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February 2003

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From:
"Conway, Paul" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Teaching Breakfast List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 7 Feb 2003 11:58:15 -0500
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Thanks, Jim -

 

This is good inspiration -

 

Paul 



	-----Original Message----- 

	From: Greenberg, James 

	Sent: Fri 2/7/2003 8:02 AM 

	To: [log in to unmask] 

	Cc: 

	Subject: THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PROFESSORS

	

	



	Below is a document some of you may have already seen.  If you can't read this whole thing here are its major points: 



	Successful professors: 



	1) Take the initiative to meet and talk with students... their relationship with you is one of the leading factors in their retention (and more importantly) their success. 



	2) Give students richer assessment and let them see examples of what you expect early on.  



	3) Don't waste class time.  Know in detail exactly what you want to cover.. pick the important stuff... for each class.  



	4) Like I learned in Scout training, give positive feedback in public, be critical in private.  Try to foster an environment that is win/win not one that is they can lose. 



	5) Listen to your students and provide ways they can "talk" to you.  Find out what they understand and don't understand first and then go from there.   I'll add one of my own here... constantly probe students for misconceptions... every class... 



	6) Get students to work together in class and outside of class.  Remember knowledge is socially constructed, so get them constructing. 



	7) This is the one the TLTC is all about: Sharpen The Saw... that is take the time to modify and rethink your course and to think of ways you can get the concepts to your students.  Technology can help sometimes but so can I walk in the woods.  Another way is to attend Teaching Breakfasts, or chat with colleagues about what they do.  







		Mr. James B. Greenberg 

		Director Teaching, Learning and Technology Center 

		Milne Library 

		SUNY College at Oneonta 

		Oneonta, New York 13820 



		email: [log in to unmask] 

		phone: 607-436-2701 



		"Ignorance is curable, stupidity lasts forever" 





	---------- 

	From:   Rick Reis 

	Sent:   Wednesday, February 5, 2003 6:19 PM 

	To:     [log in to unmask] 

	Subject:        TP Msg. #457 THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PROFESSORS 





	           THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PROFESSORS 



	Written especially for an accountability-minded reader, The 7 Habits 

	of Highly Effective People (Covey, 1989) provides a practical 

	foundation on which to build successful recruiting, retention, 

	completion, and placement strategies. We will leave some of Covey's 

	concepts-such as the "circle of concern, circle of influence" and the 

	"emotional bank account-for you to explore (which you can do by 

	reading the book or by listening to one of the many audiotapes 

	related to it), but we will look closely at the seven habits 

	themselves. 



	Habit 1: Be Proactive 



	Traditionally, professors have built relationships with students 

	slowly-often not until the students' senior year or entry into 

	graduate school. One could logically surmise that in the meantime, 

	many other students had left school because of poor academic 

	performance, family or other personal reasons, or the need or desire 

	to accept full-time employment. Our experience is that many of these 

	challenges can be overcome when a professor provides wise counsel 

	during the student's crisis. Proponents of the accountability 

	movement believe that the retention of students through graduation is 

	in the best interests of students, the employment market, and our 

	larger society. Therefore, it is incumbent on professors to play a 

	more active role in students' success. 



	To be proactive, professors should: 



	*Anticipate challenges students are likely to face and plan for their solution. 

	*Initiate a dialogue with as many students as possible, early in the term. 

	*Gather sufficient information from students in order to meet their needs. 

	*Orchestrate a rich initial class meeting that achieves multiple objectives. 

	*Follow up promptly on student inquiries for information and on absenteeism. 



	Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind 



	Many in higher education have long believed that the richness of a 

	liberal arts classroom combined with a comprehensive campus 

	experience was sufficient in and of itself to produce an educated 

	person. While there is unquestionably much to value in that paradigm, 

	the student population has changed significantly since that belief 

	was formulated. As we will discuss in more detail in Chapter 3, 

	today's college and university students are far more likely than 

	yesterday's to attend classes part-time while working full-time. They 

	are also more likely to be older and to have family responsibilities 

	(whether in child-rearing or caring for aging parents). These 

	factors, along with the expectations of the stakeholders enumerated 

	in Chapter 1, have heralded a call for more measurable educational 

	outcomes than were common during the height of traditional liberal 

	art education. 



	To begin with the end in mind, professors should integrate the 

	following tactics into their teaching: 



	*Identify specific, up-to-date learning objectives for each course 

	that reflect the consideration of multiple stakeholders. 

	*Develop richer assignments that lead to the achievement of these 

	objectives that are relevant to students' lives. 

	*Provide detailed, eye-appealing syllabi that clearly explain course 

	objectives, strategies, and guidelines. 

	*Develop exams and other assessment tools before course material is addressed. 

	Clarify throughout the term the objectives communicated in the course syllabus. 



	Habit 3: Put First Things First 



	When students were housed in dormitories, sorority and fraternity 

	houses, and other on-campus housing, and when they focused their 

	energies entirely on their college experience, management of class 

	time was not as major an issue as it has now become. Both commuting 

	students and on-campus residents with wide access to support 

	resources (e.g., computer access at home or in the dorm rooms) expect 

	a highly focused and rich course experience. Effective professors 

	manage their class meeting time not only to address the most critical 

	concepts when students are physiologically receptive but also to 

	regularly connect activities and assignments to the core content of 

	the course. 



	To put first things first, the most successful professors will learn 

	to employ the following tactics: 



	*Develop a detailed agenda for each class meeting that includes time 

	parameters. 

	*Address critical learning objectives early in the class meeting 

	while students are most fresh and receptive. 

	*Develop assignments and exams that foster students' mastery of the 

	most critical content of the course. 

