Teatime Tuesday

I've always meant to participate in Bravewriter's Poetry Teatime Tuesday, and we finally did it today. Tuesdays seem packed usually. The kids like to start working on homework from their co-op classes in the mornings, and then we have German and swimming in the afternoons.

But today we had an unexpected snow day, and everything was canceled. So, we had tea and cookies and poetry.

We read mostly snowy poetry, of course: "Stopping By Woods on a Snow Evening" because it always makes me choke up, every single time I read it. And we also read:
 "White Fields" by James Stephens
"Velvet Shoes" by Elinor Wylie (I love this one so much: "Let us walk in the white snow in a soundless space; with footsteps quiet and slow, at a tranquil pace, under veils of white lace.…")
February Twilight by Sara Teasdale
A Sledding Song by Norman Schlichter

We read some poems about birds because there is just nothing like a pair of red and green cardinals, a flock of blue jays, or a red-headed woodpecker against the snow:
"A Bird" by Emily Dickinson
"Be Like the Bird" by Victor Hugo
"Three Things to Remember" by William Blake
"The Chickadee" by Ralph Waldo Emerson
And one of my absolute favorite poems, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens.

XIII 

It was evening all afternoon. 
It was snowing 
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar-limbs.

And then we had to add in a few cat poems. Poor indoor kitty. She's been positively frantic all day, watching all the birds at the feeder. And so we read

"Poem (as the cat)" by William Carlos Williams

"The Bad Kittens" by Elizabeth Coatsworth

"Hearth" by Peggy Bacon

I'd love to have some more peaceful Tuesdays for poetry reading and tea. I'm envisioning this spot in the spring. But right now, it's a little too chilly out there.

Books Read in 2013

Are you looking for some good books to read this year? Below is my list of Top 10 books read in 2013 as well as the whole list. For most of them, you can click on the title to go to my review on my SmallWorld Reads blog. I was a big lazy last year, so a few go to Amazon. If you're looking for more books to read, be sure to check out my  Best of the Years posts from the past several years.

In 2013 I read and reviewed 38 books and probably read a dozen others (juvenile fiction read alouds to my youngest). I've been doing this for six years now. (See my other Best of the Years posts.) This is my "worst" year in reading in all those years. I was a slower reader. I didn't have any long car trips during which I read non-stop, and our vacation to Paris was so crammed with activities that reading was shoved aside. But there were some great books this year—and some really not so great ones, too.

Top 10 Books Read in 2013 (click for my reviews)

• And the Mountains Echoed (Khaled Hosseini)
• Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb (Melanie Benjamin)
• Dovekeepers (Alice Hoffman)
• Expecting Adam (Martha Beck)
• Ghost on Black Mountain (Ann Hite)
• Moonflower Vine (Jetta Carleton)
• Secret Keeper (Kate Morton)
• Snow Child (Eowyn Ivey)
• State of Wonder (Ann Patchett)
• Story of Beautiful Girl (Rachel Simon)
• Unbroken (Laura Hillenbrand) 

Favorite Book of the Year
Rachel Simon's Story of Beautiful Girl is going to take this year's #1 position, followed very closely by Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I just absolutely loved both of these, although the first is a novel and then second a nonfiction account of survival in World War II. I look forward to 2014 to find at least 10 books as fabulous as the ones in my list above!

Classics!
I read several classics this year—a huge bonus of being an English teacher. I don't count these on my Top 10 list because they are perpetually in my top 10.  Here are my beloved classics from this year:

• Breakfast at Tiffany's (Truman Capote) 
• Crucible, The (Arthur Miller)
• Cry, the Beloved Country (Alan Paton)
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson)
• The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
• The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka)
• Other Voices, Other Rooms (Truman Capote)
  Raisin in the Sun (Lorraine Hansberry)
• The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Brontë)
  To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

• I added only 19 books to my Ever-Growing TBR list (last year's total was 38), and I marked off 19. Wow!! For the first time ever, my TBR list will start the new year without having gained more. Somehow, I find that discouraging rather than encouraging, though. I'm not activity looking for books as much as usual.   I learned about books from posts on The Sunday Salon, Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books, from various internet sources, from personal recommendations, and especially from other book bloggers.

