Visited by Three Ghosts!

Now that the semester has ended the time to reflect on my teaching comes to me whether I like it or not due to my inner desire to be the best teacher I can be, which is no doubt true of those of you reading the FELC blog. Since Christmas Day has come and gone a useful anaology on teaching comes to mind in the form of Dickens' A Christmas Carol because the ghost-like voices I hear in my head during this time of reflection are like the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future.

The voices of the past help and hurt me as a teacher. The voices of students past sustain my current teaching practices when former students contact me as alums in myriad ways to take the time to let me know that what I taught them helped them in their careers and in their lives (a bonus). One former student recently gave me feedback through Facebook about the book I use in my sales class by writing, "i can not tell you how much the "Platinum Rule" actually helped me when I was working my last sales job! one of the few textbooks from undergrad I am referencing..." One student told me that the successful management practices he uses today are those he learned in the management course he took from me.

Then there are those voices from the recent past known as "the last semester" that haunt me (and hurt me) as expressed in written form in the open-ended feedback section of the course evaluation that express sentiments such as: "You suck!", "This course sucked!", "I did not learn anything in your class!", and a personal favorite, "You should have never been given tenure!" These hateful sentiments hurt for two reasons. The first is that I try very hard to be a good teacher so those comments hurt. The second is that the hurtful sentiments are never accompanied with "because......" which would provide me with some constructive feedback to improve and not "suck so much" in the next class. I try to forget the hurtful comments, which is next to impossible, and soldier on believing that I am doing what I can to be the best teacher possible -- as I understand it in its present form.

The voices of students present are usually complaining in tone and intent and rise when they have made mistakes, that somehow turn out to be my fault, when telling me that: "The syllabus was not clear enough, The test was too hard, I did not understand the assignment, You did not clearly explain the assignment, I forgot the assignment was due, My boyfriend reset my alarm causing me to miss class, I assumed I could make it up, and on and on and on. No doubt those of you reading today's post have heard these same voices and many more. I often wish that students voices would be clarifying in nature and perhaps the complaining voices would diminish, and usually do for those students who ask, "The syllabus says..., could you explain that a bit more so I understand what you are asking me to do?, or "This is an example of a source I would reference in my paper, is that correct?"

All told, I think it is the voices of students present, whether complaining or clarifying, that make it most difficult to extract ways to improve my teaching because they are learning and not knowing machines so their limited understanding of the way I have designed my course to maximize their learning potential is lost on them as they are in the mode of completing this semester's list of classes in order to enroll in and complete the next batch with a singular focus of graduating on time -- whether they learned anything along the way or not, or so it seems!

The voices of students future are those I must ask for the next group of students that will enroll in the next set of classes I am called upon to teach. As in the Dickens' story, the future ghost shows Ebeneezer Scrooge scenes that may come true if his miserly ways persist, so I too must examine whether the courses I teach, and the way I teach them, will benefit students when they are alums. When it comes to the intro class I imagine them asking me, "How will this course help me pass the courses I will take as a sophomore?" or "Will I become more aware of the management jobs that will be available to me upon graduation in the hospitality industry?" Then there are those I ask before teaching the sales class, "How will taking this class help me be an effective salesperson someday selling for a full-service hotel?" or "How will this class help me manage the sales function as GM of a full-service hotel?" There are similar questions for other classes I teach as well. So far, the voices of students past fortunately suggest I am on the mark.

So I hope you all are visited by these same ghosts, too. They shape the courses I have been called upon to teach and the way I have taught them and lead to new teaching methods down the road. In doing so I hope I am better prepared to teach the next batch of aspiring hospitality professionals (who will change careers another 3 or 4 times after graduation) for the careers and courses that lie ahead in spite of that "look on their face" (you know the one) when I am attempting to teach them things, in ways foreign and novel, that will one day benefit them and our industry that have come from those helpful and hurful voices of students past, present, and future.