Here is a great way to start your semester off right. Make a few resolutions and stick to them. We can always improve our teaching toolkit and David Gooblar shares his ideas in this article. I really like his suggestions and have adopted them for my class. Let me know what you think.
"When given a reading assignment, some students feel they have met their
obligation if they have forced their eyes to ‘touch’ (in appropriate
sequence) each word on the pages assigned. How can we entice students to
read the material we assign, and how do we help them develop strategies
for deep comprehension and retention of the material? Are there subtle
ways we can prod them to read and help them develop literary
skills—without spending our own precious time explicitly teaching
‘reading?" Find out in this article by Dr. Maryellen Weimer.
"I firmly believe that there is a direct correlation between what we
expect of our students and what we get. We know that higher expectations
generate greater learning. But we also know that higher expectations
alone are not sufficient. Greater learning also results from support —
support that can be provided, for example, by college-success courses in
which common readings are often used." See what else Dr. John Gardner has to say about student success.