feel like I know you personally. Here is a quote that has meant a lot to me over the years. And, knowing how you think about teaching, I believe it will mean something to you also.” How true that was.
I don’t remember who sent me that email.
I don’t even remember who said the original quote.
However, I think about this quote virtually every day. I believe that it really does hold the key secret to being a better teacher.
"Teaching does not come from years of doing it. It actually comes from thinking about it."
When I give teaching presentations, people will often ask me how they can become better teachers. They want concrete suggestions – talk more, talk less, use more PowerPoint, use less PowerPoint, work more problems, work less problems, yell a lot, don’t yell at all, test a lot, never test. The problem is that all of those do work for some people at some times but none of them work for everyone all the time.
The one thing that does work consistently (I believe) is thinking carefully about your students and your classes and your teaching and how things are going and what changes you need to make. In other words, improvement comes from seriously analyzing the infinite number of variables that make up a class over the course of an entire semester.
It is easy, especially after teaching for a few years, to go on autopilot. I have known teachers (heck, I have been a teacher) who could teach pretty well and never really think about that they were doing. At times, a teacher can come to function more like an actor repeating the same lines over and over on the stage with predictable results.
In my own teaching, I want to try to analyze every single aspect of the learning process on an ongoing basis so I can do better. I want to stay off autopilot. For example:
--What is my overall goal for my students by the end of the semester?
--What did I ask my students to do today? Did those assigned tasks further my overall goal or were they just busy work? What did they require of the students? How did they change the students’ perceptions and understanding?
--How well did my students perform today? Did they live up to my expectations? If not, what went wrong and how could I have gotten a result I liked better? Were the assignments too easy? Were the assignments too hard? Did I challenge each student enough or too much?
--Is every student improving at the pace that I want? If not, can I make adjustments to get better results from specific people?
--Are my students focusing on memorization or are they improving their critical thinking skills? How am I changing them? Is that what I want? How can I get them away from memorization and more into thinking? Too much education focuses on memorization - how do I get my students away from that?
I could go on and on but you get the point.
If I were a coach and wanted to win a championship, these are the kinds of questions that I would address every day. Why then don’t I think more about my teaching on a regular basis? If I believe that teaching is so important how do I stay off autopilot? How do I keep my teaching fresh?
There is not a good answer to these questions. Or, perhaps, each person has to find their own answer to each one. I want to help my students grow and mature. A good class can help them in so many ways. How do I do that? Hopefully, I think about my teaching in a serious and in-depth fashion much the same way as I would if I were appointed the manager/coach of a great sports team.
The next time I give a teaching presentation (Louisville and Savannah – both in May) and someone asks me how to become a better teacher, my truthful response is going to be: "Teaching does not come from years of doing it. It actually comes from thinking about it."
Go out there and do some thinking.
Is winning a few sporting events in basketball or baseball more important than helping your students to learn? Of course not – we may occasionally forget how important our jobs are but we should never lose sight of what we are accomplishing. I would argue that you already have a much more important job than any big league manager/coach. They play games; you change lives. They entertain; you make a difference. They occasionally play big games; you have the chance to improve lives every day.
Do you treat your teaching with enough importance? Do you approach your teaching with the same seriousness that you might have for the preparation of a sports team?
Over the past few months, I have been writing periodically about my favorite quotes concerning teaching. I find that certain things people have said can make a difference in how I think about teaching in general and my teaching in specific. Few quotes (maybe none) have influenced me more than the quote for today.
About four years ago, my teaching tips book got some publicity and I began to hear from a few people who talked about their teaching and their thoughts on teaching. One day, I got an email from England. It was from a person that I did not know. The note said something like “we have never met but I have read your writings on teaching and I feel like I know you personally. Here is a quote that has meant a lot to me over the years. And, knowing how you think about teaching, I believe it will mean something to you also.” How true that was.
I don’t remember who sent me that email.
I don’t even remember who said the original quote.