 • Below is the total list of books read, minus the juvenile fiction. Each link leads to a review or, rarely, to amazon.com if I didn't get a chance to review it. My star-ranking system is as follows: 5 stars--absolutely must read; 4 stars--highly recommended; 3 stars--enjoyable; 2 stars--ick; 1 star--no, no, no.

• And the Mountains Echoed (Khaled Hosseini)****
• Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb (Melanie Benjamin)****
• Autobiography of Us (Aria Sloss)***
• Bloom (Kelle Hampton)***
• Blue Shoe (Anne Lamott)****
• Breakfast at Tiffany's (Truman Capote)***
• City of Thieves (David Benioff)****
• Crucible, The (Arthur Miller)****
• Cry, the Beloved Country (Alan Paton)****
• Dovekeepers (Alice Hoffman)****
• Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)***
• Expecting Adam (Martha Beck)*****
• Funny in Farsi (Firoozeh Dumas) -- re-read
• Ghost on Black Mountain (Ann Hite)****
• Interred with Their Bones (Jennifer Carrell)*
• Keeper of Secrets (Julie Thomas)***
• Land More Kind Than Home (Wiley Cash)****
• Mad Girls in Love (Michael Lee West)**
• Magician's Assistant (Ann Patchett)****
• Moonflower Vine (Jetta Carleton)****
• Nectar in a Sieve (Kamala Markandaya)--re-read
• Noah's Compass (Anne Tyler)***
• Nowhere but Home (Liza Palmer)***
• Orphan Train (Christina Baker Kline)***
• Other Voices, Other Rooms (Truman Capote)***
• Raisin in the Sun (Lorraine Hansberry)****
• Secret Keeper (Kate Morton)****
• Shoemaker's Wife (Adriana Trigiani)****
• Silver Star (Jeannette Walls)***
• Snow Child (Eowyn Ivey)****
• State of Wonder (Ann Patchett)****
• Story of Beautiful Girl (Rachel Simon)*****
• Taste of Apple Seeds (Katharina Hagena)***
• Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Brontë)*****
• Thirteenth Tale (Diane Setterfield)***** (re-read)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) Multiple re-read
• Unbroken (Laura Hillenbrand)*****
• What Alice Forgot (Lianne Moriarty)****

Linked up with List It Tuesday

Weekly Wrap-up

The question is, why do we ever even attempt to start back the first week of January? Last week, which sensibly would be the start of our second semester, was a bust all around. Like basically everywhere in the U.S., we had ridiculously cold temps for Tennessee and lots of sickness. I am pretty sure Duncan watched 15-20 hours of Mythbusters, and we went through at least six boxes of Puffs. Ah well.

So, science (Mythbusters) and PE (skiing) basically made up our first week back. But then there was this week, when we got dressed and rejoined society. We started with movie night for my high school lit class on Saturday evening, watching The Good Earth. This is a 1930s movie and my students found it fairly amusing. I was actually surprised at how much it deviated from the book, which we had read back in November. I always enjoy movie nights with my students, regardless of the movie itself. They are a hoot.

Last week, while Duncan languished on the couch, Laurel finished the last part of her Stars and Stripes project for American Heritage Girls. For this part, she delivered the items she collected and/or that her troop members made for Newborns in Need of East Tennessee. Phew! It's been a long process. She did the majority of her project in September and October but then had to wait until January to actually deliver the items.

She and a few girls also spent a couple of hours preparing diapers and sleepers for packets that will be delivered to area newborns. Just that afternoon they prepared over 2500 diapers and sorted around 600 sleepers! All she has left to do now is write up her project and finish a few odds and ends on some badges, and she'll be ready for her Board of Review.

Skiing has been an absolute blast. Our first day was fun, especially for me since all my years of skiing came back to me immediately after not having skied for over 20 years; but the second session was really fun. Randy and the kids had their second lesson and were released onto the actual slopes. They all loved it! We only have two sessions left, but we're already planning a ski vacation for next year—or maybe even this year! As part of Laurel's skiing badge she actually has to plan a ski trip, so maybe she'll find some great deals for us in North Carolina.

