Hi Omid,

 

I really appreciate your response. It has made me think of different aspects of what I do behind teaching Math, my message, and how well I convey this message. This week I learned that many of my students say that I'm "sweet" but tough. I am surprised by such comments. I know I am very kind when addressing my students in and out of class, but I am also very unbending with my class rules. 

 

Something you mentioned in your email is what I can do on my first day of class to create an atmosphere of trust. I realized that I stopped doing something special on the first day like I used to. I don't want to create excuses for myself, but two things have happened in the last few years. One of them is the rigid schedule we have been put on in our lower level courses. We have a calendar that everyone is on, and we must follow!! Perhaps, it is time to revise this type of activity for the first day of class and replace it with soft skill activities. The other is that as time has passed, I have become more worried about students being exposed to the math from day one and I have neglected being more human.

 

I know that the first day of the term is the most important day. It sets a tone. Everybody is excited. Everybody has the highest expectations and goals on this day. I definitely want to devise a good plan for such a day for all my classes!

 

I am going to be traveling through Spain with my family for six weeks, and I will be back for Summer B. I would like to have literature that you recommend to me. This will be a great time for me to reflect and prepare for my next few classes. Also, I can start talking with some of my colleagues and sharing some of these ideas.

 

I also wanted to comment to you that two of my students who attended the focus group had great things to say about it. Also, we had our LC wrap up meeting on Friday and Ryan shared some of the anecdotes related to that activity in more detail. We are all very invested in developing  a good plan to implement culture of Growth Mindset in our community of students, staff, and faculty.

 

I thank you so much for being so selfless in sharing your expertise with us.

 

Maria (Santa Fe College)