However, I think about this quote virtually every day. I believe that it really does hold the key secret to being a better teacher.
"Teaching does not come from years of doing it. It actually comes from thinking about it."
When I give teaching presentations, people will often ask me how they can become better teachers. They want concrete suggestions – talk more, talk less, use more PowerPoint, use less PowerPoint, work more problems, work less problems, yell a lot, don’t yell at all, test a lot, never test. The problem is that all of those do work for some people at some times but none of them work for everyone all the time.
The one thing that does work consistently (I believe) is thinking carefully about your students and your classes and your teaching and how things are going and what changes you need to make. In other words, improvement comes from seriously analyzing the infinite number of variables that make up a class over the course of an entire semester.
It is easy, especially after teaching for a few years, to go on autopilot. I have known teachers (heck, I have been a teacher) who could teach pretty well and never really think about that they were doing. At times, a teacher can come to function more like an actor repeating the same lines over and over on the stage with predictable results.
In my own teaching, I want to try to analyze every single aspect of the learning process on an ongoing basis so I can do better. I want to stay off autopilot. For example:
--What is my overall goal for my students by the end of the semester?
--What did I ask my students to do today? Did those assigned tasks further my overall goal or were they just busy work? What did they require of the students? How did they change the students’ perceptions and understanding?
--How well did my students perform today? Did they live up to my expectations? If not, what went wrong and how could I have gotten a result I liked better? Were the assignments too easy? Were the assignments too hard? Did I challenge each student enough or too much?
--Is every student improving at the pace that I want? If not, can I make adjustments to get better results from specific people?
--Are my students focusing on memorization or are they improving their critical thinking skills? How am I changing them? Is that what I want? How can I get them away from memorization and more into thinking? Too much education focuses on memorization - how do I get my students away from that?
I could go on and on but you get the point.
If I were a coach and wanted to win a championship, these are the kinds of questions that I would address every day. Why then don’t I think more about my teaching on a regular basis? If I believe that teaching is so important how do I stay off autopilot? How do I keep my teaching fresh?
There is not a good answer to these questions. Or, perhaps, each person has to find their own answer to each one. I want to help my students grow and mature. A good class can help them in so many ways. How do I do that? Hopefully, I think about my teaching in a serious and in-depth fashion much the same way as I would if I were appointed the manager/coach of a great sports team.
The next time I give a teaching presentation (Louisville and Savannah – both in May) and someone asks me how to become a better teacher, my truthful response is going to be: "Teaching does not come from years of doing it. It actually comes from thinking about it."
Go out there and do some thinking.
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Free Advice
I read an article in the newspaper this morning as I sat in my favorite deli having lunch. I came back to my office and wrote the following email to my 51 juniors.
We have about 2 ½ weeks left together. I have a point I really want to make before you move on. It's free advice so you can take it or leave it.
I realize that you have already registered for the fall semester (but I also realize that the drop-add period will be available for quite some time). If you have a chance, go to today’s Wall Street Journal (April 5, 2012) and read the story on Page B-1 (“Wealth or Waste? Rethinking the Value of A Business Major”). It is quite interesting. I often think students select their nonrequired classes with almost no thought.
I occasionally have students who ask me why I teach solely through questions, why I don’t like to give answers, why I push students to go to the opera, why I ask about their best teachers and best books, why I give points for going to art museums. I think the fourth paragraph of this WSJ article kind of explains why I do things my way.
So, what’s my advice for you? I think Accounting or other undergraduate business majors are great. However, I think it is important not to get obsessed with piling business courses on top of business courses on top of business courses. I advise sophomores. I’m always taken aback by how many of them only want to take B-school courses as if that is the secret to a well-lived life. They should read the article in the WSJ.
