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>> Sandi Connelly: Okay, so as Andrew said, I'm Sandi Connelly.
I teach in college science.
I actually spend quite a bit of time in this room.
And I also teach over in the large lecture hall,
which I don't know if you've been in yet, in 1250,
which is on the other side of the building,
stadium seating sort of idea to it.
I teach roughly 360 students a quarter, so I empathize
with a lot - the no learning of the names sometimes.
So my kids make fun of me, and my staff that work
with me make fun of me, but everybody is sweetie, hon, dear,
love, whatever the case may be,
whatever endearing term comes out at the moment.
I don't know that my boss is real thrilled
about it sometimes.
He worries about lawsuits, things like that.
But the students have taken very well to it,
and they have written on their evaluations she is the only one
other than my mom that can call me love
and I don't get offended.
So we'll go with it.
So there are a couple of things following
up from Andrew before we kind of get into things.
The most shocking things to your students will actually be seeing
you in Wegmans. [laughter]
You don't eat, you don't sleep, you don't do anything other
than stand in front of them and make their lives fabulous.
Well, come on now.
We know better than that.
But, yes, seeing you in frozen foods at like 10 o'clock
at night is just a shock to their system.
So be prepared for that.
If they see you out at a restaurant that's even worse,
so be prepared for that.
And I am the advisor for the quittage [assumed spelling]
team, so, okay?
So you see that you guys are going to get involved in a lot.
You're going to get pulled in a lot of directions.
So the idea becomes how do you make your time
in the classroom valuable for the students,
valuable for you, okay?
And make it so that it's not a constant struggle, okay?
And for some of you're like, well, I'm going to go in
and I'm going to stand there and I'm going to be sage
on the stage and everything is going
to be perfect from day one.
Yes, sure, we'll be positive for a moment.
And when it isn't on day one, you need to kind of think
about how you're going to deal with that, okay?
We have a lot of things going on and, unfortunately,
my web is down so - but we have a lot of things going on.
Not only in the classroom, right?
We're thinking about all the technologies,
Andrew accesses technology from class -
I haven't quite gotten to that point yet.
First, because I'm not going to monitor 220 students at a time,
whether or not they're texting their mom about the fact
that they need money in their bank account,
I don't care, okay?
If you don't want to pay attention,
I'll see you at the exam.
But it's one of those things where you have
to decide what's going to work for you, okay?
What's going to work for your students, okay?
And how you're going to make sure that that interaction
between you and the students, they are really engaged.
The ones that are, you don't have to worry
about those students, right?
The ones that are sitting in the front row on the first day,
with the notepad out, the pen out, and you're like - no,
you don't have to worry about them, they're fine,
and they will continue to be fine.
It's the ones, you know, they don't have
to be in the back row.
We always associate the back row with the bad kids.
Lynn is in the back, she's not a bad kid, okay?
We always associate them with the bad kids.
No, no, no, no, no, okay?
It can be the kid in the second row
that from day one you know there's just something.
It's going to make you go home at night
and call your mom, okay?
So there's going to be something
that just really kind of throws you off.
And so how do you deal with these sorts of things?
And so we can think about the classroom kind of being
in this chaotic state.
Well, we'd prefer not, right?
It's an animal house in its entirety.
So we have to think about, though,
is the fact that it's also not 1950 anymore, right?
Right, okay?
They made an entire series of how to teach.
It sounds fantastic, right?
Until ...
>> The vast majority of behavior problems
in the classroom involve minor breaches of discipline.
These incidents frequently originate
in the classroom situation, itself,
and are within the control of the teacher.
Disciplinary problems in the classroom are symptoms
of underlying weaknesses in total learning situations.
>> Sandi Connelly: All right, now, first of all,
let's think about our learning situations.
Are some of us going to be in a classroom
where we really do kind of have our back to the board,
we're doing problems and things like that?
The days of, you know, shooting spitballs and things
like that are not necessarily gone, okay?
But the technologies really lend themselves to different types
of distractions, right?
And as you could kind of see
in the video it wasn't necessarily distracting
for the professor, right?
Who is it distracting more?
>> Students.
>> Sandi Connelly: All the other students, all right?
So that's really one of the things that I think we sort
of have to talk through is, first of all,
what is harmony going to be in your classroom, okay?
And the original title of this was something
like classroom management or something,
I forget what it was named, but I'm like,
oh, they're killing me.
So we had to poof it up a bit.
So how do we maintain this kind of harmony in your classroom?
Because what we have to think about is it is not going
to be the same day to day.
The first day of class they're excited, they're nervous,
they're anxious, they're all those things you guys texted
into Andrew's poll, okay?
The students are the same.
So how do we get past that to day two,
and then how do you get past that to in some cases, you know,
day 20, when they're tired,
different distractions are in place, right?
They have an exam and, of course,
after yours they don't care about your course,
they're studying for their next exam,
how do you get all this kind of balanced out?
And so when I say harmony I'm really thinking more along the
lines of from day to day how do we maintain this kind
of balance for our self?
So we'll talk about that a little bit.
We'll talk about why it's so hard to achieve, okay?
Why can't you just go in and stand up here
and say pay attention to me?