This week was our first week back for high school co-op classes. Last week had been canceled because of the cold and possible snow. (Northerners, I live in East Tennessee. If you haven't heard, we close everything for a dusting of snow.) In my World Lit/geography class we are starting The Book Thief. We had a fantastic discussion on book burning and banned books and the Hitler Youth. I'm really looking forward to next week's discussion, after the kids have read the first three sections of the novel. It's hard for me to express how much I love these kids. I think I say this every year, but I am pretty sure this is my favorite class of high schoolers ever.

Laurel was already back in the swing of things last week, as she had assignments from all her co-op teachers during the canceled week. But Duncan and I were completely well and ready to get back this week. He did have his algebra class on Monday; otherwise, his middle-school co-op classes start back on January 27. We got back to his Sonlight world history program, and we've also done lots of language arts this week. He actually still needed to finish his journal and essay from my English prep class, which will continue this semester. Whoops.

We took advantage of a free day and joined a group of friends yesterday at Jump Jam, the new indoor trampoline park. The kids had a blast, and I enjoyed having a chance to chat with moms for an entire hour.

And so we return to the pattern of our lives. Jesse is back at Belmont University for his last semester. Laurel spoils her cat, and Duncan feeds mice to his snake.

Randy began his appointment as interim department head on January 2, and he's actually been enjoying this new position. I'm trying hard to concentrate on my "one word" for the year: deliberate. I am deliberately getting better at ironing shirts for him, since he actually has to wear real grown-up clothes now. And I'm deliberately attempting to blog more regularly, to get back into the swing of words. I'm nearly finished with my series What College Professors Wish Freshmen Knew. If you haven't yet, please read it or just bookmark it for when your kids are older. Really. Professors everywhere will thank you.

And that's the new year in SmallWorld. Feeling a little "blah" this January? Check out my post from many years ago, Combating the January Blahs for a little inspiration. Or just watch a few episodes of Mythbusters.

Linked up at the Weekly Wrap-up

What College Profs Wish Freshmen Knew: Study Skills

It seems so painfully obvious, doesn't it? But we all had friends who flunked out of college because they just didn't study for whatever reason: lack of study skills, inability to prioritize, choosing parties over studying, or the all-too-common "But I never had to study in high school!"

Homeschoolers often have a leg up on traditional schoolers with study skills. Hopefully, parents, you have cultivated independent work in your home, so that by the time your student is a junior, s/he is generally setting his or her own study schedule and working mostly on his or her own.

But leg up or not, all freshmen are faced with the same threat: the illusion of freedom. For the first time in many students' lives, they are presented with large blocks of unscheduled time: time to hang out with friends, take a nap, play video games.  Mom isn't there to say "do your homework" or "get off the Playstation!" It is sheer bliss—until that first paper is due.

All the faculty members in our panel discussion "What College Professors Wish Freshmen Knew  agree wholeheartedly: students must manage their time well in order to succeed in college. As Dr. O. said, "Plan your time, or the world will plan for you." At this time in a student's life, he emphasized, studying is your job, and you should put the same amount of time into your studies as one would put into a job—at least 40-50 hours/week. (Note: I can personally attest that I spent nowhere near 40 hours/week studying and did great in college, but Dr. O. graduated summa cum laude from Yale and knows better than I do!)

So how should a student study? Below are some key suggestions from our panel:

