Teaching Resolutions

Does anyone have teaching-related resolutions for the new year? I think I have two.

1. Make my students talk more.
2. Try to remember what it was like to be student.

I'm well on my way to fulfilling the second resolution since I began classical guitar lessons last month. Learning new things later in life is difficult enough. I've always thought I've had decent manual dexterity. But playing guitar makes me feel like I have the fine motor skills of the 1931James Whale Frankenstein. There's nothing like a grown man clumsily fingering his way through Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to bring a little humility.

Comments

[Lynn]

I'm just going to try to be nicer. And I'm having less points in the first two weeks, so students have a little adjustment time. Maybe grade a little easier? That's probably not something I should admit to.

[joanna]

If I can achieve #1, then I'll be happy.

[holly]

I've been very discouraged about the completion rates in (especially) my first-semester comp. classes, so I guess my resolutions have to do with being more aggressive about intervening when students start to fall behind, either because of poor attendance or failing to turn in work. To try to combat the procrastination/writer's block that can lead to students not turning in work, I plan to have students do more in-class writing.