Well, you can, if you like long enrollments and bad evaluations,
that'll work really well for you.
But the problem becomes then developing that line of respect
that you guys have been talking about today,
and they will continue to talk about tomorrow
because you most certainly are in charge.
Don't let them think otherwise, okay?
But you also have to kind of be that give and take
because if you come in and go pay attention
to me right now, right?
That's when they may be staring at you,
but that's all they're doing, right?
Okay, so we've got to think about that a little bit.
Why is it so critical?
I just told you, and we'll come back to it,
but the biggest distractor is maybe not for you, although some
of it gets a little annoying, okay?
But what you'll find is you will start to tune
out a lot very quickly, all right?
So how do you get beyond that and really make it
so it's a good environment for your students?
I'll talk to you a little bit about what I do in my classes.
Like I said, I typically teach a very large class,
two of them a day, two very large sections,
but I've also taught the smaller seminar, conversational,
back and forth kind of classes with eight or 10 students.
So, of course, it's a very different dynamic
in those kind of scenarios.
I want to hear from you guys, okay?
We've had a lot of experience out there,
which is probably very intimidating to those of you
that have not taught before or only have TA experience here.
I always, when you put up those polls and when you see that half
of the room has been teaching longer than you even thought
about being a teacher, you're going, oh, crap, okay?
And so we were all there at one point, okay?
And then think a little bit
about what is anti-harmony, okay?
I don't want to necessarily call them the bad kids,
but you know who they are, okay?
Can we find them, can we figure out how to deal with them
in a particularly positive kind of situation, okay?
So, first of all, what is harmony?
Well, apparently I should have picked something other
than harmony in your classroom as the title
because I get tuneful sounds, simultaneous music notes,
a pleasing arrangement of parts.
Well, that's not so bad, right?
Okay, if we think about a pleasing arrangement of parts,
the parts don't necessarily have to be tangible items, right?
Okay, they could be more intellectual interaction
with a student, and that's all fabulous, okay?
But how do we get to that, okay?
So for what - for you,
what would be a perfect classroom kind of scenario?
Your chair is on here, it's okay.
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: A fair amount of discussion with the students.
>> Sandi Connelly: Good discussion.
>> [New Speaker]: One person talks at a time.
>> Sandi Connelly: One person talking at a time.
>> [New Speaker]: Everyone is engaged.
>> Sandi Connelly: Everyone is engaged.
How about the size of your classes?
Would you prefer the little intimate groups of 10?
Do you want the big classrooms
where you're the talking head down front?
>> [New Speaker]: No.
>> Sandi Connelly: What do you want?
>> [New Speaker]: Smaller.
>> Sandi Connelly: Smaller?
Well, I think - yes?
>> [New Speaker]: Yes, but not too small because-
>> Sandi Connelly: Okay.
>> Sandi Connelly: So now you're in a little room with a couple
of people, and you're like oh, God, they're all staring at me.
Okay, put me back in the big classroom,
I can do the talking head again.
Okay, so for you, I mean short of calling in Disney
and Pixar I mean this is not going
to be rainbows and singing birds all the time, right?
But you can get close, you can, okay?
And you can make it so when the students come
into your classroom they know they are
in a positive interactive learning environment
that feels good, okay?
They wake-up in the morning and they go, ah,
I get to go to Swanso's class today,
or they can wake-up in the morning and go, oh, God,
not that unorganized,
unstructured completely upheaval of a class.
They just won't go, right?
Okay, if they get to that point.
So what we have to think about is how do you maintain that kind
of level of harmony that you really envision, right?
Okay, so when we look at those kind
of harmony structures you guys want small, but not too small.
Engage, but not creepy, right?
Okay, and really kind of a good discussion going on.
Can you get that when there are 220 kids?
>> [New Speaker]: Yes, potentially you would.
>> Sandi Connelly: Potentially you could, right?
>> [New Speaker]: Yes.
>> Sandi Connelly: But what we have to think about and,
actually, it came up in Chronicle of Higher Ed a couple
of weeks ago, regardless of the size of your class, regardless,
five to seven students will make 75% to 95%
of the comments and answer questions.
I don't care if you have 10 students
or you have 210 students or 120 or 60 or 90, five to seven
of those students are going to be this, right?
You ask a question, you have not finished the question
and they're like, okay?
Okay, so how do you get beyond that,
but still maintain this level of structure that you want?
Suggestions?
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: I tried once, but it wasn't successful.
>> Sandi Connelly: Horror stories of the trenches, right?
>> [New Speaker]: And I had a few students who would come
into class that I actually gave them tickets.
>> Sandi Connelly: Excellent.
>> [New Speaker]: And I want everybody to turn
in one ticket every class.
>> Sandi Connelly: Okay.
>> [New Speaker]: And, of course,
the one student used her ticket and then was trying
to steal everybody else's tickets.
>> Sandi Connelly: Negotiating for gabbing rights, love it.
Okay, all right, so I never hear that, I'm worried that the folks
in the back of the room hear, okay, all right.
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: You just follow the people
and ask them.
>> Sandi Connelly: Perhaps you just call on people.
