TRANSCRIPT: Classroom Expectations & Behaviors
Speaker: Amy Baldwin
Classroom Expectations & Behaviors
[Presenter, Amy Baldwin, on left]
[Icons on right:
• Person speaking in front of a crowd
• Target with arrow in the middle with calendar icon, pencil icon, and books icon.
• List of expectations] Text on screen: Participate, Be Respectful, Be On Time, Come Prepared.
Hi, my name is Amy Baldwin, I'm a university professor. I've spent over 20 years helping students achieve their academic success and this workshop, Classroom Expectations and Behaviors, will help you achieve yours.
[Target with arrow appears at the end]
Differences Between high School and College
[Seven dots connected horizontally, like a number line] Along the top, left to right:
[Students icon] Text on screen: High School Teachers vs. College Professors [Gear and sliders icon] Text on screen: Course Sequencing
[Gear and clock icon] Text on screen: Course Pacing Along the bottom, left to right:
[Clock and calendar icon] Text on screen: Due Dates
[Thumbs up icon] Text on screen: Student Expectations for Success
I'm going to first start with the differences between high school and college and the broad categories that we're going to talk about today are: the differences between teachers, your high school teachers and your college professors;; between course sequencing, maybe how you experienced class in high school versus how you experience it in college;; the course pacing or how quickly the content is covered both in high school and in college;; due dates, how due dates are often presented in high school and how they work in college;; and, then finally, what the student expectations are for success.
Your Professor
[Student icon] Text on screen: 1. Your Professor. [host on the right]
[Student icon on left]
Text on screen:
• Studied & researched the discipline
• Empowered to create freely
• Juggle other responsibilities
• Are on “your team”
College professors are probably going to be different than your high schools teachers and one way that they may be different is that they have spent years and years studying the discipline. They may have a masters degree, they may have a PhD, but they've spent years of research in the discipline or the course or the content.
They're often free to create assignments, test, and policies for their courses, so you and your friend may be taking the exact same course with different professors and have different assignments and maybe even some different expectations.
They also juggle responsibilities in other areas besides teaching, such as grant writing and research, so they're very busy. But, remember they're human, which means they'll probably make a mistake every now and then and they're also on your team and they truly want to cultivate professional relationships with their students.
Course Sequencing In College
[Gear and sliders icon] Text on screen: 2. Course Sequencing. [Gear and sliders icon] Text on screen: Broader In Scope [Group of people icon] Text on screen: Larger Class
Let's talk about course sequencing, the differences between high school and college. In college, most of your first year courses are going to broader in scope and the reason for this is that content in those lower level courses really lays the foundation for those upper level classes and that degree that you're going for and you'll get more in depth in that way. That may be a little different than what you experienced in high school.
Another difference is that classes may be larger. In high school, maybe you were in a class with 20, 25, 30 students, whereas, in college, you may be in a class with 50, 80, or 100, or even more in a large lecture class.
Course Pacing In College
[Gear and clock icon] Text on screen: 3. Course Pacing [host on the left]
[Spedometer icon with slow on the left and fast on the right, with dial moving towards fast] Text on screen: Move much more quickly
[Icon of clipboard] pen and stopwatch. Text on screen: Based on objectives. [Stack of books] Text on screen: More outside work.
Let's talk about course pacing, the difference between high school courses and college courses. For one, they move much more quickly than they did in high school and that is probably because professors are driven by objective rather than student mastery.
They're going to get to those objectives and get through that content rather than stop and wait for all of the students to master each level that they're presenting. That means for you, you will be required to do more outside work. You're going to have to read those chapters, you're going to have to do the homework, you're going to have to watch videos if they're assigned, and you need to be completely prepared for class and that's going to take a lot more time and a lot more effort.
Due Dates
[Clock and calendar icon] Text on screen: 4. Due Dates [host on the right]
[Icon of calendar and clock on the left] Text on screen:
• Set at the beginning of semester/term
• Communicated through syllabus
• Need to keep track on your own
• Mostly non-negotiable
Due dates in college are often set at the beginning of the semester and that's usually communicated through the syllabus or some other tool or piece of information that your professor has given you probably on day one. Those due dates are probably not going to be discussed as a reminder for you to meet those deadlines. You will have to take it upon yourself to read that information and keep track of those due dates.
Due dates are often non-negotiable unless there's an extreme emergency that prohibits you meeting them.
How To Meet (or Exceed) Classroom Expectations
[Thumbs up icon] Text on screen: 5. Student Expectations for Success [host on the right]
[Blue, teal, and green boxes] Text on screen: “Before Class, During Class, After class”
All right, now we're going to talk about how to meet or even exceed those classroom expectations and we're going to talk about three different ways to do that: (1) what to do before class, (2) what to do during class, and, (3) what to do after class.
Before class
[host on the left]
[Light bulb icon] Text on screen:
• Complete readings & homework
• Take notes on your readings
• Review the syllabus
• Take care of self
• Come prepared to listen, learn & pay attention
What you need to do before class to meet the expectations of college are complete the assigned reading or homework or whatever it is that your professor asks that you do before you get to class. This is essential and part of the process of learning. You also need to probably take notes if you're doing the reading so that you have the information with you and you can be able to review it and discuss it whenever you're in class and always review the syllabus. You may not have caught that you are going to a different room or having a guest lecturer that day and so being aware of what's going on that day or that week is essential, reviewing the syllabus is part of that.
