Communicate with my students

I so much want to communicate my love of the study of human communication to my community college students. I just read comments about me on rate your professor, and they are bleak. I have a smile that s completely phony and "you can see right through." I don't give good directions for assignments -- but if you follow the directions, you will get an A. Students say I grade too easy, and worst of all, "I didn't learn anything in this class."

I know this is a completely ridiculous web site. The same disgruntled student can log on under different names and leave multiple vents. Teachers are even rated for being "hot" -- and one professor's husband left a hot chili pepper for her because he thinks she cute. My chair -- who "shouldn't be allowed to teach" told me not to bother reading the stuff. But I had really hoped that my ratings came up after last semester and took a peek. Bad, bad idea.

I have been a teacher for 15 years, and I pour myself heart and soul, into it. But I still don't know how to communicate any passion to my students.

It has been said that we often study what we feel we are deficient in, so that surely must be true of me.

I hope some of our young people here read this. Perhaps you will have some ideas about how I can spark things up.

Surley there must be some good responses? (maybe even if it is just a smile or a handshake.) Your employer would give you the boot if they thought you had no content to offer and I bet collegues get the same kind of abuse. I instructed wood carving for two years and I got good replies because I had mature students who elected to be there because of an enjoyment factor, but if you are teaching a bunch of young punks who are only putting in time to get a diploma, then you will get immature replies. Don't read those anymore. I bet there are a lot of people that relate to you and it never occured to them to give you the praise you deserve. Do what you love and teach what excites you and to hell with the opinion of the masses. Even helping one person is a blessing. I for one know how difficult it is to teach to a room of blank faces and I give you my support and respect.

I would work on the things you can or want to change (clear directions? easy grading?) and not worry about subjective things like your allegedly phony, see-through smile that don't have anything to do with anything? Your smile doesn't have anything to do with whether they learn/find you to be a good instructor. Think of all the angry/serious To-Sir-With-Love stories? It's not a popularity contest, it's a how-well-do-you-teach contest (but, like you say, who needs idiot contests).

Have you ever started the first class with a "discussion" of what they want/expect to learn from the class and "ideas" how to do that in an interesting-to-them fashion? I don't know how married you are to your tried-and-true syllabus or notes but maybe spend a semester revamping based on what the student's say they want at the beginning? You "know" the material they should know but they can tell you how they learn and what interests them and then the challenge is presenting the material in a fashion that grabs them.

When I took my senior-level Communications/"Listening" class, for example, as part of a project I had to create I posted a couple pictures of people engaged in conversation, and had the other students/friends visit my web site and choose from a multiple choice list what the people in the pictures were thinking/saying/feeling :-) I was studying differences between male/female respondents, what they'd choose! I loved it :-) and the people at my work I dragged in to try it, etc. did too.

I think interactive is big with young people; movies, polls, games, "translations" (I did another project in that class that did something with Alice in Wonderland! Talk about your "communication" problems :-)

Good ideas, and thank you for the support, Angela.

Oh, I know I shouldn't read those things! I have students who give me gifts, who stop by my office to talk, to tell me how useful the course has been, or my encouragement, etc. It's not all bad, for sure. I am too sensitive, like so many who come here, and anything less than perfect is not good enough. LOL.

Perna, I am looking over lots of different ideas right now, to reinvigorate my material. It is pretty basic stuff at the community college level, and I honestly can understand that the brightest students headed to 4-year colleges may be under-challenged. On the other hand, my job is to help, as well, many students who are immigrants, who have not had good instruction in high school to get their communication skills up.

My approach to life, however, is that we can all improve. Even though I know most of the students may be venting, I also think there is truth in there that I can use to do better.

I like the idea of "more interactive." Maybe there's even a way to use IM'ing? We are introducing a clicker system, but I have to take the training in that. Very interactive!

Anyone else?

It sounds like the "bored" under-achiever "natives" are leaving the comments that hurt you, not the immigrants? Punks :-) Can you smile at that word, remember when you were that age and have a little compassion for them? That would help me, remembering when I was struggling at a young age and trying to be "cool" (or
"kewl," however one spells it these days :-)

I found this, maybe some ideas (it's for a chemistry curriculum but perhaps you can adapt to your needs)? http://www.calstatela.edu/dept/chem/...ctive/main.htm

Here's about your "clicker," sounds neat: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/resour...nology/crs.htm

i dont' believe for one minute that you project that in your classroom. i believe it's like MySpace.....a place to say or do anything.....regardless of the impact it may have upon the teachers.

i've known you too long to believe it. you're warm and you are excited about what you do and as Al Franken would say, "doggone it, people like you".......xoxoxo pat p.s. and ray and i will dispatch the Space Monkeys to your classroom if anything else untowards happens!!!! and a mad Space Monkey is a monkey to tread lightly with......

I am a student myself, university freshmen. I disagree with those ratings on the teachers. If a student was to fail based on their own lacking off then they will be bitter at the teacher and of course rate them low.

But then again from another perspective as a student I can see a lot about my teachers. I can tell if they are uncomfortable, or if they are working for the pay check and that only.

You're standing in front of a group of young adults and lecturing. They can see your body language, facial gestures the entire bit. Maybe they feel you are uncomfortable with them.

Now for assignments and the instructions I've already had a few teachers that only give the basics of the assignment and then expect us as college students to figure out all the extras, and of course ask if we are finding difficulties. It's not your job to mother them through an assignment, personally I find that annoying.

If they're saying the assignments are to simple or being graded to simple then I'd recommend bringing it on to them...challenge them.

Good luck I hope all goes well. Don't let what a few people say bother you..you're the authority figure and some will always disagree with you.

I am doing quite a lot to add current topics, try different activities -- less lecturing, even though it was never a whole period, ever. Just shake things up a little.