	*Dedicate class time to content on which students will be evaluated. 

	*Provide an overview of the following class meeting that enables 

	students to organize their thinking in advance of new instruction. 

	*Communicate regularly with students via e-mail to provide 

	reinforcement and clarification of upcoming classroom events. 



	Habit 4: Think Win/Win 



	In his book, Covey presents "six paradigms of human interactions"-(I) 

	lose/(you wine, lose/lose, win, win/lose, win/win, and win/win or no 

	deal-and states that most highly effective people employ the latter 

	two regularly. Often professors are perceived by students to employ 

	win and win/lose strategies in their interactions. Such interactions 

	commonly lead to outcomes that are increasingly undesirable in 

	today's higher education environment.  For example, has any professor 

	ever really won an argument with a student? Using a win/win approach 

	will allow professors and students to achieve shared instructional 

	success. Students who see the professor as a caring human being truly 

	invested in their well-being will not only extend themselves to meet 

	higher expectations but also internalize high standards for 

	subsequent performance. 



	Sensitized professors who think win/win will regularly employ the 

	following tactics: 



	*Provide positive feedback to students in front of their peers. 

	*Encourage flexibility on assignments to enhance students' mastery of 

	course learning objectives. 

	*Prepare students thoroughly for exams-especially the first on in the course. 

	*Foster students' performance by providing and reviewing the scoring 

	rubric for each assignment as it is being made. 

	*Provide prompt, individualized feedback on scored exams and assignments. 

	*Talk regularly with students-before and after class meetings and via 

	e-mail between classes-about their progress toward their personal 

	learning goals. 



	Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood 



	The mind that articulated the instructional phrase "Look to your 

	left, now look to your rightSÝ" seemed to expect listeners to 

	understand the subject material instantly. Being the exploring, 

	experimenting beings they are, however, students seldom grasp complex 

	ideas by hearing a professor talk at them. In The 7 Habits of Highly 

	Effective People, Covey eloquently explains the folly of such an 

	approach to achieve effectiveness within any relationship. When we 

	reflect on it, most of us would admit that those who have had the 

	greatest impact on our lives first listened to us unconditionally or, 

	to use Covey's word, empathically. They took the initiative to truly 

	understand us, before expecting us to embrace their view of the 

	world. Effective professors have learned that they do not "teach a 

	discipline" so much as they teach students-students who have the 

	potential to grow well beyond the multiple challenges they bring with 

	them to the classroom. Such professors will say that the most 

	rewarding aspect of their profession is to see the lights come on ion 

	the eyes of their students. It will always be so. 



	Seeking first to understand and then to be understood is facilitated 

	by employing the following tactics: 



	*Use a student profile form, such as the one in Appendix 5.1. of 

	Chapter 5, to gather useful information on each student. 

	*Employ the form throughout the term to note key points that surface 

	in conferences with students and related critical events. 

	*View students' various characteristics, experiences, and attitudes 

	as potential enriching elements of the classroom environment. 

	*Use vocabulary and examples to which your students can relate. 

	*Solicit "informal" feedback from students throughout the term. 



	Habit 6: Synergize 



	Synergy is typically defined as "an interaction or situation in which 

	the whole is more than the sum of its individual parts." Covey refers 

	to synergy as "creative cooperation." A professor who works toward 

	synergy believes that a particular course should be more than the sum 

	of its assignments, exam results, and classroom dynamics. Each course 

	should truly enrich the lives of students by giving them a foundation 

	on which to build an understanding of subsequent classes, life 

	experiences, and personal insights. As former (and current) students 

	ourselves, we have taken many courses, some of which achieved great 

	synergy and others that did not. Achieving synergy requires embracing 

	the first five habits to draw students in and to make the course an 

	individualized learning event. 



	To synergize, professors can employ the following tactics: 



	*Draw out students' experiences that relate to classroom topics. 

	*Link assignments and discussions to students' real-world lives. 

	*Employ small groups of students to focus on learning goals. 

	*Encourage out-of-class study groups. 

	*Create a community that celebrates the unique nature of learning. 



	Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw 



	Covey relays a number of parables, including one about watching a man 

	working to saw down a tree. The man admits to being at the task for 

	more than five hours. When asked why he didn't stop to sharpen the 

	saw, he exhaustedly exclaims, "I don't have time. I'm too busy 

	sawing." Many professors become frustrated when their once-successful 

	techniques fail with a particular group of students or, even worse, 

	with all of their students. But, like the sawing man, they do not 

	take the time to sharpen their tools. They do not realize that their 

	results will not change until they change the way they approach the 

	work. 



	In the last few years, truly fascinating research has been conducted 

	on human learning. As professionals, we should invest the time to 

	become familiar with at least some of this research and assess its 

	ramifications on teaching and learning methodologies. 



	Continuously developing educators can employ the following tactics to 

	"sharpen the saw": 



	*Establish mentoring relationships with effective veteran instructors. 

	*Mentor a novice professor, regularly discussing effective teaching 

	strategies (Zachary, 2000). 

	*Annually extend beyond a single discipline to read a well-received 

	book on teaching and learning practices. 

	*Make use of on-campus workshops, discussion groups, and related 

	resources-which are often sponsored by one of the growing number of 

	teaching and learning centers. 

	*Access online resources (e.g., www.developfaculty.com). 



	The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a comprehensive vehicle 

	for facilitating the integration of accountability principles into 

	your teaching. While we recommend this particular book for its proven 

	track record in our, and others', professional lives, there are 

	unquestionably additional resources available that might help you 

	achieve similar success in yours. Why not invest a small amount of 

	time to develop the foundation that will enable you to achieve 

	greater accountability with you various stakeholders for the 

	remainder of your teaching career? 




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