You break out that big old class list we have you print out,
and you go and you and you and you and you.
Possibility, and it works.
Why does it work?
Well, it works on multiple levels because they don't know
if they're going to get called on, right?
So they have to be prepared.
They don't know if they get called on and they're not there,
so this works on your participation end
of things, too.
Okay, what else?
Somebody else had their hand up.
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: Well, I do a variation on that where I give
out - actually, I pose along with my courses study questions
for the assigned reading.
>> Sandi Connelly: Okay.
>> [New Speaker]: So then, and then I tell the students
in advance you need to be prepared and I will call
on people because I'm interested in hearing from more people.
>> Sandi Connelly: Yes, so, and if you tell the students
from day one, this is getting back to Andrew's ideas
of what are you going to do on the first day class,
if you tell them from day one, hey, I'm going to randomly call
out names to answer questions throughout the course.
If you're not here this is what's going to happen, okay?
If you're here in a large class or not telling me you're here,
it's the same as not being here, right?
Okay, and it also takes away the stress of the people in the back
or the people in the middle or the people in front
that just don't want to put their hand up, right?
So you're getting more of this engagement that you guys want
without going you and you and you, right?
It's a very different sort of scenario,
a different way to go about things.
And you can maintain those levels throughout the entire
quarter in that kind of fashion, sure.
But why is it so hard to achieve?
These things are easy, right?
You bring in your class list, you go,
Joe, answer the question?
Okay, Joe.
Well, Joe is not here, so Susie answer the question.
Okay, so how do you get - or you tell them, you know,
you're going to have discussion questions.
You've got to be able to come in and be ready to discuss this.
So why is harmony such a kind of a bad word anymore?
Because we don't know how to get to it.
Why? What's going on that this is blah, okay?
What's going on for you that makes this hard?
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: People are shy.
>> [New Speaker]: Well, you just ...
>> [New Speaker]: People are shy.
>> Sandi Connelly: People are shy, yes.
They don't want to - there's no volunteer.
No, okay.
>> [New Speaker]: Some of the students are leading
like one student wants to talk all the time.
>> Sandi Connelly: Yes, we'll talk about some stories
from the trenches of the, oh, please call on me.
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: I was just going to say you want it
to feel natural, and a lot of times you have to force it
or draw it out of people.
>> Sandi Connelly: Right, right.
All right, now - yes, go ahead?
>> [New Speaker]: There's time constraints.
>> Sandi Connelly: Time constraints, right?
Most of you are probably teaching 50-minute classes.
You have no idea how fast 50 minutes goes, right?
At first, it will feel like you're looking at the clock
like every five minutes,
and then the next class you could talk for hours, right?
Yes, you had one?
>> [New Speaker]: I was going to say a lot of moving parts
within the timing chain, so you can't ...
>> Sandi Connelly: Yes, there's lots of moving parts.
You come in the lights aren't working right.
You come in the AC is not on.
You come in and your computer is crashed out.
All kinds of things, right?
And that's all right.
You don't have to worry about that.
Well, you get through that.
But what else is going on for you?
We said you're not the sage on the stage anymore, right?
>> [New Speaker]: When you're trying to interact with a lot
of people who are in completely different states then you've got
- you might have somebody who is having a great day,
they're ready to learn, you might have somebody
whose mother just died.
>> Sandi Connelly: So you're interacting with - yes,
so you're interacting with a lot of different types
of students, different levels.
Some of them are really excited to be there.
Some of them just stub their toe on the way in.
Somebody has a bad dog you have to deal with.
Somebody has problems at home you have to deal with.
Somebody's financial aid isn't coming through.
All these things, right?
Well, you have all the same problems right?
>> [New Speaker]: Uh-huh.
>> Sandi Connelly: Back to the whole idea
that Andrew was getting at with you, you have to be a person
and it's okay to be a person to an extent, okay?
So on the first day of class, as Andrew was saying,
I tell them about me, okay?
I have a series of slides
because every year I do a survey question on my courses,
which is great if you don't know the survey feature
on my courses stop by and see me or ask the wonderful people
at 2551 and they will help you out.
But the idea is I tell them
to send me a question, any question.
I tell them I prefer it's not about the class,
but they can ask me anything they want.
Some of them I won't answer.
I've gotten some risky questions over the years.
And we discuss in class why I'm not answering some of them,
but others, you know, where'd you grow up?
What was your favorite pet?
All these sorts of things.
And you just answer - I answer a few of those at the beginning
of every class, and they go, ah,
this is kind of like me, you know?
They have the same sorts of issues, the same sorts
of distractions, okay?
My family has gone through a lot of stuff this summer
with my dad being in cancer treatment, and I'll tell my kids
about it because they need to know, okay?
Because when we get to that topic in class I'm likely
to bring my Kleenex, and I'll tell them that, okay?
But you have to get that kind of dynamic going that it's okay
for you to maintain a kind of level of harmony and understand
that it's going to be different from day to day, okay?
The other thing is with some of our staff support, okay,
we get assigned interpreters particularly for our courses,
but there'll be some courses you teach where depending
on the timing you may have a different interpreter every day
that you teach.
