Student Guide Corner

If you have read this blog for long, you must know that I put considerable stress on communicating with my students, often by email. I believe open and honest communication is a key for all successful relationships. These communications give you a chance to guide your students toward the outcomes that you want. They allow you to motivate the students, to keep pushing them forward (�I know this seems hard but you are smart enough to do these problems with a bit of work�). They provide a chance for positive feedback � �the class was especially good today� is never a bad acknowledgement � one that students often never hear. They enable you to correct actions that you don�t like (�not very many of you had worked problem 5 for today; I�ll expect a better effort at the next class�). Communications help the teacher to prepare the students for upcoming material � �we are really going to stress the computation of interest expense at our next class so make absolutely sure you�ve studied pages 45...

My wife often watches �Morning Joe� on cable television as she gets ready for the new day. It is a group of people who discuss and debate politics and the world in general each morning. Last week, I wandered through and the people on the show that morning were discussing education. Just as I passed by, one person asserted: �We all know how to get great education: Demand Excellence and Expect Excellence.� Demand Excellence and Expect Excellence. Hmm, sounds good. I wonder how many of us really do that? Do we really demand excellence from our students? Really? In fact, do we really demand excellence from ourselves? Or, maybe, they are just two sides to the same coin. RESPONSE ONE TO MORNING JOE: After hearing the commentator, I immediately walked to my study and sent an email to one of my students. �You made a D on your first test in my class. Since then, I have not noticed one iota of improvement. None. You are not one bit better prepared for my class. ...