Here’s my advice. Most of you have another year here. Wander through your dorms and ask the better students (the ones with those 3.5 GPAs and above) to tell you which of their teachers taught them to really think, which of their teachers truly inspired them, which of their teachers opened their eyes to the world. Then, in your last year here, make sure you take as many of those teachers as you can. I honestly don’t care what they are teaching. It is not the course that is important; it is the teacher. Don’t be so frightened that you’ll wander out of your comfort zone. In fact, push yourself out of your comfort zone. When you get to me an old person (like me), you can be cowardly. Young people should be more adventuresome.
You can fritter away your last year here or you can use it to grow into the kind of adult you want to be. The teachers you sign up for in the fall may make all the difference in the world.
We have about 2 ½ weeks left together. I have a point I really want to make before you move on. It's free advice so you can take it or leave it.
I realize that you have already registered for the fall semester (but I also realize that the drop-add period will be available for quite some time). If you have a chance, go to today’s Wall Street Journal (April 5, 2012) and read the story on Page B-1 (“Wealth or Waste? Rethinking the Value of A Business Major”). It is quite interesting. I often think students select their nonrequired classes with almost no thought.
I occasionally have students who ask me why I teach solely through questions, why I don’t like to give answers, why I push students to go to the opera, why I ask about their best teachers and best books, why I give points for going to art museums. I think the fourth paragraph of this WSJ article kind of explains why I do things my way.
So, what’s my advice for you? I think Accounting or other undergraduate business majors are great. However, I think it is important not to get obsessed with piling business courses on top of business courses on top of business courses. I advise sophomores. I’m always taken aback by how many of them only want to take B-school courses as if that is the secret to a well-lived life. They should read the article in the WSJ.
Here’s my advice. Most of you have another year here. Wander through your dorms and ask the better students (the ones with those 3.5 GPAs and above) to tell you which of their teachers taught them to really think, which of their teachers truly inspired them, which of their teachers opened their eyes to the world. Then, in your last year here, make sure you take as many of those teachers as you can. I honestly don’t care what they are teaching. It is not the course that is important; it is the teacher. Don’t be so frightened that you’ll wander out of your comfort zone. In fact, push yourself out of your comfort zone. When you get to me an old person (like me), you can be cowardly. Young people should be more adventuresome.
You can fritter away your last year here or you can use it to grow into the kind of adult you want to be. The teachers you sign up for in the fall may make all the difference in the world.
Saturday, 24 March 2012
Sometimes Taking Action Does Help
About three weeks ago (3/6/12), I included the following story in an entry in this blog:
“I immediately walked to my study and sent an email to one of my students. ‘You made a D on your first test in my class. Since then, I have not noticed one iota of improvement. None. You are not one bit better prepared for my class. You are not trying any harder as far as I can see. I can only surmise that your primary goal is to make a D in my class.’
“The next day in class that student was clearly better prepared. Not sure how long it will last but it was nice to see him more engaged.”
I basically confronted the student directly for not making changes in his attitude toward my class. I cared enough about him as a person to be confrontational. He may well have thought I hated him but, in truth, if I had not cared about him as a person, I would not have wasted my time. He made a D on the first test of the semester and seemed ready to make a D on the second test. Rather than fume to myself about his failure to reach his potential, I decided to be more direct and tell him of my concerns.
Waste of time? Certainly could be.
I gave my second test of the semester this past Monday. Intermediate Accounting II is an incredibly hard course with lots of complex topics. The second test covers some of the hardest stuff in all of accounting: bonds, leases, troubled debt restructuring, and deferred income taxes. If you are not an accountant, let me assure you these are difficult topics.
I gave an 80 minute test that 90 percent of the students didn’t finish. It was meant to be a challenge. The student above, the one I fussed at, made a 99 – tied for the top grade in the entire class of 51 students. Jumped from one of the lowest grades in class to the best grade.
I’m not naïve. I don’t think my one email made a great deal of difference. However, I do think it made some difference. As long as students feel anonymous, there is no push to do better. If not one person ever noticed them, if no one cares, it can be tough to really put out a strong effort.