So now you've got to deal with that different blend,
so you've got to keep this whole kind
of positive environment going,
but it's all going to be up to you.
You are going to have to decide what are you going to deal with?
Are you going to deal with texting?
Are you going to deal with a student that lays
around talking on the phone, okay?
Are you going to deal with the students that are signing
to one another and not about class for 25 minutes?
All right, what are you going to do about the person that eats
and gets things everywhere?
What are you going to do
about the person that's typing very, very loudly?
What are you going to do?
What are your limits, okay?
And if you maintain those limits throughout you get an
environment in which everybody is excited to be there, okay?
And why is it so critical?
First, you have to maintain some level of sanity, okay?
You may feel sane now or you may feel insane now,
which is the bigger problem, okay?
But come about week five, six it's okay to have a breakdown,
and even before that if you need to, it's all right.
Okay, stop by, we'll get coffee,
and then we can break down together.
I need one after day one.
So the idea becomes maintaining an environment
that you are excited to go to, right?
If you aren't excited to be in class or your students,
so we have to find a way to kind of make that work for you.
This whole idea if you get what you pay for.
I actually had a student write
on an evaluation last year I don't pay good money to come
to your class and listen to so
and so ask questions all the time.
>> [New Speaker]: Oh, wow.
>> Sandi Connelly: Okay-dokey.
And I could have predicted that this student's name would end
up on other students' evaluations that year,
but still the idea is how do you deal with those kinds of things?
But in the end what I think is most important is this positive
learning environment, okay?
It's a buzz word, everybody is using it now,
we want to gauge learning,
we want a positive learning environment that - okay,
no one tells you how to get there, right?
And, unfortunately, I can't shake the magic eight ball
and tell you how to get there either.
This is something that you have to kind of build for yourselves.
And for those of you that have been teaching
for a while know that.
You know you try something
and it doesn't work, and you're like oops.
And you'll tell everybody, all your colleagues,
this did not work, okay?
Ax it, move on, okay?
But the idea is creating that positive environment,
and it doesn't matter what course you teach.
I don't care if you're teaching the sciences and COLA
and performing arts, it does not matter, okay?
It's getting to that place where learning becomes easy
because the environment in which we're working
and really you are working with the students, right?
So that environment in which you are working has to be gentle,
positive yet direct, right?
Because they're there for a purpose.
You are getting paid to teach them a particular thing,
all right?
Whether or not they learn it, that's a different story, okay?
But the idea of keeping kind
of this positive environment then makes the learning
of the more difficult materials easier.
If they don't have to worry about -
if you have already pre-established your guidelines
for what the classroom environment is going to be
and you stick to it, that's the bigger thing.
You can stand-up here on day one and go we're going
to do this, this, this, and this.
And then on day three you throw that all out the door.
Well, if you're going to throw it all
out the door you'd better stand back up here again
and go we're going to now do this, this, this,
and this because this, this, this didn't work
in this class for these reasons.
And be honest with them, okay?
We were talking about whether or not you admit to them
that it's your first time teaching.
That is totally up to you, as we've talked about,
but it's amazing how supportive they can be in an environment
that is changing not only for you, but for them, right?
And learning materials becomes a much more integrated sort
of approach.
So my student in row two, and I don't mean to pick on Ken,
I just sat with him at lunch today, but I had a student
that sat in that seat.
And forever I will hate that seat,
and the reason is it's magic,
this student every time I gave them - I teach biology,
general biology to typically freshmen but all course levels
because it's a non bio majors class,
so I get everybody - business majors, art majors,
everybody comes through my doors.
So every time I said something, a definition,
asked them a question,
asked them about a process, the answer was?
>> [New Speaker]: It's magic.
>> Sandi Connelly: It's magic.
There is nothing - on the first couple of days you go, oh,
isn't that cute, isn't he adorable?
And it only took me about until the end of class on day two
when I wanted to strangle him.
And, unfortunately, what about all the people around him?
Hey, Tim. It was cute.
They giggled the first couple of days, and then they, too,
wanted to strangle him.
So what do you do?
>> [New Speaker]: Pull the student aside privately,
you know, catch him after class and ...
>> Sandi Connelly: So what I did ...
>> [New Speaker]: ...
why do they want to say that answer all the time and try
to explain why that's inappropriate.
>> Sandi Connelly: What else?
And pulled aside, strangle him in class, whatever?
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: Redirect your question
for specific students rather than them.
>> Sandi Connelly: Okay, so what we were talking about earlier.
You can say, Joe, answer this question.
Susie, answer this question.
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: Tell him the reason he's getting an F is
because it's magic.
[ Applause ]
>> Sandi Connelly: Fantastic,
I wish I would have thought of that one.
So I did pull him aside.
I asked him to stay after class.
And he told me the reason that he answers that way is
because he's nervous from a disability.
>> [New Speaker]: He's socially awkward.
>> Sandi Connelly: What do I do?
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: I'd try and make it like something humorous
in class where I would actually like address it before he even
like answered and like you're right, it's magic, okay,
let's move on, you know?
>> Sandi Connelly: Okay, so kind of cut him off at the pass?
>> [New Speaker]: Yes.