1. Set up a big-picture schedule. Use a planner and record all the due dates for exams, papers, etc. from your syllabi.
2. Set up a day-to-day schedule. Make a to-do list of all the tasks you need to do each day, including larger assignments that are due 8-10 weeks out. Dr. O. suggests that you plan for every half-hour that you are awake. If you don't have a plan laid out, you will lose valuable time trying to figure out what you should be doing.
3. Prioritize. Get the biggest tasks done first. Don't put off starting a major paper that's worth half your grade to do an assignment that's only worth a few points.
4. Plan your free time. Give yourself time to have fun, but make sure it is part of your schedule. Don't give up writing a paper so that you can hang out with friends. Make hanging out with friends a reward for finishing your to-do list.
5. Differentiate between "homework" and "studying": Doing the assigned questions at the end of a chapter is homework; studying is spending your own time going over notes from class, reading your assignment and taking notes, making flashcards, etc. When I was in college, I took notes by hand in class and then typed them out (yes, on a typewriter) back in my room in order to help with retention.
6. Learn how to study effectively. What works for one student doesn't work for another. Learn how you study best. Is it at the library, or in your room quietly, or with several other students? Do you study best with or without music? Hopefully, a student knows all these things before he goes to college, but if not, he should quickly ascertain his optimum studying environment.
7. Get rest. If you don't get everything done on your list at the end of the day, don't feel discouraged. Instead, get a great night's sleep and start again the next day.
8. Join (or start) a study group. Some of the most successful students are those that a part of a study group with other students in the class.
9. Look for Supplemental Instruction (SI). Dr. M. highly recommends SI, which he says is available at most universities. These are peer-assisted study sessions aimed at improving student retention, targeted at courses that have a reputation for being difficult (e.g., organic chemistry). SI provides regular review sessions outside of class in which students work collaboratively by discussing readings, comparing notes, and sharing ideas for improving class material.
10. Don't procrastinate. As much as we procrastinators hate to hear it, it's true: procrastination is painful, stressful, and, well, avoidable. Yes, we procrastinators may claim to do our best work because we wait until the last minute, but the truth is, our lives would be so much easier if we actually followed a strict to-do list. Really. Trust me. I've been there. I know what it's like to chip away daily on a major paper, taking notecards and organizing my thoughts; and I know what it's like to start a paper at 8 p.m. that is due at 8 a.m. And  my organized, well-prepared paper was always better.

Studying is a skill—it really is. Parents, help your high school student learn study skills, including notetaking skills. Here are some links with great ideas:

• Ways to Study (Dartmouth College Academic Skills Center)
• College Study Skills Mercer University)
• The Basics of Effective Learning (includes links to note taking and annotating)
• How to Study

This is #5 in the series "What College Profs Wish Freshmen Knew." See also:
#1: Write Well
#2: Read the Syllabus
#3. Be Responsible
#4. How to Interact with Professors
#6. Get Involved

Ski Day

I don't remember putting on skis for the first time. As long as I can remember, I had my own ice skates and my own cross-country and downhill skis and boots. I had every kind of winter outwear imaginable, from gators to balaklavas. But that was all a long, long time ago. And while you can never take the Northern out of a girl, you can't do much when there just isn't a whole lot of snow in the South. (Not, by the way, that I'd trade the glorious weather in Tennessee for that of upstate New York, except for maybe 1 month of pure winter.)

 But this year we decided to splurge and do four weeks of skiing at Ober Gatlinburg, our local downhill ski resort. (Cross-country skiing just does not exist here.) Jesse did this special package for homeschoolers for 3 or 4 years when he was in middle- and high-school; but Randy, Laurel, and Duncan had never been skiing.

The three of them started right off with beginner lessons, leaving me to face the slopes by myself. I was a pretty decent skier at one time, but it has been nearly 25 years since I last skied. I was a bit anxious, to say the least.

But it's true: it really is just like riding a bike. As soon as my boots clicked into the skis, I remembered. My body knew just what to do. I didn't fall off the chair lift, didn't crash into any other skiers, didn't even fall. I swooshed down to the bottom like I'd been doing this for all my life.

Lucky for my kids, two of their best friends also signed up for the program. They all had a great time; I'm hoping this will give them the skiing bug. I'm picturing a future trip to New Hampshire or Idaho, a cozy cabin week with roasting fires and thick, fluffy snow.



The snow was actually much nicer than I was expecting. There were no icy patches, and the view from the top? Fabulous. What's better than seeing the Smokies spread out all around you?

The boys wanted to go on the easy slope with me after their hour-long lesson on the bunny slope. They had a bit of a mishap coming off the chairlift but they did great actually skiing. Duncan did plow into me at one point, and we both took a tumble. But that's all a part of it!

The best part about skiing in Tennessee? The weather! We were actually sweating with our coats and gloves on. I can't even reconcile that do skiing in New York, when you're so cold you actually think you might have frostbite for real. We're looking forward to doing it again next weekend!

