Classroom Management and Procedural Issues

 

The Beginnings and Endings of Class

This would not seem to require much attention because classes are scheduled to begin and end at certain times. However, just as conversations have openings (hello’s) and closings (goodbyes) that can be quite elaborate, classes are more coherent when they have clear beginnings and endings.

• Establish a starting ritual for your class that students will recognize as the signal that it is time to begin class. Some examples include:
• Dimming the lights
• Playing soft music before class starts and then turning it off as it is time to begin class
• Reading a notable quotation
• Moving to the podium
• Take care of housekeeping duties for the class at the beginning of the class (e.g., taking attendance, doing reminders, handing back papers, etc.)
• Be sure to bring the textbook, paper, pens, your roll book, etc. each day so that you set an example of being prepared.
• Start and end class on time.
• Establish an ending ritual for your class that students recognize as the signal that the class is coming to a close. Some examples include:
• Summarizing the lecture
• Asking the class to write a 1 minute essay
• Doing reminders of upcoming assignments for the next class period

 

Making Copies of Assignments for Class

Check with your department secretary about how you should obtain copies of assignments you will need to pass out in class to your students. Departments handle this in different ways.

 

Contacting You

Students will expect to be able to reach you through e-mail, telephone, and office hours. All students are provided with a university e-mail account. As a new graduate student, you should become familiar with your account so you can include it on your syllabi and access messages from your students. Information about e-mail can be obtained at: http://iatservices.missouri.edu/e-mail/ or call the help desk if you experience difficulties at 882-5000. Most teaching assistants and graduate instructors do not have telephones in their offices. You may have a mailbox number on a telephone where you can check messages or you may be able to give out the department number and messages can be taken for you at that number. Check with your department. Some teaching assistants and graduate instructors feel comfortable giving out their home or cell telephone numbers to students to increase their accessibility. Students can also reach you during office hours.

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Office Hours

Why are office hours important?

• Office hours are an opportunity for students to ask questions they feel uncomfortable asking in class. This is an opportunity to express confusion, to gain clarity about an assignment or concept.
• Office hours are a great time to determine why a student may be doing poorly on examinations by looking at the kinds of questions missed, the notes the student is taking in class, and the exam preparation.
• Office hours can be used to establish rapport with students.
• Office hours can give you feedback about areas where your students are having difficulty so you can make adjustments.

 

Where is your office space?

Office space for teaching assistants and graduate instructors is assigned by the department. Because there is often a space shortage, it is most common that you will share this space with other teaching assistants. Office assignments are typically made before the first day of class so you can include this information on your syllabi.

 

How many office hours should you hold? When should office hours be scheduled?

Check with your course instructor to determine the norm on the number of office hours you should hold for your particular assignment. As a general rule, a minimum would be two hours a week with the ability to make an appointment to see you at other times.

• Schedule office hours before or after class if you can. Students will often come early or stay late to ask you questions.
• Schedule office hours at times when students are likely to use them. Avoid 8am and Friday afternoons.

 

How do you encourage students to use your office hours?

• Always keep your office door open during office hours. Don’t make students guess about whether you are in your office.
• Keep your office hours. If you are not going to be able to be at an office hour, announce it in advance. If you are not able to do this in advance, always leave a note. It is very frustrating to students to come for office hours and not be able to find any sign of the instructor.
• Request that students visit you during your office hours. Write a comment on an exam or paper that encourages a student to discuss his/her progress with you during your office hours.

 

Class Rosters

Class rosters are printed four times during the semester. An advanced class roster is printed before the semester begins, one is printed after regular registration ends, another is printed on the last day of add/drop, and the final class roster is printed in the fifth week of the semester.

If you are listed as the instructor of record, you can access the electronic class roster. New teaching assistants or graduate instructors may not be listed in the system as the instructor of record because the department did not know who would be assigned to a particular section of a course. New faculty are more likely to be listed in this database because their assignments tend to change less.

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Library Reserve

There is traditional library print reserve and electronic library reserve. Instructors can place readings, old exams, and worksets on reserve for students to check out in library print reserve. The reserve desk is located on the first floor of Ellis library, adjacent to the circulation desk. Materials are generally checked out for a two hour period. You can place materials on reserve by filling out a reserve form at the library or completing an electronic reserve form. You can also place reserve materials on electronic reserve and your students access the materials with a password. If you want to place materials on electronic reserve, you must fill out a form to get an electronic reserve account. Additional information about accessing library reserve and filling out the necessary forms for library reserve can be found at: http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/accessservices/reserve.html

 

Course Packets

If you are teaching your own course or are expected to create some materials for your class, you may choose to put together a course pack. These are produced by Custom Publishing’s service at the University Bookstore (882-9587). They allow an instructor to design a textbook, lab manual, or reference material. You choose the material and they will seek the copyright compliance. The bookstore picks up and delivers the material. Because copyright permission must be secured for materials that are derived from other sources, you must give plenty of advance notice (the bookstore wants materials at least 2 months before class starts). You should also be aware that copyright fees are also frequently charged and these are passed on to students—increasing the costs of the course pack.

 

Classroom Policies

If you are teaching for a course instructor, you need to check to see what policies your course instructor would like you to follow. If you are asked to set your own policies, be sure to create a clear written policy in your syllabus for attendance, late assignments, and makeup work. You will want to give some thought to the balance you want to achieve between flexibility and the additional difficulties created in being too flexible (e.g., needing to create multiple versions of an exam if you give makeup exams to prevent cheating).

Addressing You: What do you want to be called by your students?

This is awkward for your students. They aren’t sure what to call you and they don’t want to offend you by being overly familiar or too formal. So you need to give them clear guidance about what you want to be called on the first day of class. This is up to you.

