Managing the Successful Classroom: Face-to-Face and Online

1. Managing the Successful Classroom: Face-to-Face and Online Jane Holbrook and Mark Morton, CTE New Faculty Workshop September 8, 2010

2. Our Mission • The Centre for Teaching Excellence fosters teaching and learning of the highest quality at Waterloo. • We support the development of instruction by working collaboratively with departments and individuals at all career stages, and we promote the importance of effective teaching and meaningful learning across the university. • We approach our work by listening to, questioning, encouraging, and celebrating Waterloo’s teachers.

3. Overview of CTE Services • Face-to-Face & Blended • Faculty members & Graduate students • Individuals, Departments & Faculties • Staff & Resources

4. Why this session? • How do you respond to the challenges and “situations” that crop up in the classroom? • What are the short- and long-term implications of your responses?

5. Workshop Goals By the end of this workshop, you should be able to: • Identify common issues in managing students • Devise strategies to handle these issues • Consider the implications of these strategies

6. Requests for Exemptions Scenario: Students ask for an exemption (e.g. to write an exam at an alternate time or to receive an extension on an assignment) for one of the following reasons: • Their parents are taking the family on a once-in-a-lifetime trip • A relative or friend has died and they must attend the funeral • They feel ill or distressed

7. Small Group Discussions Spend 10 minutes discussing the scenario assigned to your group. In your discussions: • Create strategies for dealing with your assigned scenario that you would be comfortable using • Be ready to share and explain one or two of your strategies

8. Disruptive Laptop Use Scenario 1 : A few students in your class are using laptops in a way that distract you and/or students: • Using a laptop for activities that are not relevant to your class • Students are complaining that their classmates are viewing inappropriate images during your class • Students are complaining that the sound of typing is distracting them

9. Indifference or Disruption Scenario 2: A few students are undermining the academic environment by: • Chatting with fellow students during class • Forgetting to turn off cell phones or answering them in class • Arriving late or leaving early • Frequently missing classes, and then asking for help catching up

10. Dealing with Complaints Scenario 3: Students indicate that the course could be improved and would like you to deal with the following: • The workload in your course is much heavier than in other courses at the same level • The grade being earned in your class is much lower than that being earned in the students’ other classes • Your TA isn’t doing a good job A twist … what if these critical comments are made in a course discussion forum?

11. Hijacking the Classroom Scenario 4: A student is derailing the academic atmosphere of your classroom by: • Making inappropriate comments in an online discussion forum • Using the course email facility to rent their apartment or sell their car • Promoting an ideologically driven philosophy that potentially narrows or impedes the classroom discussion

12. Concluding Thoughts • Consider how you define the challenge or “situation” • “problems” need fixing; “issues” need consideration • Prepare for issues in advance • course outline, university policies and procedures • Know what you are willing to accommodate and make it explicit • Engage your students in negotiating the “ground rules” of the course • Remain calm and listen respectfully • Strive for equity • Remember that “life happens” • Enjoy the experience!

13. Selected Resources • Centre for Teaching Excellence Teaching Tips: e.g., Classroom Management: Creating an Inclusive Environment; Conflict Management for Instructors; Large Classes: Limiting the Chaos • Office for Persons with Disabilities • Counselling Services • Office of Academic Integrity • Student Petitions & Grievances, Discipline, and Appeals Policies • Exam Regulations • Course Outline Template • Verification of Illness Form • Guidelines on Use of UW Computing and Network Resources • Carbone, E. (1999). Students behaving badly in large classes.New directions for teaching and learning, 77 (Spring), 35-43. • Kuhlenschmidt, S.L. (1999). Promoting internal civility: understanding our beliefs about teaching and learning.New directions for teaching and learning, 77 (Spring), 13-22. • Mongan Rallis, H. (2008). Student Laptops in College Classrooms: Upsides and Downsides. Instructional Development, University of Minnesota Duluth, Vol 25, No. 1, 3-4.