But, when you say to a student “I’ve been watching your effort and you can do better,” (or, the reverse “I’ve been watching your effort and I am pleased”), you strip off that anonymity. There is something about being seen, being noticed, that makes a student more conscience of their own efforts. Often students fall into denial and you make them look at the reality of their situation.
My guess is that this student would have done better than a D if I had I said nothing but I don’t think the student would have made 99 had I not been willing to confront him. Not every professor can be confrontational but I do think, if done just occasionally by saying “I have looked at your work and I believe you can do better,” you can light a fire under a student.
I sometimes think that our tendency as human beings to avoid confrontation is one of the attributes of teaching that can actually hold a student back. Sometimes, they need to have that mirror held up so they can see themselves. Not because you hate them but because you care about them.
“I immediately walked to my study and sent an email to one of my students. ‘You made a D on your first test in my class. Since then, I have not noticed one iota of improvement. None. You are not one bit better prepared for my class. You are not trying any harder as far as I can see. I can only surmise that your primary goal is to make a D in my class.’
“The next day in class that student was clearly better prepared. Not sure how long it will last but it was nice to see him more engaged.”
I basically confronted the student directly for not making changes in his attitude toward my class. I cared enough about him as a person to be confrontational. He may well have thought I hated him but, in truth, if I had not cared about him as a person, I would not have wasted my time. He made a D on the first test of the semester and seemed ready to make a D on the second test. Rather than fume to myself about his failure to reach his potential, I decided to be more direct and tell him of my concerns.
Waste of time? Certainly could be.
I gave my second test of the semester this past Monday. Intermediate Accounting II is an incredibly hard course with lots of complex topics. The second test covers some of the hardest stuff in all of accounting: bonds, leases, troubled debt restructuring, and deferred income taxes. If you are not an accountant, let me assure you these are difficult topics.
I gave an 80 minute test that 90 percent of the students didn’t finish. It was meant to be a challenge. The student above, the one I fussed at, made a 99 – tied for the top grade in the entire class of 51 students. Jumped from one of the lowest grades in class to the best grade.
I’m not naïve. I don’t think my one email made a great deal of difference. However, I do think it made some difference. As long as students feel anonymous, there is no push to do better. If not one person ever noticed them, if no one cares, it can be tough to really put out a strong effort.
But, when you say to a student “I’ve been watching your effort and you can do better,” (or, the reverse “I’ve been watching your effort and I am pleased”), you strip off that anonymity. There is something about being seen, being noticed, that makes a student more conscience of their own efforts. Often students fall into denial and you make them look at the reality of their situation.
My guess is that this student would have done better than a D if I had I said nothing but I don’t think the student would have made 99 had I not been willing to confront him. Not every professor can be confrontational but I do think, if done just occasionally by saying “I have looked at your work and I believe you can do better,” you can light a fire under a student.
I sometimes think that our tendency as human beings to avoid confrontation is one of the attributes of teaching that can actually hold a student back. Sometimes, they need to have that mirror held up so they can see themselves. Not because you hate them but because you care about them.
Saturday, 17 March 2012
Arthneeti, March 2012 Issue
Arthneeti, March 2012 Issue
Dear Readers,
Q4 has been good so far for Indian Capital market. We have observed upward movement of Sensex.In this issue, we have covered Indian economy growth in comparison to global growth, Euro crisis austerity measures and introduction of new acronym 'CIVETS'.
We have covered interview of Mr. Janak Desai, Country Head -Wholesale Banking & Treasury, ING VYSYA BANK for his views on the Banking Sector, rising amount of NPAs.
Click here to download the full pdf version.
Dear Readers,
 |
| March,2012 Issue |
Q4 has been good so far for Indian Capital market. We have observed upward movement of Sensex.In this issue, we have covered Indian economy growth in comparison to global growth, Euro crisis austerity measures and introduction of new acronym 'CIVETS'.
We have covered interview of Mr. Janak Desai, Country Head -Wholesale Banking & Treasury, ING VYSYA BANK for his views on the Banking Sector, rising amount of NPAs.