>> Sandi Connelly: Okay.
>> [New Speaker]: Well, there are resources on campus,
like the counseling center, so you might want to coordinate
with them a plan for dealing with the issue.
>> Sandi Connelly: That's right.
I mean so you get there are tons of resources,
and I'll give you a list kind of at the end here,
and Ann has a list of resources for I think tomorrow, too,
for dealing with more of these kind
of odd situations in the classroom.
But what you have to think
about is you can't let it frazzle you, right?
Because if you snap at a student it's not the end of your job,
they won't take your job away, right?
Not usually so, but how is that for everybody else in the class?
>> [New Speaker]: Well it creates an ausperous event.
>> Sandi Connelly: Yes,
so all that time you spent making harmony
and happiness just went, phew.
And it could be on the last day of class,
and they could leave with that, okay?
Now, in all honesty, did I snap at a student?
Okay, so he was with me 30 weeks, he was with me all year.
>> [New Speaker]: Oh, no.
>> Sandi Connelly: I talked with him after almost every class.
I talked with the counseling service.
I asked him to sit in another seat so that maybe, you know,
he'd be less anxious, I don't know,
but it went on for 30 weeks.
And in week 29 I will flat out admit I snapped at him in class,
and the whole class went, oh, and then they applauded.
And then I had a student write on an evaluation
that I berated a student in class.
>> [New Speaker]: Oh.
>> Sandi Connelly: And what do you think -
which evaluation do you think my Chair read?
>> [New Speaker]: Yes.
>> Sandi Connelly: Uh-huh,
but it was okay.
Okay? This is why everybody was talking - and a couple
of people were talking about POWs at lunch today,
they're not prisoners of war,
they feel like it but they're not.
Your plan is to work for the next year,
and your annual review.
And you get a chance to go in
and defend these negative things that you get.
You will get negative comments.
It's okay.
If it means that you are maintaining a level of respect
in your classroom they will be outweighed
by the good ones, I promise.
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: I'm just thinking,
I'm sort of a problem solver ...
>> Sandi Connelly: Uh-huh.
>> [New Speaker]: ...
so when I hear that story I thought could disability
services assign someone to him?
Maybe he could have written down his answers
and they could have read it for you?
Or ...
>> Sandi Connelly: So we tried that.
We gave him a buddy.
>> [New Speaker]: Okay.
>> Sandi Connelly: His buddy turned
out to be worse than he was.
So it just was one of these - and I tell you that not
because I got myself in trouble, part of it,
but in the long run it's going to be - you're going
to have these situations that you are kicking yourself
because you don't know what to do about it, okay?
And that's just the way it goes.
So what do you do?
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: But after 29 weeks of dealing with it,
really, I mean you were punished for one slip of the tongue?
>> Sandi Connelly: Well, because on the evaluation all it says
was Dr. Connelly berated a student,
and it made me feel uncomfortable.
That's all this was.
Now that was after having 150 evaluations that said nothing
but glowing things, but that'll be the one that they pick out.
So I'm not telling you to frighten you, okay?
But I'm telling you will have a leg to stand on these sorts
of things, and your Chair, if you have an open relationship
with your Chair then, well,
extend your harmony circle outside your classroom.
They're going to support you on these things too, okay?
And it never went beyond the written thing on my evaluation.
It could have, sure.
It depends, the student could have told his parents
and everything could have snowballed, blah, blah, blah.
It didn't, but I've developed a relationship with my Chair
and my Associate Chair and other faculty in my department
that if it would have gone beyond
that I knew I had support, okay?
And that's what I encourage you guys to do a lot of.
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: You seem to be talking also largely about kind
of your relationship with that student,
but what about you said the other students
around were annoyed by listening,
I can see where that would be really obnoxious ...
>> Sandi Connelly: Oh, yes.
>> [New Speaker]: ...
to the entire learning environment.
How do you deal with the rest of the students?
I'm sure weren't some of them coming
to you saying what is going on?
>> Sandi Connelly: Oh, yes.
>> [New Speaker]: How do you keep the class going?
>> Sandi Connelly: So I've seen some of you looking
around the classroom, there's some really obnoxious people
in the room at the moment.
Is there anything that's been bothering any of you about any
of the students, quote, unquote?
Yes, dear?
>> [New Speaker]: Yes,
I was ready to strangle my neighbor till I figured it out.
>> Sandi Connelly: And why were you going
to strangle your neighbor, my dear?
>> [New Speaker]: It's so distracting.
>> Sandi Connelly: What's she done?
>> [New Speaker]: Laptop, texting, her phones whistling
even drinking really loudly.
>> Sandi Connelly: She does that all the time, by the way.
Okay, so ...
>> [New Speaker]: All things a student normally would do.
It actually wasn't - it was really interesting for me
because I've seen students in my classes ...
>> Sandi Connelly: Sitting on that side of people.
>> [New Speaker]: doing some of these things, and now I realize
what it's like to sit by someone.
>> Sandi Connelly: Anything else?
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: When she ran out, I said that was so rude.
>> Sandi Connelly: Fantastic.
>> [New Speaker]: How can we expect our students
to have a certain attitude when we're doing the same thing.
