Your professor's inner thoughts (sounds creepy, but it's not my title!)

This article was reprinted in my college alma mater's newspaper ...

Op-Ed Feb. 4, 2011

Click here for The Huffington Post version

or Click image below for college newspaper version

Teach for America rises to the challenge to ‘Make History’

I am a huge fan of the Teach for America mission, and have a former student who just made the final round of interviews for a slot to teach. Here's a great article written by the TFA founder:

In low-income communities across the country, transformational teachers and leaders — and their hard-working students — are proving that America’s greatest injustice is a solvable problem. In “A Chance to Make History,” Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp explores what’s driving these inspiring success stories. Here’s an excerpt.

Continue reading
Teach for America rises to the challenge to ‘Make History’
By Wendy Kopp
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41376767/ns/today-books/

Is College an Industrial Degree Factory?

I found this Op-Ed in my alma mater's student newspaper (Pipe Dream, Binghamton University)

Two quotes caught my attention - perceived cynicism mixed with personal optimism:

Sadly, the fact that college is hardly about learning or getting an education is old news. Rather, it is widely accepted that college serves the primary purpose of qualifying students for professional positions.

College is, or at least should be, about personal development. As cliché as it sounds, it is important to remember that, more often than not, real growth takes place outside of the classroom.

So you tell me - what is/was college really all about for you?

Read Binghamton University: An industrial degree factory
By Michael Snow
http://www2.bupipedream.com/op-ed/binghamton-university-an-industrial-degree-factory-1.1922536

8 Things Your Prof Cares (or Doesn't Care) About in Class

With the recent huff over college students not learning a darn thing (45% Of Students Don't Learn Much In College), I figured it was time to offer what goes on in the mind of a college professor. This is what I care about and don't care about in class:

1. DON'T CARE if your cell phone goes off, as long as I get to answer it. These days, I'm having trouble distinguishing incoming calls from texts. Droid!

2. DO CARE when you distract other students. This coming from someone who as a college freshman once launched a mini toy helicopter which circled the classroom and soft crashed on his professor's head. I was surprised and relieved that the professor didn't get all Cornell prof on me.

3. DON'T CARE if you text or surf the web in class (except during exams). Show me that you are a multi-tasker, especially if I have nothing relevant or funny to offer.

4. DO CARE that you view writing as a craft (not as a "spell check" exercise). True story: In a legal document, an attorney asked the judge for a delay in his case because he was undergoing a delicate medical procedure on his back: Disk surgery. However, he mistakenly typed a different four letter word that looked like DISK, inserting an unfortunate "C" rather than the needed "S." Spell check won't catch that!

CONTINUE READING IN THE HUFFINGTON POST

8 Things Your Prof Cares (or Doesn't Care) About in Class

Lessons of Justice and Empathy - On Coal River

This weekend, I previewed On Coal River (tells the story of Marsh Fork Elementary and its fight for a new school), awesome documentary! I purchased a license for the film and will be showing it in my Introduction to Law class in a few weeks, as we discuss lessons of justice and empathy. On Coal River is receiving numerous awards, including the Gotham Award for the “Best Film Not Playing (yet?) at a Theater Near You.”

Variety Review: West Virginians "best a corporate Goliath… Keenly observed… Respectful, thorough, and relevant.”

For new Crazy Classroom blog readers, I have followed the plight of Marsh Fork for years. Here is my most recent post on the subject, re-published in The Huffington Post:

Lessons of Justice for College Students: Grandpa versus Big Coal

by Perry Binder

This is not an environmental issue. This is about a little human being. -- Ed Wiley (Grandpa) speaking to then West Virginia Governor Manchin (now U.S. Senator)

While the media insults and labels the youth of every generation like an X or Y or Z (oh you Slackers, Echoes, and Netters), I instead see college students bringing energy and a common message of hope to the table: to make a difference in their lives and those of others. And in an Introduction to Law class, it is my job to find them real world cases to teach lessons of justice and injustice. So let's meet Ed Wiley and the kids at Marsh Fork Elementary School.

Continue reading at Crazy Classroom and The Huffington Post:
http://yourrubberroom.blogspot.com/2010/10/lessons-of-justice-for-college-students.html

Teacher Training, Taught by Students

Interesting teacher training program in low performing NJ schools ...

Syidah O’Bryant scribbled notes in a composition book, trying to keep up with a lesson about why teenagers are so sleepy in the morning.

Usually Ms. O’Bryant, an eighth-grade social studies teacher, is the one talking. But on Tuesday, it was her student, Kare Spencer, 14.

“She’s the boss of me; she’s teaching me,” Ms. O’Bryant said.

In a role reversal, Ms. O’Bryant and other teachers at Brick Avon Academy are getting pointers from their students this year as part of an unusual teacher training program at 19 low-performing Newark schools.

The lesson learned by Ms. O’Bryant? “It makes you think about really hearing the kids,” she said. “You can learn from them. They have their own language.”