Linked up at Outdoor Wednesdays and Wordless Wednesday

The Days of In-Between

I love these days of in-between, the slice of quiet between the Christmas bustle and the coming buzz of New Year's guests. It's a quiet, gray, drizzly morning, but the Christmas tree in the corner and the fire make everything cozy, make one just want to linger. Forget the counters that need cleaned and the carpets that need vacuumed in anticipation of company. This morning is all about the in-between.

In the in-between time, the decorations stay up but the boxes and bags get carried away. Dinners are mostly leftovers, or in the case of a family with birthdays on the 25th and 26th, dinner out at the restaurant of one's choosing.

Duncan, who turned 13 on Christmas day, chose Flaherty's Irish Pub. He loves their fish and chips. The server spilled tartar sauce on Laurel's boots and gave us a free dessert. We brought our leftovers home to eat the next day, again avoiding having to cook an actual meal.

Dinner on another in-between day was funnel cakes and kettle corn at Dollywood. It was a chilly, sunny day, and thousands of other people thought it was the right day to get the last out of their season passes, too. I sat on benches and re-read The Book Thief while Randy and the kids waited in lines. It is strange to be in Nazi Germany one minute and then to look up and  watch passersby who are so happy they bounce and swing. I did ride the carousel and the bumper cars, and I thought about how much nicer it is to go to Dollywood with teenagers instead of toddlers.

We anchor ourselves, Randy and I, on these in-between days.

"Today," he announces, "is December 27, 2013."
"Is it Friday?" I ask.
"It is," he assures me. "I took the trash out this morning."

These days feel like luxury. We linger over breakfast together, reading random bits of internet news to each other. We put whipped cream in our coffee and justify having apple or pumpkin pie for breakfast.

We revel in having our oldest home in this in-between time, home not just from college but from a semester in Italy. He mostly hangs out with his friends but they check in a few times each day, playing a few video games with Duncan or coercing Laurel into a round of Just Dance. And they'll come for supper if it's something other than leftovers.

They came last night for fettucine alfredo and artichokes. We won these nifty butter warmers in a white elephant exchange. Someone's junk, our treasure.

In the in-between time I grow sluggish. Showering and putting on real clothes seems superfluous. What is there to do, really, but read and watch the birds at their new feeder? In between spells of utter laziness, I iron a few shirts, put away wrapping paper, water the crinkling poinsettias. I think about how this year, for the first time in 20 years, there are no new toys to pick up, no Legos to step upon at night. We are a house filled with teenagers and young adults. We are in between ourselves.

After a few days of in between, to be honest, I am ready for what's next. I love the anticipation of company, of good conversation and meals cooked together. I am ready to find a cute outfit and put on boots, wipe down the counters and vacuum the floors. Family and friends will be here tomorrow and for the rest of this week, and I'm ready. In less than a week we'll be hauling the tree to the curb and packing up ornaments; I'll be forcing myself into lesson-plan mode and thinking about what to cook for supper. But I'll be ready.

This in-between time is good for the soul, good for anchoring oneself and reveling in the beauty of simplicity, the luxury of unconstructed days. In between.

Christmas Books That Make Me Cry {Repost}

{A repost from 2009 that still holds true today.}

 

The mark of a good Christmas book, for me, is that it makes me cry. We have a good number of children's books for Christmas, and I try to add a new book each year. We have some of the essential ones like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, popular ones like The Polar Express and some silly but sentimental ones like Mercer Mayer's Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad, starring Little Critter. Some of the books we give the obligatory seasonal read and then put back on the rack.

But I have my favorites. These are the books that, without fail, make me cry at some point. My voice catches, a child's head pops up and looks at me and says, "Mama! Are you crying again?" I can't help it.


1. The Tale of the Three Trees (retold by Angela Elwell Hunt): This book ties it all together—Jesus' birth, life, and death—in a simple but eloquent story. I get choked up on almost every page.


2. The Story of Holly and Ivy (by Rumer Godden): This one takes us a couple of reading periods to get through, but it is so well worth it. This is the story of an orphan who wants a grandmother, a doll who wants a home, and a woman who wants a family. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.