Click here to download the full pdf version.
Friday, 16 March 2012
I Said It Before and I Still Believe It: There Are No Short Cuts
Before I ever started this blog, I wrote a short little teaching book titled “Tips and Thoughts on Improving the Teaching Process in College--A Personal Diary.” I wanted to push myself to think about teaching and I wanted to encourage other folks to think about teaching. The book was a bit of work but it seemed like everyone would benefit. When finished, I put it up on web at https://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~jhoyle/ and forgot about it. However, the book got a very nice review in The Chronicle of Higher Education and people started sending me questions or suggestions. For a while, I got emails from teachers around the world. What fun.
Eventually, I wanted to add to those original essays. I had more thoughts on teaching. Plus, I missed the writing. But, instead of starting a second book, I created this blog which has allowed me to stretch out the thinking and writing process indefinitely.
A couple of weeks ago I was chatting with a former student of mine who has gone on to get a Ph. D. and is now beginning her first tenure-track position. She recently joined the faculty of a major university. She told me that she had gone back to my original Teaching Tips book and that one essay in particular had been extremely meaningful to her as she began her career as a teacher. I was touched that she had consulted my writings as she started her teaching. So, I decided to reprint the essay that she said was helping her. So, JPD, this one is for you.
Learning The Secret For Becoming An Excellent Teacher
At a crucial point during my first semester as a faculty member, I was lucky enough to unlock the ultimate secret for improving as a teacher. This IS the magic bullet. That was more than 30 years ago and, in my mind, the secret has not changed one iota in all these intervening decades. If you have a serious desire to do a better job in the classroom, this is the one absolute fact that needs to be accepted--sooner rather than later.
The secret is nothing more than a simple formula:
If it takes a person X number of hours to be an average teacher
then
it will take that same person 2X hours to be a good teacher
and
3X hours to be an excellent teacher.
Here is the moment of truth; it is time to face reality. Anyone who has a genuine wish to become an excellent teacher must be willing to invest a significant number of hours. There are no shortcuts. If you are reading this book in hopes of discovering quick and easy tricks, my advice is simple: Close the book and walk away. Preparing for class, grading tests and papers, working with students, and all the rest of the normal, daily teaching activities require an almost infinite number of hours of thought and labor.
How much time are you willing and able to devote to improve? That is the question that each teacher needs to address in an honest and realistic fashion. We live in a hectic society; almost no one has sufficient hours to complete everything that needs doing. We all scramble to become more efficient just to keep our heads above the proverbial waters.
Teaching takes time; good teaching takes more time; excellent teaching can quickly become a 24/7 pastime. Faculty members face serious pressures to research and write; committee assignments seem to multiply like the heads of the Hydra. Time is like gold.
But there will always be periods when a class is struggling. You are dissatisfied and frustrated with the failure of students to grasp concepts that seem self-evident. In such situations, the number one remedy is to put in additional hours. To tell the truth, that extra time might best be spent sitting alone in the corner of a dark room thinking about the topic, the assignments, the class, and the each student. Such reflection is helpful.
Radical (or even subtle) improvements in the educational diamond are difficult when the teacher is flying through life at warp speed. If it is important, invest the time. Because the hours in life are finite, learn to make use of moments that might otherwise be wasted. I have a 25-minute commute to campus. During that drive, I often listen to National Public Radio; other days, it is a book on tape. On occasion, though, the sound is turned off and I mentally walk through the steps plotted for the coming class, trying to envision exactly what is supposed to happen. When I take this third path, class invariably goes better. Adequate time has been invested and nothing is more essential in teaching.
Eventually, I wanted to add to those original essays. I had more thoughts on teaching. Plus, I missed the writing. But, instead of starting a second book, I created this blog which has allowed me to stretch out the thinking and writing process indefinitely.