>> Sandi Connelly: And you guys are actually one
of the better groups I've seen.
I looked around while I was sitting over here,
while Andrew was talking,
and most of you have been very attentive.
I'm quite impressed, okay? But what else? Yeah?
>> [New Speaker]: I didn't realize that these two were
part of a plan.
>> Sandi Connelly: What's up with these two?
>> [New Speaker]: Signing.
>> Sandi Connelly: Signing?
>> Sandi Connelly: Yeah, it's distracting for you?
>> [New Speaker]: Yes. I came in late and sort
of kind of pushed in and ...
>> Sandi Connelly: Oh, they came in during Andrew's and kind
of shoved their way in, right?
>> [New Speaker]: Right, right, yes.
>> Sandi Connelly: Yes, so this whole deal, and what I'm trying
to show you guys is I mean I have kind of had it centered
in little groups today, obviously,
but this could be going
on throughout your entire classroom.
So here it was kind of obnoxious for the few people over here,
that were sitting behind my signers.
You guys over here may not have noticed them, at all, right?
You're focused up here or you find yourself kind of gazing
at the interpreter trying to learn signs.
Excellent, excellent.
Okay, looking at the PowerPoint slide.
When Shelly ran out of the room more people turned -
most of the people in the room went -
and when her phone rang everybody was like -
and then when she comes back
in across here I saw you all watch her going.
And these rooms that have these double doors,
like this, you'll have that.
Especially the first week or so until the students realize
that this door comes in at the screen, and they come in
and they're like, oh - and then instead
of just moving they stand there, like waiting
for you to say come on, okay?
So those sorts of things happen a lot, and we see these kind
of things all the time.
But, like I said, oop - you need to kind of know your limits,
what are you going to put up with?
Are you going to put up with students coming in late?
If you're not, tell them on day one, okay?
Or if you say, you know, this is a 50-minute class,
if you're going to come in five minutes late please do
so very quietly.
In a room, like this, you can say please make sure you use the
side doors, okay?
So that you're not bothering all the students around you.
Now when that door opens will everyone turn and look?
Sure, okay?
It's going to be a distraction regardless.
Can you minimize it?
Yes, if you set that up from the start, certainly, okay?
It's a positive classroom environment make sure
that you're thinking about that.
Think about, like Andrew said, are you going
to allow technology in the room.
Do you care if they have their cell phones?
Obviously, we don't think they'll actually answer them.
Small, one other additional story,
I had a girl two years ago,
her boyfriend always called halfway through my class.
And she had her phone out, and she would, you know,
do that hee, hee, silence, I think.I 'm like.
It took about a week for me to go up
and when it rang I answered it.
And I said hello.
And it turned out to not be her boyfriend
that time, but her mother.
>> [New Speaker]: Oh.
>> Sandi Connelly: And she says, oh, who is this?
Are you one of her friends?
I said, no, I'm her instructor and we're in the middle
of class at the moment.
Oh, well, I've been looking forward to meeting you.
Sweetheart, you know, we're in class.
She's going to need to get back to you.
And after that when the phones ring, they knew, okay?
So there are things like that
that you can have a lot of fun with, right?
But you were asking me earlier about what do you do,
what are these students that are surrounding this distraction do?
I actually empower my students because I can't deal
with 220 students in a room eating chips,
typing on their laptop.
And at this point I'm not willing to cut
out the technology entirely because, for me like I said,
you will learn to block things out.
I don't even hear it, okay?
They're signing, I totally ignore it.
It becomes one of these.
I need to focus on the students that are with me,
and with these guys, I'm sorry,
I love them to death, but I don't care.
If they're going to do their thing they're going
to do their thing, okay?
So I empower my students, I tell them from day one if someone
around you is distracting you, smack them, just haul off,
give them a warning, please stop that, you're bothering me.
And then just hold-off and hit them.
Eventually, it will probably end up with a lawsuit over this,
but for now it is working really well
because there will always be students
that will not listen to me.
I can tell them every single day till I'm blue in the face,
shut up, nicely, but shut up.
But as soon as the students around them go, dude, really,
it's a whole different thing.
So that's up to you, okay?
And kind of your personality, whether you're not -
and I've seen students hit other students,
so this is kind of fun.
But so what we end up with is kind
of this much more lighthearted, positive, engaging environment
because they're willing to take responsibility
about their own learning, okay?
So I wanted to give you, you guys already did all this -
I wanted to give you kind of this list for a moment,
and then I want to hear whatever you guys have questions about.
First of all, if you have magic boy, okay, I typically talk
to my colleagues most about it, blah, blah, blah, blah,
but you can go on record at the onsbud's office, okay?
They're still in the student center I think,
the student union, okay?
Lovely people, go in there and say, you know,
I really just need to talk about this student in my class.
You've gone on record that the student is a distraction
in your class.
The nice thing about this is you're not tattle-tailing, okay?
The nice thing is if they get multiple reports
about the same student they can help intervene,
they can get the student the help that they need.
What's going on, is there something at home,
is there a bigger problem that we're missing, okay?
If it's a disruptive behavior, but not threatening,
make sure you go on record with your Chair.