3. The House Without a Christmas Tree (by Gail Rock): I loved this TV special when I was a kid, but I'm not sure I'd ever read the book until a few years ago when I picked it up at a yard sale. Now my daughter and I read this story annually of a girl who begs her father for a Christmas tree, and I always cry at the end.

4. A Wish for Wings That Work (by Berkeley Breathed): Is it weird to get weepy over a book about a penguin named Opus? I can't help it; there's something about Santa saying, "Ho, ho, ho, go!" to a penguin whose wings don't work that brings tears every time. Also, this was one of the books we bought for our oldest for his first Christmas, so it's extra sentimental.

5. The First Night (by B.G. Hennessy): This short book starts off with one of my favorite Bible verses: "And the World became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14) and proceeds to tell the birth of Christ in simple but poetic text. I especially love the rustic look of the paintings, done on butternut wood and shaped with a jigsaw. It's the simplicity of a birth—of a new life—that gets me every time.

And so those are my Top 5 favorite Christmas books. I have to add another one that takes awhile to read but is so well worth it: The Christmas Doll by Elvira Woodruff. This one isn't for the youngest readers, but 9 and up will love it.

Do you have one that makes you cry? If so, leave a comment and I'll check it out! Here are a few collected from comments:

The Silver Packages by Cynthia Rylant
The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston (I can't wait to check this one out!!)
Jotham's Journey (This one's been on my to-read list for years!)
Bagels from Benny by Aubrey Davis

What College Profs Wish Freshmen Knew: How to Interact with Professors

What do you want to be when you get to college? One of the masses—a nameless face among hundreds or thousands—or someone whom a professor can call by name, offer personalized guidance, and write a great recommendation for later?

Interacting with faculty is something that some students naturally do well, some students do poorly, some students avoid, and some just never consider. Making an initial good impression can have subtle benefits of which a student might not be aware. A student who interacts with the professor (e.g., by coming to office hours or asking questions) is more likely to be remembered. A professor might be more likely to respond to that student in depth rather than superficially and may be more likely to give him or her the benefit of the doubt (e.g., if a student misses class).

But more importantly, making a good impression with a professor can lead to a relationship that benefits the student's overall college (and post-college) success.

So how does a student interact with his or her professors? First, all four faculty members at our "What College Profs Wish Freshmen Knew"roundtable agreed: be respectful. Whether it's by email or in person, treat your professors the way you want to be treated. Never, ever convey a sense of entitlement. Remember that professors have lives outside of the classroom. Don't expect an instantaneous response when emailing a professor, especially after hours or on the weekend.

Our panelists gave more specific advice both inside and outside the classroom for positive interactions.

Interactions in the classroom

• Sit in the front of the classroom, never in the back. Not only are faces visible to the professor, but students can answer and ask questions easier when sitting in the front.

• Ask questions. Don’t feel “uncool” if you need to ask questions. Most professors prefer that you ask questions during class than after class, both for the benefit of the other students and because the professor has someplace else to go after class.

• Answer questions. Don’t be afraid to answer questions when a professor asks. If you know the answer, be bold enough to raise your hand and answer. It helps the flow of the class. Interactions with your professor helps you stay engaged and thus remember and understand more. (Dr. M. interjected here that students who constantly raise their hands shouldn't feel offended if a professor passes him or her over sometimes so that other students have a chance to answer.)

• Express interest in the subject of the class. Tell professors about articles you've read or experiences you've had that have to do with subject you’re learning. It helps the professors get to know you better, and may also help you in the future.

• Don't text, talk, fall asleep, walk in late, leave early, etc. Being rude will get you noticed—but not in a good way.

• Show respect. Address your professor as "Dr.," "Mr./Ms." unless he or she specifically asks you not to. Never address him or her by his/her first name unless s/he tells you to!  Also, be respectful of your professor's views and your fellow students' views. Don't assume everyone holds the same worldview as you do, and don't assume you are right and "they" are wrong. College is, after all, about expanding your mind, being challenged, and learning from others.

