Dear Steudey

For those who actively frequent my blog, I am happy to take requests! I call it "Dear Steudey." For this week's Dear Steudey, I have a set of blog questions from a colleague...

Michael, 

1. How to deal with that one student who never "gets it" when the rest of the class does. These sort of disparities between classes can be problematic because you want to make sure the student understands, but if you slow down too much, you risk alienating the other students.  

2. That e-mail exchange we had earlier about the student who lost her mind and started swearing at the prof would work as a blog.  

3. Un-pack the cell phone policy you have a little more. Some folks have a hands off approach--I don't really care--and others crack down hard. Which is best? Why? 

4. A student asks for help but can't meet during office hours (or keeps flaking on you when there are scheduled appointments). Is there ever a tipping point when you just stop reaching out to a student?  

5. How do you handle that one group member who is slacking without telling him that his group members threw him under the bus? 

Yours,Haranguing in Hyattsville

Well, Haranguing, I'll address each of your concerns point by point. You definitely raise a lot of important issues for those of us getting the hang of managing a class of newcomers.


1) The student who doesn't get it. Ah, yes. The one who is never quite in on the joke. We have all been there--we explain it, it's brilliant, lots of students chime in with great comments that follow it up. My rule of thumb here is this: if it's going to cost you too much momentum, it's not worth it. A classroom is like a shark: If it stops swimming, it dies. So, follow up with the student right at the end of class. Say: "Hey, make a note of this and see me right at the end so we can clear this up. I want to make sure you understand it, but I've got a lot to cover here." 

2) The student who becomes violent or extremely disruptive during class. This stems from an earlier discussion we had over Facebook chat. This is the absolute worst-case scenario for an educator: the student who is so over-the-top defiant and out-of-line that we do not know how to respond. Some high school teachers deal with situations like this on a regular basis, but it's so unusual for a college classroom that when it does happen, a great many of us would absolutely freeze in uncertainty. I do think it's useful and important to think about how you'd respond in the absolute worst-case scenario, so I'll share my comments from that blog exchange here.

First, the video clip in question. Again, absolute worst-case scenario here. I have never heard of anyone experiencing anything even close to this before. That said, there it is on video, so on some level this (or at least a less extreme version of this) is certainly possible. I share this not to be alarmist, but because it cannot hurt us to deal with the uncomfortable and extremely slight possibility that something like this could happen to us at some point in our teaching careers.

My thoughts on what to do--and not to do--in this situation (and there are certainly no answers here that are exactly right; this is based on my experience dealing with such circumstances in the secondary setting):

1. Calmly but firmly demand that the student leave the room; if they initially resist this, calmly but firmly demand that they stand outside and calm down for a later discussion.
2. If the student refuses to leave: Calmly but firmly demand the other students to leave the room. The situation exacerbates dramatically because of the presence of other students filming, reacting, etc. In a situation like this with a volatile student you want to keep the others away from them--mainly for safety purposes. You might instruct the students to go get help from a nearby instructor. Fortunately, just about all of us have lots of other instructors in adjacent classrooms as we teach who could immediately call for help.
3. At the same time, the last thing you want is for you to be alone with the volatile student. So, move to be near the door of the classroom. Stand half in the door and half outside the door and call for help--have another student and/or nearby instructor phone campus police. Again, maintain calm in the situation. Do not yell back or attempt to argue with the student.
4. Have a number on speed dial for an emergency situation--campus police preferably--and keep the cell phone nearby. If the student won't stop berating you long enough to make the call yourself, hand off the phone to another student who can make the call from the hallway. Add the off-campus phone number for the University Police here.
5. Obviously, these situations are rare in higher ed; I have never heard of anything like this happening at UMD. The advent of cell phone videos obviously helps the instructor in terms of proving the offense was unprovoked and openly hostile later. But if it does happen, and your adrenaline inevitably takes over, the two phrases that need to flash inside your head in gigantic neon letters are: KEEP EVERYONE SAFE and GET CAMPUS POLICE IMMEDIATELY. Even if you can't deal with it with total finesse, those two guiding principles should be your guide.

3) Keeping students from being cell phone dependent. This one's obviously tricky. So much of it depends on your style. There are a few things I do here that have helped me alleviate this problem (though not 100%; I am still working on this sometimes):

1. Be brave. A simple admonition to put away the cell phone can be sufficiently embarrassing to most students. 
2. Be context-dependent. Sometimes it's not a big deal; sometimes it's a huge deal. When you tell students to put the phone up, frame it in terms of the context: "It is disrespectful to text during a classmate's presentation." "This is a quiz--you cannot have an electronic device out right now." This can help take some of the awkwardness of confrontation out of the situation. It's not you who is not getting on them. It's just that they're failing to meet the requirements of this particular circumstance.
3. Be schizophrenic. You can be perfectly bubbly, cheerful, and enthusiastic one minute, briefly transmorgify yourself into a fire-breathing dragon, and then immediately turn back. Early in the semester I tell students that I generally will seem like a cuddly polar bear; but that if they get on my bad side, they will see what a "bear" I can become. This is to illustrate that I have two personalities: one that's enthusiastic about the content of the course and eager to help them; but another who expects a tremendous amount of them.

4) The student who keeps missing appointments. I'd, at a certain point, simply issue that student an ultimatum: "If you can't make it to the next appointment, I am under no obligation to help you further. All I can do is make myself available." At a certain point it is incumbent on them to be responsible; this is college. That said, 

5) Coming down on the slacker without having to come down on the group. Great question--not sure if it's possible. One solution I can think of would involve giving students a short period in class for participating in group work. That would give you an opportunity to see and call out a student who's staring into space or not participating in-the-moment. If the group has been complaining about the student, that gives you an opportunity to catch the student "in the act" of being lazy or difficult, thus absolving the group of culpability. 

Alternately, I may just let these intra-group disputes remain intra-group disputes. When the group members complain, ask if they've talked to the student and how they've approached them. If they have not done it, or have done it in a particularly ineffective way, you can redirect. Then remind them that there are six points of credit their classmate will receive based on their feedback--so there is a built-in accountability system that they can (and should) hold over that student's head if they need a "stick" to get them to work.

Well, COMMrades, that's all for this week. Let me know in the comments or via email if you have any thoughts, questions, comments, or other recommendations for what's here. And if you have any further questions related to teaching communication to undergrads, please send them my way! I am happy to cover topics as they arise.

Michael