Dr. Hill’s “Take Care of Me” List (2018)

Happy Friends,

I was super inspired by Mrs. Ott’s idea to create a “Take Care of Me” list. Since it’s the beginning of the semester, I thought creating a list like this would help our class by allowing us all to learn a little more about each other and to keep things running smoothly. So here is my list of seven (7) ways my students can show they care about me as their teacher, my class, and their learning.  

  1. Allow me to be unique. Ultimately, I want to make your learning experience memorable so that when you are 80 years old you’ll still remember your quirky teacher, Dr. Hill, and all that you learned in the process with me. I need you to know that being different isn’t a crime. I’m not a cookie-cutter kind of teacher and please don’t expect me to be. How would you like it your teachers expected you to be exactly like another student? Terrible…right? In college, you will have professors from all walks of life that may run their classrooms very differently from you have experienced in a traditional high school class. For example, in my classroom, I may meow or change my accent to a Jamaican one to get your attention. So please do not be alarmed when I do the unexpected. 🙂
  2. Take accountability for your actions. Making mistakes is part of growing up and being human. Mistakes are not the end of the world. However, your willingness to accept and take responsibility for your actions without blaming others shows me a great deal about your maturity and character. If you mess up an assignment or do less than your best, I hope that you are willing to own up to your mistake, be truthful with your parents, and learn from it so that you do not repeat it in the future. 
  3. Worry about your learning instead of the grade. Please do not ask me how you can raise your grade. It really hurts when students focus on their score but do not take the time to read and use the commentary that took me days and possibly weeks to craft just for them. While I recognize that grades serve a particular purpose and can be very important, I prefer my students to focus on growth and becoming the best readers and writers possible in my course. A few ways in which students can do this is by reading the course materials in a timely fashion, asking keen (observant) questions, reading directions carefully, slowing down to focus on the details, following instructor recommendations/critiques, and working on drafts early. If done consistently, students will not only improve their learning but raise their grades in my class. 
  4. Bring your best to the table. Excellence is doing the best you can with what you have at the time. While I do not expect perfection, I do expect my students to perform their best each day. Every day, work to be better than you were the day before.
  5. Slow down and focus on the details. I want my students to do their best and that requires paying attention to even the most minute details. Often students struggle in my class because they do not take time to focus on the details and follow specific directions.
  6. Keep an open mind. In this class, we’ll read a variety of authors and grapple with divergent ideas. Please be willing to think outside the box and see each reading/assignment from many perspectives, not just your own.
  7. Trust that I’m here to help you. My goal is to help students become stronger, but I need them to trust that I will help get them where they need to be. I want to build strong, competitive students that can manage any collegiate environment and that requires pushing my students harder than most. However, I do not expect my students to follow blindly nor do I want them to assume that my class is an obstacle that they need to overcome. I know what it is like to be a first-generation college student and I want you all to do better than I did. 

Now it’s your turn! Please write me a list of things I need to do in order to take care of you, as your teacher. How can I be the best teacher to you? Tell me everything you can think of and be as specific as possible.

Here are some basic requirements:

  1. Your “Take Care of Me” list must be a full page typed.
  2. Each item on your list must have a well-written 3-5 sentence explanation after it so that I can clearly understand what you mean.
  3. Grammar and spell check your post thoroughly before submission.
  4. Please make your post visually appealing by adding appropriate illustrations/photos.
  5. Feel free  to add other fun facts/information to your post.
  6. Post your list on your Edublog site by 8:00 am on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. TAG your post “care.”