A couple of weeks ago I was chatting with a former student of mine who has gone on to get a Ph. D. and is now beginning her first tenure-track position. She recently joined the faculty of a major university. She told me that she had gone back to my original Teaching Tips book and that one essay in particular had been extremely meaningful to her as she began her career as a teacher. I was touched that she had consulted my writings as she started her teaching. So, I decided to reprint the essay that she said was helping her. So, JPD, this one is for you.
Learning The Secret For Becoming An Excellent Teacher
At a crucial point during my first semester as a faculty member, I was lucky enough to unlock the ultimate secret for improving as a teacher. This IS the magic bullet. That was more than 30 years ago and, in my mind, the secret has not changed one iota in all these intervening decades. If you have a serious desire to do a better job in the classroom, this is the one absolute fact that needs to be accepted--sooner rather than later.
The secret is nothing more than a simple formula:
If it takes a person X number of hours to be an average teacher
then
it will take that same person 2X hours to be a good teacher
and
3X hours to be an excellent teacher.
Here is the moment of truth; it is time to face reality. Anyone who has a genuine wish to become an excellent teacher must be willing to invest a significant number of hours. There are no shortcuts. If you are reading this book in hopes of discovering quick and easy tricks, my advice is simple: Close the book and walk away. Preparing for class, grading tests and papers, working with students, and all the rest of the normal, daily teaching activities require an almost infinite number of hours of thought and labor.
How much time are you willing and able to devote to improve? That is the question that each teacher needs to address in an honest and realistic fashion. We live in a hectic society; almost no one has sufficient hours to complete everything that needs doing. We all scramble to become more efficient just to keep our heads above the proverbial waters.
Teaching takes time; good teaching takes more time; excellent teaching can quickly become a 24/7 pastime. Faculty members face serious pressures to research and write; committee assignments seem to multiply like the heads of the Hydra. Time is like gold.
But there will always be periods when a class is struggling. You are dissatisfied and frustrated with the failure of students to grasp concepts that seem self-evident. In such situations, the number one remedy is to put in additional hours. To tell the truth, that extra time might best be spent sitting alone in the corner of a dark room thinking about the topic, the assignments, the class, and the each student. Such reflection is helpful.
Radical (or even subtle) improvements in the educational diamond are difficult when the teacher is flying through life at warp speed. If it is important, invest the time. Because the hours in life are finite, learn to make use of moments that might otherwise be wasted. I have a 25-minute commute to campus. During that drive, I often listen to National Public Radio; other days, it is a book on tape. On occasion, though, the sound is turned off and I mentally walk through the steps plotted for the coming class, trying to envision exactly what is supposed to happen. When I take this third path, class invariably goes better. Adequate time has been invested and nothing is more essential in teaching.
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
I Have An Assignment For You
My wife often watches “Morning Joe” on cable television as she gets ready for the new day. It is a group of people who discuss and debate politics and the world in general each morning. Last week, I wandered through and the people on the show that morning were discussing education. Just as I passed by, one person asserted: “We all know how to get great education: Demand Excellence and Expect Excellence.”
Demand Excellence and Expect Excellence. Hmm, sounds good. I wonder how many of us really do that? Do we really demand excellence from our students? Really? In fact, do we really demand excellence from ourselves? Or, maybe, they are just two sides to the same coin.
RESPONSE ONE TO MORNING JOE: After hearing the commentator, I immediately walked to my study and sent an email to one of my students. “You made a D on your first test in my class. Since then, I have not noticed one iota of improvement. None. You are not one bit better prepared for my class. You are not trying any harder as far as I can see. I can only surmise that your primary goal is to make a D in my class.”
The next day in class that student was clearly better prepared. Not sure how long it will last but it was nice to see him more engaged.
Was I demanding more excellence from him or was the email a way of demanding more excellence in my own teaching?
RESPONSE TWO TO MORNING JOE: However, that was not the part of “Demand Excellence and Expect Excellence” that really stuck with me. Since then, I have wondered a lot about two questions. First, what do I mean by excellence? Second, do my students understand what I mean by excellence?