Finally, you need to take care of yourself. Get adequate sleep, eat, drink plenty of water, but come to class prepared to listen, to learn, and to pay attention.
During Class
[host on the right]
[Icon of students in a class on the left] Text on screen:
• Demonstrate classroom expectations
• Get out supplies
• Put away distractors
• Engage in lecture or discussion
• Ask questions
• Take notes
During class is a great opportunity for you to demonstrate that you know the expectations and you can meet them. First of all, get out everything you need immediately when you sit down. If it's a book, if it's paper, or it's pen, or you have required technology, get ready to go as soon as your professor walks in the door. Put away any distractors. If you have a cellphone or other technology that might make your attention span a little shorter than it needs to be, put that completely away so you're not even tempted to get it out.
Engage in the lecture or the discussion. Be sure that you ask questions or you contribute in some way. This is a great way to meet those college expectations of learning and engagement in the classroom.
Finally, if your professor is lecturing or giving really important information take those notes. Jot down what the professor writes on the board or if anything that your professor says, "This is really important you need to know," be sure you capture that in your notes.
Let’s Review
[host on the left]
[A circle made of arrows in the center] Text on screen:
• Participate
• Contribute
• Stay positive
• Pay attention
• Respect others
This bears repeating, participate. Ask a question, make a comment, and contribute to group work if you're put into groups and stay positive. Stay focused on those things that are meaningful to you in that class, whether you like the class or like the professor or not and always remain focused on the lecture, discussion, or activity while you're sitting in the class. It may be very easy to get distracted by side conversations or technology or even thinking about what you're going to eat later on that day, but if you're focused, you're engaged, you're going to learn.
Finally, respect others' contributions. You don't have to agree but you do need to show respect for everything that is said and done in the class.
After Class
[host on the right]
[Icon of person with speedometer] Text on screen:
• Review notes asap
• Get clarification
• Seek help
• Check email regularly
• Use time management system.
After class, be sure you review your notes and information as soon as possible and get clarification on anything you don't understand. Seek help if you need it. You may need to go to tutoring, you may need to see your professor during his or her office hours and be sure you check your email regularly. Your professors are going to communicate with you and they'll expect that you read that information in a timely manner.
Finally, speaking of time, use a time management system to balance those class expectations and your own personal responsibility.
Professors Pet Peeves In Class
[host on the left]
[Figure with question mark] Text on screen: Not prepared Text on screen: Distracted by technology [cell phone icon] [figure sleeping] Text on screen: Appear disengaged.
Text on screen: Not paying attention [two figures with sports and shoes in their brain] [calendar] Text on screen: Missing class
Text on screen: Come late & leave early [clock icon]
I want to talk a little bit about professors' pet peeves in class, and yes they do have pet peeves, and here are a few of them. Students who are not prepared for class, huge pet peeve. They want you there but they want you prepared as well. Students who are distracted by technology, they have the cellphone in their hand or on their desk and they're constantly checking text messages or Facebook, a big pet peeve for professors. Students who appear disengaged, so maybe you hadn't slept very well the night before and you're a little tired and you're kind of slumped down in the chair. That is one of those pet peeves that faculty really want to see you kind of sit up, engage in the class, discuss, at least look like you're awake. Students who miss important information because they're not paying attention, another pet peeve of faculty. They want you there paying attention, taking those notes, and making sure you're capturing everything that you need to know.
Of course, students who miss regularly, another pet peeve. Be there, be on time, and limit any absences as much as you can.
Finally, those students that come late and leave early. Unless you have something that's important that has to be done, make sure you communicate that with the professor but be prepared to stay there the entire time.
Professors Pet Peeves Outside Of Class
[host on the right]
[Figure with exclamation mark] Text on screen: What did I miss?
[Figure with exclamation mark] Text on screen: Did we do anything important? [Figure with exclamation mark] Text on screen: Don’t make appointments for help.
Professors' pet peeves outside of class includes students who ask, "What did I miss?" when they're absent, or even worse, "Did we do anything important?" Assume that every class is important and be sure that you get information from a classmate or somebody else who can help you with the information that you missed.
Finally, students who don't make appointments with the professor to ask questions or to get clarification or assistance, that's a pet peeve you want to avoid.
The Ideal College Student
[Light bulb with a graduation cap] Text on screen:
• Prepares for class
• Stays focus
• Contributes meaningfully
• Keeps track of due dates
• Seeks out help
• Develops relationship with professor
• Treats others with respect
• Uses effective time management system
• Demonstrates curiosity and effort
To meet the college expectations and behaviors, the ideal college student prepares for class regularly, stays focused during class, contributes meaningfully during the semester, keeps track of assignments and due dates, seeks out help when needed, cultivates a professional relationship with the professor, treats classmates with respect, uses an effective time management strategy, and demonstrates curiosity and effort in the course.
Conclusion
[Host on left]
[Icon of Person speaking in front of a crowd]
[List of expectations] Text on screen: Participate, Be Respectful, Be On Time, Come Prepared
Thank you for watching this workshop. We hope the information that we provided allows you to be the ideal college student and meet those classroom expectations.