Continue Reading Teacher Training, Taught by Students

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/nyregion/15metjournal.html?hpw

Learning to Manage College Finances and Debt

A topic we don't discuss enough - managing debt in college and down the road. Here's a good article on why college students should take a personal finance course:
In College, Learning About Money
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/your-money/08money.html?_r=1

Every college student should consider enrolling in such a class. For example, here are Personal Finance courses offered by my department at Georgia State University:
http://www.rmi.gsu.edu/certificates/undergrad_pfp.shtml

As a side note, I am proud of my alma mata, Binghamton University - selected again by Kiplingers as "ranked among the nation’s top 10, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance on the magazine’s new list of 100 Best Values in Public Colleges."
http://www.binghamton.edu/inside/index.php/inside/story/binghamton-ranked-in-top-10-by-kiplingers-personal-finance

Adaptive PE teacher inspires athlete

Everywhere Debi Anderson goes, she inspires and amazes. Her most recent show of talent and confidence was on "Skating with the Stars" on ABC. While doing a promo for Special Olympics, she was offered the opportunity to skate with one of the semi-finalists, John Moseley, in a show that aired a couple weeks ago.

She also recently competed in the Special Olympics Fall Games and won a gold medal in bowling. While there, Bill Shumard, CEO president of Special Olympics in Southern California, asked her if she would serve on the board of directors as an athlete representative. ... Soon, she started working at George Key School as an aide, and she got more involved with softball. She went to her first summer games in 2004, where she did track and field. She came away with three gold medals and a bronze. Through the encouragement and direction of George Key's Adaptive PE teacher Windy McGinnis, Anderson got into rhythmic gymnastics, using balls, hoops and ropes.

Continue reading: ON CAMPUS: District grad inspiring others
CORINNE GRIFFITHS

Motivated in the Classroom, Year after Year

As I reflect on this past semester, I'm already preparing for 2011 classes. As I do so, I'm proud to say that a former student just applied to the Teach for America program. For the teachers and professors in this profession for the short term or the long haul, here's my take on staying fresh in the classroom:

There is a symmetry to every college semester, with a set number of weeks and exams at fixed intervals. Just like a Hollywood screenplay has three acts, I love the predictability that the semester structure brings. After teaching for a while, I became adept at seeing common class trends and defining plot points along an arc - when to expect enthusiastic student participation, when students might be stressed or losing confidence, when to pull back on the material or forge full speed ahead. While the structure is predictable, every semester has an energy and a life of its own.

Someone once asked me how I can teach the same subjects year after year without getting bored. My answer back: “Do you think that a recording artist gets bored singing the same song for the past thirty years?” It may be the same song, but there’s a different interpretation and a fluid audience each time. A performer can kill one night, and then fall flat the next evening if the crowd’s chemistry isn’t there. The song remains the same, but those sitting in on the sessions may not always be on the same page. Yes, the course material is similar from year to year, but meeting different students each time is the secret part of the equation which keeps things lively, unpredictable, and exciting.

A teacher’s job is to keep things fresh and provocative, regardless of mood, subject, or student engagement. The show must always go on. The good news is that there’s ample opportunity to shift gears from week to week to capture attention and to captivate. ...

Naturally, my curious students ask me why I don’t practice law anymore. The best answer I can come up with is an analogy from the movie, Good Will Hunting, when psychologist Robin Williams is discussing personal relationships with patient, Matt Damon. Damon just had a perfect first date with Minnie Driver, and he tells Williams that he’s never going to call her again. To which a surprised Williams inquires why. Damon explains that the date was so perfect, that he didn’t want to ruin that memory or image, and risk an imperfect second date. The psychologist smiles and reminds his young patient that he’s not so perfect himself, and neither is his recent date. The trick he says is to take a risk and discover whether you’re perfect for each other.

Being a teacher is not a perfect profession, and I know I’m an imperfect teacher. But we’re perfect for each other. I’ve learned, changed, grown, and gotten back more than I bargained for in many courtrooms and classrooms.

Today, I am refreshed and ready, but already messed up on the first day of the current term in front of 120 students. While I remembered to bring the syllabus, I forgot to bring their outline for the first unit. The class was already confused about the first assignment.

Maybe I have an overactive imagination or a hypersensitive ear, but I could’ve sworn I heard a student mutter under her breath: “This professor sucks!”

Excerpt from Unlocking Your Rubber Room: 44 Off-the-Wall Lessons
c 2009 Perry Binder

Classroom Humor Sparks Creative Problem-Solving

In my recent article, The Case for Humor in the College Classroom, I wrote: As college professors nationwide prepare for a new academic year, my message for them is simple: Lighten up! Your students just might engage and learn.

Now, researchers on humor and thinking (not kidding, that's a field of study) at Northwestern University found that people were more likely to solve word puzzles with sudden insight when they were amused, having just seen a short comedy routine. “What we think is happening,” said Mark Beeman, a neuroscientist who conducted the study with Karuna Subramaniam, a graduate student, “is that the humor, this positive mood, is lowering the brain’s threshold for detecting weaker or more remote connections” to solve puzzles. ...

In their humor study, Dr. Beeman and Dr. Subramaniam had college students solve word-association puzzles after watching a short video of a stand-up routine by Robin Williams. The students solved more of the puzzles over all, and significantly more by sudden insight, compared with when they’d seen a scary or boring video beforehand.

Continue reading Tracing the Spark of Creative Problem-Solving
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/science/07brain.html?src=me&ref=homepage