What I Expect from Students

The first day of classes was Wednesday. As usual, I was uber excited the night before, collating syllabi, ironing a blouse...I get all kinds of excited the day before I meet all of my new students. All of my classes are in the same room, back to back, in a building adjacent to my building. Where my office is. Total. Bliss. I don't even care that the room is windowless and cramped. It's fine. The room has little tables instead of desks--tables that seat two students each. That's cool, too; desks are bulky. We can move the tables around easily, which means that for group work, students have to face each other: two tables pushed together = groups of four with students facing each other. We'll do that this Wednesday.

The first day was more organic than usual: I started with student expectations and questions and simply answered everything as it came up. The thing I didn't do, unfortunately, is give a good "gestalt spiel" about how awesome the course is, what they will learn as long as they apply themselves, etc. I didn't emphasize that they are all walking in here with a diverse set of strengths and that they will be learning as much from each other as they do from me and the TAs. That the objective of this course is to empower themselves to be able to do all of this independently by May 8. While I did emphasize that I front load the course and that the next six weeks are intense, I didn't clarify what this weekend's readings are about or that they need to be checking Canvas pretty much daily.

Apparently, many other professors have not completely set up their course sites because they feel as though they didn't have enough time or training to do so. Because of this, my students may not be in the habit of checking ELMS daily yet. They need to, though.

One of my opening questions to everyone--this was the first one, actually--was what their expectations were for the course. This, plus a few other questions, made for a five minute freewrite that they then shared with their neighbors. I went around from pair to pair and asked each pair for an expectation and a question. At some point in the second section, one student asked me: "What do you expect from us?"

*blink*

I know that I paused; I started replying but then stopped and said, "hold on. I need to figure out how I want to articulate this." I was struggling with what I struggle with in my syllabus and pretty much all the time: I have high expectations. I expect a lot from you guys because I know what you're capable of. But I also expect that you have full lives and need to prioritize; I can't expect you to be rock stars all the time. Furthermore, I expect that most of you probably don't think you need to work as hard as I'm warning you you do...which is complicated by the fact that I'm trying not to scare you too much on the first day. I think I said something about the fact that most of them are probably used to getting As on everything, and some of them haven't had to work that hard to do so. I know I followed that up by saying that I don't make the course rigorous to somehow make up for that, as though I'm trying to make up for easier teachers in the past. But that it will be hard. But that...

I think that the first thing I should have said--I know I said this at the end, but as more of a throw away--was that I expect them to read. I expect them to do their homework. The worst classes are the ones that I've carefully designed as a follow up to the homework and then realize that no one has done the homework. It's a complete waste of time--for all of us. If you don't do your job, I can't do mine well.

So, I've been thinking about this a lot over the past couple of days, and have come up with the following. Some of it I said in class, some of it I didn't. All of it, I believe, is doable.

1. I expect you to read the assigned readings. Reading is not a passive activity. If you just read the readings once, quickly, without taking notes, you're not going to remember any of it. Then you'll have to reread them, which cuts into the amount of time you have to write. The readings are carefully selected to help you write your papers. If you don't read, your papers won't meet the expectations of the prompts and, consequently, this course.
2. I expect you to give me and this class the benefit of the doubt. That is, I expect you to be open to the possibility that this course might be awesome. For many students, it is. 
3. I expect you to understand that you reap what you sow. If you approach the class with an attitude of resistance, you're probably not going to like it. It takes as much energy to have a bad attitude as it does to stay on top of your game. The class is more useful if you do the latter.
4. I expect you to meet me halfway. I do everything I can to make this class productive and worthy of your time. I tailor each class to students' needs. If you tell me you want to work on conclusions, we'll work on conclusions. We'll do that by writing in class. If you decide you don't feel like working on conclusions and would rather whisper to your neighbor or daydream, then don't be surprised when your conclusions don't improve. If you tell me you want to improve your vocabulary, I'll incorporate vocabulary into the curriculum. If you choose not to learn those words, don't complain when I call on you to use those words in a sentence, quiz you, or take points off your papers for wordiness or informal diction.
5. I expect you to read intelligently, effectively, and well. You're in college. You will read a lot. The way you approach reading has an enormous impact on your comprehension and, consequently, your time. Read the reading handout on Canvas for how to read effectively. 
6. I expect you to work on your writing daily. Writing is a skill that requires conscious effort to improve. Athletes train. Musicians train. Writers train. You're in training for college-level writing.
7. I expect you to treat this course on a standard 5-day workweek schedule. In here, that schedule is usually Sunday through Thursday. In order to do well in this course, you must work on the homework before Sunday night. 
8. I expect you to view me, your TAs, and each other as allies. We will help you. We're more effective at doing so when you identify what you need and ask us for assistance. One good strategy for figuring out what you need is taking notes when you do your homework. When you are stuck or confused, make a note of it and ask us. We won't know what you need if you don't ask. You won't know what you need if you don't do the work.
9. I expect you to push yourself. Learning occurs when you work through challenges, not when you shirk them. If you push yourself to work even just a little harder than usual, you will be pleasantly surprised at how much you learn in this class.
10. I expect you to do your homework. See all of the above.