Say, hey - and I even stop him in the hall and say, hey,
magic boy issues again.
And they kind of giggle about it with you and say, okay,
what are we going to do, do you want to go any further?
Just so they have a heads-up
in case magic boy's parents call them, okay?
They've got a heads-up about what's going on.
If it's a disruptive behavior and maybe threatening,
but you're not sure, see your Dean, okay?
Get everybody onboard with you,
get that support group we were talking about,
get the harmony beyond your classroom
and pull it all together for you.
If it's a threatening behavior of any kind, talk to no one,
call public safety, okay?
Not only is it a threatening behavior potentially towards you
but it may become a threatening behavior, of course,
towards the other students.
And it can be minor things, you know,
the joking around in this day
and age isn't well received anymore, right?
Okay, the whole idea of going postal has really become front
and center in academics, right?
So we want this idea of threatening behavior is really
to be taken seriously, and our IT does take it very,
very seriously.
If any of you have heard about the umbrella scare of 2012?
You have not heard of the 2012 umbrella scare?
>> [New Speaker]: No.
>> Sandi Connelly: Oh, stop by and see us, we'll tell you
about it, the kids have T-shirts.
So we take it very, very seriously,
and that's a good thing for you, we want you to be safe,
we want the students to be safe and so on.
So welcome to our IT, try to be on time,
don't be the missing T in our IT, okay?
You're teaching together.
Enjoy yourself.
Go to Tidal Walk [assumed spelling] next week,
it's fabulous, on Thursday.
Get all this - it just is the energy that you need
to really kick into gear, to get you excited about Monday.
For those of you that are already excited,
it can always go up another notch, okay?
So it's a great time.
The students are fabulous.
If you need to find me I am actually just in this building,
up on the first floor, okay?
You'll learn that the A's are ground floor,
and they're first floor, you know, RIT special.
So, well, some questions, concerns?
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: So I worked in a high school last year,
and if there were an emergency I had
like a panic button the wall.
How do you need to - how do we contact public safety
if there's a threatening emergency situation?
>> Sandi Connelly: 2222.
For all of the rooms, all of the rooms, the phones,
and you don't have to say anything, okay?
Make sure I'm not doing something bad here -
and there are phones in the hallways on every floor,
so the idea is you can pick-up this phone, you don't have
to say anything, they will send somebody immediately
to your location.
>> [New Speaker]: Okay.
>> Sandi Connelly: So that's a nice thing.
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: Will a text work to public safety, 2222?
>> Sandi Connelly: You can't text 2222,
but they do have a text line now.
Usually the first week of class public safety sends
out a very nice e-mail with all these sorts of things in it
about how to get a hold of them.
If you don't feel comfortable walking to your car at night,
if you're here late for a class, they'll come and take you,
those sorts of things.
They'll send out a really nice e-mail for you.
>> [New Speaker]: They're on the signs, too, in every room.
>> Sandi Connelly: Oh, and the signs - yes,
there are these emergency kind of signs, what to do in case
of emergency, on every door in the classrooms.
>> [New Speaker]: It's 3333.
>> Sandi Connelly: For the texting?
>> [New Speaker]: For emergency.
I thought it was worth correcting, just ...
>> Sandi Connelly: They always told me to dial 2222.
>> [New Speaker]: Emergency is 4752, 3333.
>> Sandi Connelly: 3333?
>> [New Speaker]: Yes, so I would say
on this one it might be 5
and then four 3's, that's [laughter].
>> Sandi Connelly: Okay.
>> [New Speaker]: Give it a whirl.
>> [New Speaker]: Yes.
>> Sandi Connelly: And on here it just says 333.
>> [New Speaker]: Okay.
>> [New Speaker]: Look into that ...
>> Sandi Connelly: We'll figure it out by tomorrow and give you
the real number for public safety [laughter].
Anything else? Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: I'm curious,
what would threatening behavior be?
>> Sandi Connelly: So what would a threatening behavior be?
You could have a student that comes in and just seems very -
a threatening behavior doesn't have to be towards you, okay?
You don't have to have a student come in and say I'm going
to kill you, that one you might to pick-up the phone and call.
But it certainly doesn't have to be that blatant, okay?
I've had a - there was a student a couple of years ago.
Once you're here long enough you get all the fun stories.
I had a student that used to follow me in my car every night.
>> [New Speaker]: What?
>> Sandi Connelly: It wasn't magic boy, it was another one,
but it was just this kind of creepy, weird.
And I actually did call public safety and said, you know,
it's not that he's ever approached me, he's never talked
to me, he just seems to always be outside my office
when I'm leaving.
And at first it was - he would just kind
of follow behind me, all the way out.
And after I talked to public safety they said
that they had had a report of him having an incident
with another woman on campus, as well.
And so I stopped one night when he was following me, and I said,
hey, did you ask me a question about class?
And he went, ah, no.
And I said, well, you know, I'm walking out to my car,
feel free to ask me questions if you want to.
And then he disappeared for about a week,
and then he came back a week later
and he had questions for me.
So this threatening behavior that I perceived turned
out to be nothing other than the shy student that didn't know how
to ask questions, okay?