Interactions outside the classroom

• Respect—and take advantage of—their office hours. Meet with them during their office hours. Don't show up in the middle of the day and expect them to drop everything to meet with you. Office hours will always be posted on a professor's door and in the syllabus.

• Ask for help.  If you need help, go to office hours and don’t wait until it’s too late for help. Ask early in the semester for help. Be able to explain what you’re having difficulties with. Don’t just say “I don’t get it.” The more information that you can provide with what you don’t understand, the better your professors can help. Prepare your questions ahead of time of what you’re going to ask your prof.

• Join or create a study group. Some of the most successful students are the students that interact with each other.

• Communicate respectfully. Again, check the syllabus to see how your professor prefers to be contacted. Use correct grammar in email and texting correspondence and address your professor properly (see "Show respect" above). Do not begin your email with "Hey" or worse, "Hey, dude." (And yes, my husband has been addressed as such by students more than once.) Do not call your professors on the weekend or after business hours unless s/he has explicitly given you permission to do so. Also, sign your name at the bottom of your email! Professors don't necessarily know who belongs to what address.

All our panelists emphasized that forming a relationship—being known to and by—with professors is key to college success and also to success after college. Never be afraid of introducing yourself to faculty members. Don't be annoying, but never think of them as the enemy. They want you to succeed and to really learn from them and from your fellow students. College professors love what they are teaching! Think about it this way: most of them have spent at least 5-8 years in graduate school specializing in their subjects so that they can convey the material to you.

{This is #4 in the series: "What College Profs Wish Freshmen Knew." See also:
#1: Write Well.
#2. Read the Syllabus.
#3. Be Responsible.
#5. Study 
#6. Get Involved}

What College Profs Wish Freshmen Knew: Personal Responsibility

Parents will have said some version of it 532 times each week before a kid leaves for college: Take responsibility! Don't blame me that you overslept/forgot the test/ran out of gas/etc.! Prioritize! Don't make excuses!

Be responsible!

In high school, teachers/parents assume a lot of responsibility for students as far as keeping up with homework, knowing deadlines, getting kids where they need to be on time. Your student is probably not even be aware of the part you play behind the scenes.

But in college, it’s flipped. The professor is responsible for being there, grading material, and providing information. Everything else is up to the student: coming to class, turning things in on time, making up missed work, keeping up with assignments.

Dr. M., one of our faculty panelists in the "What College Profs Wish Freshmen Knew" roundtable, stressed that good time management is the key to being a responsible student. First of all, he said, use that syllabus, as discussed in a previous post in this series: "When you get your syllabus from class, open your planner, and write down your work schedule, write when things are due ahead of time, manage your time. Professors will not remind you when your assignment is due; it’s in the syllabus."

Dr. O. emphasized the need to "plan your time, or the world will plan for you." All the faculty members were passionate about not wasting time—about actually scheduling free time into your day so that the day isn't wasted with just one more game on an electronic device "to relax" or 15 more minutes on Facebook.

Some of their suggestions included:

• Plan your downtime. Rest and relaxation is important, but too much can turn into wasted time.
• Make to-do lists. Make them for each day, and make them for 10 weeks out.
• Prioritize what needs to be done and how much time each task will take. If you have to choose something that doesn't get done, choose that something that will come back to bite you the least.
• Distribute your time. Whether you are planning by 30 minute slots or by task, make sure you have a plan. If you don't have your plan laid out, you will lose 30 percent of your time trying to figure out what to do in the half-hour you have.
• Don't be discouraged. You probably won't have everything done at the end of the day. Remember that your list is your slave—you are not a slave to your list.

We'll discuss interaction with professors in another post, but it is of utmost importance to stress that personal responsibility and interaction with professors are intertwined. Students who show a lack of responsibility show a lack of respect and desire to learn. Students should be on time to class and should be organized and prepared. (As our Scoutmaster says, "If you're not 5 minutes early, you're late.") Students should be polite and not sullen, as if somehow they are doing a favor to the professor for being present. Students will have a much better chance at success if they act like respectful adults rather than entitled teenagers who "deserve" to be in college.

