NEW SEMESTER BRING NEW OPPORTUNITIES
The first week of class is always filled with possibilities. Motivating students to create the life that they wish for begins during the initial class sessions, whether it be face-to-face or online. The aim during this time is to create that engaged relationship that will pay dividends throughout the semester. Dr. Mary Clement, who visited BRCC in the past and shared her best practices, suggests that we find out what type of high school experience our students had before we explain our expectations. Sharing the major differences between high school and college is vital for our first-time students. She notes, "How do we change this mindset going from high school into college? The number one way is to put your policy in writing in the syllabus. If the paper is due Monday, and the student is not in class that day, will the paper be accepted after Monday? Will it be accepted after Monday at all? If the answer is yes, until when and with what penalty?” Further, because there’s so much variation across different high schools in terms of homework, attendance requirements and making up for missed work, and grading practices, Clement recommends creating an interest inventory to give students during the first week of class. If it is anonymous, students may feel more comfortable answering the questions. You can find more suggestions here.

USING PEER REVIEW IN YOUR CLASS

Are you looking to increase the amount of peer-review experiences in your courses but are afraid that some of your students may not be ready? Here is an interesting learning experience you can use that will provide good feedback to students, allow students to practice this skill, and alleviate some of the worry you may have. Dr. Trent Batson shares the following, "I used the following technique that worked well in my writing classes:  the writer and the peer reviewer both have a copy of the paper in print. They are both sitting at computers and communicating via chat or some other real-time tool. As the reviewer reads the paper, starting with the first paragraph, she types her immediate reactions and thoughts -- almost like a think-aloud protocol -- thereby providing a strong sense of what any reader might be wondering or reacting to as the reader goes through the paper. I found that using chat made the communication more neutral and helped the reviewing student "speak" (through typing) more freely and off-the-cuff.  The writer of the paper gets a strong lesson in reader-based writing and also gets good advice about where confusion arises or where good points are made. I didn't ask the reviewer to evaluate the paper, just provide that think-aloud response." Dr. Robert Danberg recommends the book Beat Not the Poor Desk by Marie Ponsot as a useful resource for this active learning technique.

FACULTY LEARNING COMMUNITY STARTS ON FEB. 6
As you look over the professional development opportunities listed on the spring 2015 calendar that we distributed at the kickoff event last Wednesday, please note that the first Faculty Learning Community (FLC) is set to begin on February 6 at noon. We still have a few slots open for the FLC which will be using the common reader Inspired College Teaching by Dr. Maryellen Weimer. The book has been praised by new teachers and those with lots of experience. Some of the topics to be covered include maintaining instructional vitality (the midcareer challenge), feedback for teachers that improves learning for students, and reflection for growth and change. If you would like to join the FLC, please send an email to pourciaut@mybrcc.edu.

ISAAC GO AWAY
As Tropical Storm Isaac bears down on the Gulf Coast, classes continue at BRCC today but we will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. The "cone of uncertainty" certainly looks like it includes Baton Rouge as a target. Let's hope the whole thing just fizzles out in the Gulf.

READ IT ALOUD FIRST
One of the most common student errors reported by teachers of college writing is construction involving a break in grammatical sequence. Jed Shahar offers us a good intervention that you can try immediately. The best proofreading advice is to tell your students to read their paper aloud before they hand it in. With the prevalence of technology in all forms but especially with smart phones, students now have a new tool at their disposal to help them improve their learning. Suggest that they use the recording feature of their phone to read their paper aloud. Tell them to change their cadence when they notice an error. Once they correct their errors, tell them to read it again. The product is finished when they can read the entire paper without changing their cadence. That should indicate that they have corrected all of their errors. A slight variation is to ask someone else to read it aloud to them. In that way they can make corrections in the moment. Research shows that this intervention can help students notice that their arguments or narratives do not make sense. You can also have them turn in their recordings and use that as part of the grade. If they are using this intervention to improve their writing, you should be willing to give them some sort of credit on the assignment. If you use this intervention, let me know how it works for you and your students. 

THIS IS NOT YEAR 13
Some of you have already heard me lament about the use of the terms K-16 or Pre-K-20 to indicate the education process. While I understand the concept in principle, I think it leads many students to assume that the first year of college is just going to be year 13 of high school. You and I both know this is not true. College requires different skills and effort. It is difficult, not unlike high school, but the rewards are lucrative both in terms of potential salary (quality of life issues) and intellectually (developing ideology among other things). College is a time of exploration and discovery. It allows us to explore the things that really interest us. I also think that high school images evoke expectations of social events (prom dances and pep rallies) as well as pedagogy issues (extra credit) which contributes to a "just tell me what is on the test" mentality. My view is not intended to be a slam against high school and many teachers challenge their students in high school. I just think that there is an identifiable difference between high school and college especially when it comes to expectations and college should be different from high school. 

LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING
You can always depend on Dr. Maryellen Weimer when it comes to focusing on learner-centered teaching. In fact, her book Learner-Centered Teaching: Five key changes to practice (LB2331 .W39 which is also available in electronic form from the Library) has become an industry standard for faculty development. She recently blogged that she is working on the second edition of the book which caused her to rethink her approach so that she could include new research that others have done using her work. I will give you one of her five characteristics and encourage you to take a look at her book. Weimer says, "Learner-centered teaching motivates students by giving them some control over learning processes. I believe that teachers make too many of the decisions about learning for students. Teachers decide what students should learn, how they learn it, the pace at which they learn, the conditions under which they learn and then teachers determine whether students have learned. Students aren’t in a position to decide what content should be included in the course or which textbook is best, but when teachers make all the decisions, the motivation to learn decreases and learners become dependent. Learner-centered teachers search out ethically responsible ways to share power with students. They might give students some choice about which assignments they complete. They might make classroom policies something students can discuss. They might let students set assignment deadlines within a given time window. They might ask students to help create assessment criteria."