Message to My Freshman Students

For the first time in many years I am teaching a freshman course, Introduction to Philosophy. The experience has been mostly good. I had been told that my freshman students would be apathetic, incurious, inattentive, unresponsive and frequently absent, and that they would exude an insufferable sense of entitlement. I am happy to say that this characterization was not true of most students. Still, some students are often absent, and others, even when present, are distracted or disengaged. Some have had to be cautioned that class is not their social hour and others reminded not to send text messages in class. Welcome to higher education! First, I am your professor, not your teacher. Your teachers were held responsible if you failed, and expected to show that they had tried hard to avoid that dreaded result. Secondly, universities are ancient and tend to do things the old-fashioned way. Lecture has come under attack recently. Hogwash. Take the issue of documentation.

10 Habits Of Effective Teachers 10 Habits Of Effective Teachers Notice that we didn’t use the more vague “good teacher” phrasing. That’s an important distinction, because here we’re talking about something a bit more clinical. Not entirely scientific and analytical and icky, but not entirely rhetorical and abstract and mushy either. 1. To curriculum, pacing, assessment design, curriculum materials, etc. 2. Fresh data. 3. You know the pros and cons of project-based learning, scenario-based learning, learning simulations, and the like. While others spend their lunch breaks swilling Diet Coke and counting down days until the weekend, you sketch out scope-and-sequences for fun. 4. Speaking of instructional design, the design of experiences that promote understanding of the most important content is a huge part of what an effective teachers do. Which is what design is about. 5. What you plan backwards from is up to you, but you start with a goal in mind—a standard, habit, assessment, indicator, or some other goal. 6. 7. 8.

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