Last contact with students

I gave the final to my students today. It was an 8am final, which undoubtedly leads to 10% of the class failing to show up on time. Two students were at least 30 minutes late. One of them fell alseep while studying last night and woke up late. I can commiserate. I once fell asleep studying for a test. Oh, this is almost too painful to relate. My roommate came in at 3am and asked me what I was doing. I rose from my prone position on the couch and proclaimed that I was studying. Lucky for me she woke me up, or I might have slept through my test, too.

I'm really going to miss my students. I got home today and a fit of moroseness fell upon me (occasionally, I experience emotions without knowing why). After some time, I figured out that I must be responding to the fact that I'll no longer have weekly contact with my students. No more of the same faces every other day. Four of my students came to my office over the course of the day (I specifically invited students to come see me if they wanted to know their grade). I so enjoy meeting with them face-to-face. And now...no more. But, one of my students said she'll email me, and let me know what she's up to next. She's graduating and moving on to a cool job.

One of my students worked really hard for an A, but fell just short of it. I told her I would round it up to an A anyways. She was overjoyed. Those are the things in life that feel so good. She said that she had a 79.4% in another class, but the instructor refused to round it up. I think that is just wrong, and only serves to reinforce the power differential that these students experience every day when they have to deal with professors. I'm not going to be a pushover, but I will be reasonable, and I intend to reinforce students who take an active role in their learning and their grades (as opposed to those who are just complaining about their grades).

I had another student come in after the previous test. She was upset because she kept getting 58% on her tests and since she was hoping to graduate, she didn't want to fail this course. So I went over the test with her and dialogued with her about each question she got wrong, making an effort to get her to defend her choices. Then she asked for study tips and I described a two-pronged approach to studying for my class: (1) study the definitions and the terms (giving yourself an hour between studying and questioning because so many students question themselves right after studying, but the information is still fresh in their mind. After waiting an hour, they'll have a better idea of what they know), and (2) apply the concepts to new scenarios, determine how the research examples illustrate the concepts, and generate new examples, especially make it personal.

The end result? She told me she studied how I told her and she got a B!! I can't believe she went from three Fs in a row to a B on the final! I congratulated her over email and she responded back thanking me and saying she felt proud of herself. I was so proud of her, too. She was so concerned with passing, and she did, but she attained a whole lot more. I believe her success really bolstered her self-concept and made her realize that there's nothing wrong with her, because once she had the right tools, she excelled.

That is another one of the beauties in teaching that just can't be surpassed. The interaction with my students this semester has really changed me. I'll certainly miss them....