Advantages of having students address you by your first name:

• You appear accessible and friendly.
• First names are usually easier to remember than last names.
• It may make you feel more comfortable in an informal setting.

Advantages of having students address you by a title and your last name:

• It gives you authority and this may be particularly important when there is not much of an age difference between you and your students.
• It may establish a more formal setting for the classroom.
• Female teachers have fewer disciplinary problems when their students address them as Ms. _____________. (Teaching Resources Guide: http://irc.uci.edu/trg/18.html)

 

What should you wear when you teach?

There is no dress code in the college classroom but there are certainly rules of common sense. Sexually suggestive clothing should not be worn in the classroom. You can get a sense of the norms for acceptable dress in your department by observing what other more experienced teaching assistants are wearing on “teaching days.”

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Keeping Student Records

Why are student records important?

• Student records provide evidence of a student’s performance. This evidence may be required if a grade appeal or complaint is filed at a later time.
• Student records provide details that can be used to write a letter of recommendation.
• Student records provide verification of agreements between the instructor and the student for makeups, extensions, etc.

What are some kinds of student records you will keep in your class?

• Grades. Grades are the most obvious student record and these must be kept in a meticulous way. Gradebooks may be kept through any one of the following mechanisms:
• Excel spreadsheet
• Shareware programs (see a listing of some of these programs)
• WebCT or Blackboard online gradebooks
• Paper gradebooks (Some departments will provide you with a paper gradebook or they can be purchased at the bookstore)

 

Tips on Keeping a Gradebook

• Keep a backup copy of your latest gradebook in a safe place.
• Include the number of points for each assignment or the weighting assigned, the nature of the assignment (e.g., Ethics Paper) , any special notes you need to recall how an assignment was graded.
• Include the scale for final grades in the gradebook.
• Keep students informed frequently about their grades. You can do this by giving frequent assignments and giving them feedback often about how they are progressing in your course. One of the advantages of online gradebooks is that students can check their grades often if they want. If you choose to use another method of keeping a gradebook, you need to provide students with frequent updates of their cumulative grades so they will not be surprised as the end of the semester approaches.
• Attendance. Attendance can be managed through some electronic gradebook programs, roll books, and index cards.
• Participation. If you are grading participation, you need a way to record participation. Some instructors collect exercises that contribute toward a participation grade and others make notations of participation during class on index cards with dates and an assessment of the quality of the participation (+, -, or a check).
• Extensions/Makeups/Materials Borrowed. One of the best systems for managing these agreements are class information cards. Students fill out background information (name, address, phone, year, major) on an index card the first day of class. The back of this card is used to note any agreements made with the student regarding extensions on papers, make up exams, materials borrowed, etc. Some instructors have used large index cards to record attendance for each student in the class.

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Student Records and FERPA

The student records discussed in this section are confidential (grades, attendance, agreements for makeup work, etc.). What is FERPA? And what does this mean for you in relationship to your class?

FERPA is an acronym for Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. This is a “Federal law designed to protect the privacy of educational records, to establish the rights of students to inspect and review their educational records, and to provide guidelines for the correction of inaccurate and misleading data through informal and formal hearings.” Educational institutions may not release personally identifiable information or non-directory information about a student without that student’s written permission.

What is Directory Information?

Directory information would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released. At MU directory information is:

• Name
• Student Level
• Address
• Degrees and awards received
• Telephone listing
• Weight and height of members of athletic teams
• E-mail address
• Enrollment status in any past or present semester
• Dates of attendance at the university
• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
• Date and place of birth
• The most recent education agency or institution attended.
• Major field of study
  
  Reminder: If directory information has been restricted, then NO information will be released.

What is "Personally Identifiable Information?"

This is information that might invade privacy, cause harm or make the student's identity traceable if disclosed. That is:

• Name
• Name of parents or family members
• A personal identifier, i.e.: social security number or a student number.
• List of personal characteristics that would make a student’s identity traceable.
• Address (however it can be listed as directory information.)

What you must NOT release

• Social security number
• Student number
• Race/ethnicity/nationality
• Gender
• Grades
• Other personally identifiable information without written consent or when covered by an exception.
  

In terms of classroom management, this means that you must NOT:

• Post grades by student number or social security number
• Allow graded papers to be picked up so that students can access the grades of other students (e.g., outside your door, in a box in the main office)
• Discuss the grades of that student with a third party (except your supervisor) without the written permission of the student. This includes the parent of the student. If the parent wants to discuss the student’s grades with you, talk with your course instructor and follow the guidelines for securing written permission before having this conversation:
• Obtain a SIGNED WRITTEN RELEASE from the student.
• The written release should specify the records to be released.
• The written release should state the purpose of the disclosure.
• The written release should identify the party or class of parties to whom disclosure may be made.
• The written release must be signed and dated by the student.

 

Further information about FERPA can be obtained at:
http://registrar.missouri.edu/Policies_Rules_and_Regulations/ferpa.htm

 

What should you do if one of your students complains to your course instructor or the department chair?

First, this will not be the first complaint that the course instructor or your department chair has heard from a student. S/he will not be likely to jump to conclusions about what has happened but will talk with you to find out more about the situation before taking an appropriate action. If you are aware that a student is going to file a complaint, it is usually a good idea to let your course instructor (or department chair if there is not a course instructor) know about this complaint before it occurs. It helps this person to be better informed about the nature of the complaint.

 

References:

FAQ: Really practical stuff. Teaching resources guide.

Policies, rules, and regulations: FERPA. Registrar’s Office.

 

For Additional Information

Keeping students informed of their progress. Teaching resources guide.

Roberts, D. The importance of good records. Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning. Kansas State University.

Should I mark attendance?

 

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Contributed by Pam Benoit (Assistant Dean, Graduate School).