And didn't have the social skills that we would expect
of an 18 year old, but it could be something much more serious,
too, right?
Students that come into the room and act very anxious, okay?
Just seem very not themselves, okay?
Would be something that I would either -
if it seems to be escalating where they're kind
of being very strong words with the other students or something
like that I would - I wouldn't hesitate to call public safety.
It is better to have them come by,
and sometimes all it is the student is having a really,
really bad day, but if it's enough to put the other students
in the room on edge I would consider it a threat.
Whether it's a physical threat,
emotional threat, it does not matter.
Joel, did you have something?
>> Joel: Oh, no, I was just going to say
about the videotaping and then watching you
at night that got you in ...
>> Sandi Connelly: Oh, yes, we're not going to talk
about the videotaping, that's another story.
Posted on Facebook, yes.
>> [New Speaker]: Okay,
so you allow your students to use laptops?
>> Sandi Connelly: Uh-huh.
>> [New Speaker]: Well, what do you do
when it becomes a distraction for other students,
so it's one thing for that student to be totally disengaged
but that person is on ESPN.com and everyone ...
>> Sandi Connelly: Well, I told him one day one no ***, okay?
Just flat out, okay?
Not during class.
And then I tell them that, you know,
I had two students my first year
that watched snowboarding videos my entire lecture all long.
But if I asked them a question they knew exactly what I was
talking about.
So for them they needed that kind of difference,
a kind of a distraction from the norm.
But what I did was I had them sit over to the side
so that they didn't bother the students around them.
Now I have had students say, hey, the music video,
can you turn it off, it's really too distracting, ESPN,
can you stop updating your Facebook page?
And that's what I said, for me,
empowering the students is more important because I don't know
when the laptops are like this I don't know what you're doing,
right?
So allowing the other students - and I tell the students
if there's a distracting behavior and you don't want
to smack the student, which I don't know you wouldn't take -
but if you don't want to, see me after class,
let me know it's a problem, and we'll shut it down.
Yes?
>> [New Speaker]: You say that at the beginning of class
or do you say that several times throughout the course?
>> Sandi Connelly: Usually it's about once a week.
Students don't have very good memories.
And because - and, as you've seen, all of us are kind of ...
>> [New Speaker]: I mean like just to clarify right
at the beginning of class, you just remind them?
>> Sandi Connelly: Yes, yes.
I'll say, hey, today's going to be a laptop free day
because they're just getting to be too much.
And they put them away for the day,
and then I don't say anything about it the next class
and a couple of them will get them out,
but then they eventually figure out what Andrew said,
when the laptop is open you don't work.
Even if you tell me you're taking notes,
this is now passive, okay?
And I encourage you to talk to your students about that idea.
Can they type and carry on a conversation?
Most of us can, and you type exactly what you wanted to type
in the e-mail, you hit send, and you're still carrying
on a conversation with somebody else.
If you really want to engage in that active learning concept,
this - the writing is the way to go. Yeah?
>> [New Speaker]: I had a question,
have you ever asked a student to leave the classroom?
>> Sandi Connelly: Oh, yes, most certainly.
I had a couple right back there, where the lady
in the pink shirt is and the plaid shirt beside her,
they were making out. [laughter]
You're so engaging, it wasn't even reproduction week,
but they were, you know?
So I walked up and I said, you know,
it looks like you're having a good time,
but the couches outside are much more comfortable, and they left.
Yes, so it happens, and it does have to be that extreme.
I shut down people for talking.
They just won't - they just - this is, and they think
that signing is distracting or someone is distracting
with their - now, this two girls or two guys,
they're like - got out.
And I usually give them a warning.
It's typically just a glare.
I will stop, and they just - and the students
around them are going shut up.
And it really kind of corrects itself usually.
But feel free, if they have gotten to the point where -
know your limits, right?
So if it's gotten to your threshold,
you're pushing your rev limiter, out they go.
It's not fair to you, it's not fair to everybody else.
And they can't - I mean they can go complain
to your Chair, if you want.
And I would tell my Chair after class and say, hey, I kicked so
and so out today because they just sucked.
And, you know, then you've got support. Yeah?
>> [New Speaker]: If someone falls asleep during the class?
>> Sandi Connelly: Oh, if they're down here sleeping?
>> [New Speaker]: Yes?
I mean distraction, at least a snore?
>> Sandi Connelly:If the snoring is the distraction
typically, yes.
I actually had a very good student that often slept
in the seat, and she still ended up with A's
and I was really was disappointed in myself that way.
But she was just a good student.
And you will find that the students - we think we're busy,
and then we look
at the students' schedules, and it's just insane.
So unless it becomes a distraction, they're snoring,
they're falling out of their seat,
they're injuring themselves, something like that,
I typically don't mess around with them too much.
I may go over and stand beside them and talk louder,
but if it's bothering the other students then I'd talk to them
after class and say, hey, if you're that tired stay home
and sleep because you need the sleep more than you need --
I will hang around for a little bit
if anyone wants to talk to me afterwards,
I'm happy to do so, or come find me.
I'm easy to find.
Thanks, guys.
[ Applause ]