How can I demand excellence if I don’t know what it means?
How can I expect excellence if my students don’t know what I mean?
Excellence is a word that is bounced around a lot in teaching. But is it just a word or does it have a real meaning to you?
So, I have an assignment for you. Write a short paragraph where you describe what you mean by a person being an excellent student in your class. Should be simple stuff. In your class, what is excellence? Is excellence just being able to achieve a certain score on a test? Surely not. If so, no wonder our education system is troubled.
For your students, what do you really mean by the term “excellence?” Then, email that paragraph directly to your students (and send me a copy at Jhoyle@richmond.edu).
Here’s what I mean by student excellence (not good, but truly excellent):
The student needs to come to every class having prepared and thought about the assignment so that they can discuss and debate each question with the teacher and other students. They need to show me that they understand the material so well that they can legitimately address any and all related questions. It’s not the first question that counts but where they can go from there. They don’t have to be right but their answers have to show a logical thought process. They need to spend sufficient time immediately after class organizing and reviewing our discussions so they can start to see the patterns and structure that form the foundation for the discipline. Then, they need to prove that they have gained a working understanding of this knowledge. They have the opportunity of doing this by showing me on a test that they can take a question they’ve never seen before and break it down into its component parts so that they can connect it to the logic and structure of the discipline in the same way we have done in class. In other words, they can use that connection to come up with a resolution to a problem that makes sense and that they can support.
In my class, that is excellence.
That really does deserve an A.
Demand Excellence and Expect Excellence. Hmm, sounds good. I wonder how many of us really do that? Do we really demand excellence from our students? Really? In fact, do we really demand excellence from ourselves? Or, maybe, they are just two sides to the same coin.
RESPONSE ONE TO MORNING JOE: After hearing the commentator, I immediately walked to my study and sent an email to one of my students. “You made a D on your first test in my class. Since then, I have not noticed one iota of improvement. None. You are not one bit better prepared for my class. You are not trying any harder as far as I can see. I can only surmise that your primary goal is to make a D in my class.”
The next day in class that student was clearly better prepared. Not sure how long it will last but it was nice to see him more engaged.
Was I demanding more excellence from him or was the email a way of demanding more excellence in my own teaching?
RESPONSE TWO TO MORNING JOE: However, that was not the part of “Demand Excellence and Expect Excellence” that really stuck with me. Since then, I have wondered a lot about two questions. First, what do I mean by excellence? Second, do my students understand what I mean by excellence?
How can I demand excellence if I don’t know what it means?
How can I expect excellence if my students don’t know what I mean?
Excellence is a word that is bounced around a lot in teaching. But is it just a word or does it have a real meaning to you?
So, I have an assignment for you. Write a short paragraph where you describe what you mean by a person being an excellent student in your class. Should be simple stuff. In your class, what is excellence? Is excellence just being able to achieve a certain score on a test? Surely not. If so, no wonder our education system is troubled.
For your students, what do you really mean by the term “excellence?” Then, email that paragraph directly to your students (and send me a copy at Jhoyle@richmond.edu).
Here’s what I mean by student excellence (not good, but truly excellent):
The student needs to come to every class having prepared and thought about the assignment so that they can discuss and debate each question with the teacher and other students. They need to show me that they understand the material so well that they can legitimately address any and all related questions. It’s not the first question that counts but where they can go from there. They don’t have to be right but their answers have to show a logical thought process. They need to spend sufficient time immediately after class organizing and reviewing our discussions so they can start to see the patterns and structure that form the foundation for the discipline. Then, they need to prove that they have gained a working understanding of this knowledge. They have the opportunity of doing this by showing me on a test that they can take a question they’ve never seen before and break it down into its component parts so that they can connect it to the logic and structure of the discipline in the same way we have done in class. In other words, they can use that connection to come up with a resolution to a problem that makes sense and that they can support.
In my class, that is excellence.
That really does deserve an A.
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