It is each student's responsibility to find out from the first day what each professor's expectations are, and respect those rules. (Again, read that syllabus to find out the rules.) Dr. M., for example, has a strict no-cell-phone policy. "In my classes," he explained, "if your cell phone goes off, you get kicked out. And you will get an automatic zero if it goes off during an exam." Saying "I didn't know!" shows a total lack of personal responsibility.

College isn't all about academics. It's also a time for personal growth and discovery, for social development and finding one's place in the world. But academics should be far and above the top priority. Students who repeatedly choose parties over papers and video games over textbooks might be in for a rude awakening at the end of the semester.

What these faculty members want you to know?
Be responsible. Manage your time. Set goals. Prioritize. Work really, really hard, and reward yourself with a little play.

This is #3 in the series: "What College Profs Wish Freshmen Knew." See also:
#1: Write Well.
#2. Read the Syllabus.
#4. How to Interact with Professors.
#5. Study.
#6. Get Involved

What College Profs Wish Freshmen Knew: Read That Syllabus

I have seen it happen again and again. I hand out a syllabus on the first day of class, and half the students fold it up and stick it in the pocket of their 3-ring binder. One or two leave it on the floor, and the rest dutifully open their prongs and insert the syllabus. A few of the students in the latter category will actually read it.

The syllabus isn't just a stack of papers that a professor is required to give students; the syllabus is a necessary tool—a road map for the class. Students who stick it in the back of a notebook and forget about it are driving without a GPS.

So what is inside a syllabus? Basically everything a student needs to know about the class.

Class expectations and objectives. This includes what knowledge and skills you are supposed to obtain throughout the class. The "what's this class about?" and "why am I here?" This is basically the thesis statement of the class. A good teacher will often remind students what the goal of the class is; but if you can do that on your own from the syllabus, you will be an excellent student.

Contact information for your professor. This includes where his or her office is located and a preferred method of contact.  Some prefer phone calls, others prefer e-mails.  Some have very specific guidelines (e.g. "put 'Biology 130' in the subject line" or something like that). We'll talk more in later posts about interaction with professors, but the syllabus is the place to find out the correct way to contact them.

When and where to go. There are often different rooms for the same class, particularly classes with labs, lectures, and/or discussion sections that are separate.

What textbooks and resources you will need to get. Many colleges are now having online systems that you have to buy. There may be multiple books (e.g., lecture + lab), other technology items (like clickers), and/or online homework licenses to purchase. This information will all be in the syllabus. Can you imagine how aggravating it is for a professor to hear repeatedly, "What books should I buy?"

A schedule, including assignments and due dates. Never assume that professors will remind you of when an assignment is due. It's in the syllabus, and students should be constantly checking for due dates. (We'll talk about time management in another post.) Students should not expect to get daily assignments, written on the whiteboard, at the end of every class. The syllabus contains the all-important schedule of assignments: what book chapters (or other materials) to read to prepare for each part of the class, what needs to be turned in when, and when exams will be. If a professor doesn't say, "Be sure to read Chapter 2 for next week," that doesn't mean you don't have to read it. Follow the schedule unless s/he specifically changes something in it!

Policies. Every college, department, and even professor may have different policies about attendance, academic dishonesty, technology (including cell phone and laptop use), and more. Don't assume that because you can use a laptop in one class that you can use it in another. Read the syllabus and find out your professor's policies. If s/he doesn't have specific ones, go by the college's.


Grading. It will give the percentages of what everything is worth—attendance, lab, tests, essays, participation, etc.— and how letter grades are calculated from point percentages. Students should be able to figure out their own grades based on this information.

Where to find resources for help. If a student in struggling or just needs extra assistance, the syllabus will indicate how to obtain educational and even personal, whether it is from the professor or another college source.

The syllabus answers the all-important questions: What does my professor expect from me? How do I go about doing it? and When is this due? 

With that in mind, no one should ever stick that syllabus in the back of a notebook. To do so could be detrimental to a student—and really aggravate a professor.

This is #2 in the series: "What College Profs Wish Freshmen Knew." See also:
#1: Write Well.
#3. Be Responsible
#4. How to Interact with Professors 
#5. Study 
#6. Get Involved