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College Survival
Developmental Math
Developmental Reading
Developmental Writing

College Survival Teaching Tips

1. Are You a Hero?

Purpose: This hero activity helps build individual self-esteem and encourages mentoring in all walks of life. Effective with any age group.
Supplies: Each student brings in a hand mirror, teacher provides 3 x 5 cards.
Directions: At the beginning of class, ask each student to observe themselves in the mirror for 30 seconds. As you time them, tell students to think about what they see. When time is up, pass out a 3 x 5 card to each participant that contains this statement:

I saw a ...
Each participant is then asked to fill in the blank. No hints are given. After everyone has finished, ask "how many of you wrote this?" and holds up a large sign that says HERO.

Next ask each participant to share his/her answer. Brainstorm on the front board what "hero" means. Write ideas on the board as they are given. Try to get 5-10 responses.

Then remark that "I find it odd that no one sees himself or herself as a HERO. Why is it that we don’t see ourselves as heroes?" Brainstorm the responses. (Responses may be like this...It would be bragging or our society does not recognize heroes anymore.)

Next present the idea that you are a hero and could see yourself as one. At the very end, pass out another 3 x 5 card and finish this line:

I am a hero because ...
Then have sharing time and listen to the responses from the participants.

Submitted by Sandy Veeder, Davenport College Career Center, MI

Developmental Math Teaching Tips

1. Homework: It's Everyone's Responsibility

Students enter the university accustomed to the highly structured atmosphere of the high school classroom. Homework is graded, quizzes or in-class assignments are common, and the material is broken into more easily manageable units. College mathematics courses do not offer such structure and place more responsibility on the students. While this responsibility is necessary for future success, many college students, especially those in developmental education, need assistance in fostering such independent responsibility. Homework is the cornerstone of mathematical achievement. Many math classes, while requiring homework, do not collect assignments. Students in these classrooms are expected to be responsible enough to do the work of their own volition. Many students, however, do not complete the necessary amount of homework. In an effort to bridge the gap between the structure of the high school classroom and the college classroom, I have experimented with various homework collection techniques.

Currently, I require homework notebooks. The notebooks are graded in class on exam days. Problems are not graded individually, but scores are earned according to the number of assigned problems attempted. The idea is to encourage students to do the necessary work by making the notebook checks a small percentage of their overall grade, thereby rewarding their responsibility.

This semester I am studying the effects of this method of homework collection against non-collection. The class averages on the first exam were consistently higher in the course where homework was collected. In addition to the high test averages, the students with the collected homework ask more questions in class, are more participatory, and collaborate with each other.

While the method of collection may vary, I highly suggest some type of homework collection as part of the overall grading system in developmental math classes. Homework collection appears to be one method for bridging the gap between the responsibility levels of high school and college classrooms.

Submitted by Gail Weems, University of Memphis, TN

2. Formatting Class Notes

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Instruct your students to draw a line about 2 inches from left edge of paper and a horizontal line perpendicular to the first at least 6 lines from the bottom. (See drawing.) This separates the class note page into three sections.

Section 1: This is the student's section and anything can be written here. Drawings, etc.
Section 2: For written notes only.
Section 3: After review (in class or at home) of first two sections, the student then writes down key points to remember in this section. This section greatly improves students' time management for further test review and preparation.

Submitted by Sharon Clark, Louisiana State University, Eunice, LA

Developmental Reading Teaching Tips

1. Basic Email Assignments

Purpose: Helps students develop confidence in composing and reading memos on their computers.
Supplies: Requires a campus e-mail network capability between teacher and student.
Directions: First, ask students to send you an e-mail message as explained in the campus e-mail instruction manual. Send a reply to the student and request that, after reading your message, the student type in a reply and send it back to you. Next, ask the students to write a message to any professor of their choice on campus, explaining to the professor that they are helping the student fulfill an assignment. The students will also ask that the professor write them a reply. This memo will then be forwarded on to you to complete their assignment.

2. Create Your Own Word

Purpose: to reinforce familiarity with Latin and Greek root words, prefixes and suffixes.
Supplies and Setup: Whiteboard and 5-6 markers. Students need to have a list of often-used Latin and Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes with their corresponding meanings.

Directions:

Ask them to create new words using the roots, prefixes, and suffixes provided.
Ask each group to choose their favorite two word creations to share with the class. These are written on the board.
Instructor selects (or class votes) best new words and awards extra credit or a prize of some sort.

Examples of past words created by my students:

Postbioporcelain: Life after using the bathroom
Materspectphobia: Fear of a mother's glasses

Submitted by Howard Graves, DeVry Institute of Technology, Columbus, OH

3. Personal Bio Poem

Purpose: A creative icebreaker that helps the students become better acquainted with each other.
Supplies and Setup: Handout that illustrates the following formula with a typed sample for students to model.
Directions: Ask your students to fill in the information below to create their own personal "bio poem":

Line 1: Name
Line 2: Four traits that describe you
Line 3: Sibling of_______ (or mother, father, husband, wife of)
Line 4: Lover of (3 items)
Line 5: Who needs (3 items)
Line 6: Who fears (3 items)
Line 7: Who would like to see (3 places, people, ideas, etc.)
Line 8: Last Name
Line 9: Resident of (street and city, state, etc.)

Submitted by Candace C. Taylor, Samson Community College, Clinton, NC

Developmental Writing Teaching Tips

1. Poetry Magnets

Purpose: To help students practice writing complete sentences and creating paragraphs from seed ideas.
Supplies: You will need Poetry Magnets. These can be purchased at a store, or you can create them yourself. Poetry Magnets are individual words on small magnetic strips that can be rearranged endlessly.
Directions: Give each student 8 magnets. Ask students to create a sentence, no matter how awkward, with word plates. Tell the students that even sentence fragments are acceptable. Give the students several more magnets. Students can then take turns completing each other’s sentences. Each student must pick one sentence and use it for the basis of a paragraph.

Submitted by Peter Artemis, Sawyer College, IN

2. Noteworthy New

Purpose: Helps students with the inventing stage of the writing process. This exercise stimulates ideas and helps increase students’ awareness of local and world events.
Supplies: Students need to bring in newspaper or magazine articles or direct quotes from television or radio news shows.
Directions: To stimulate discussion, to elevate comfort levels, and to create real-world awareness, I find that "Noteworthy News Items" works for any class. For the first ten minutes of class allow students to briefly present any current issue, event or idea. Other students may respond or present new items. Without fail, many members of the class are aghast to learn what is happening around the world. Consequently, many students decide to write about the subjects presented in class. This exercise helps students realize that there are many interesting subjects for their essays. Students come to love this part of class; they become addicted. Soon it becomes a contest to see who can present the most outrageous, humorous or political item. Also this exercise enlarges a student’s world view.

Submitted by Tim Florschuetz, Mesa Community College, AZ

3. Strengthening Sentence Power: The Sentence Makeover

Purpose: This exercise helps students discover how to turn a "C" sentence (adequate, but boring) into an "A" or "B" sentence (dynamite).
Supplies: Each student must bring his or her second draft of a paragraph or essay.
Directions: Ask each student to swap drafts with a partner. The partner becomes the reader and circles all nouns and verbs in the paragraph. She then adds a vivid adjective before each noun. Next she crosses out all "is, was, were" verbs and replaces them with action verbs accompanied by adverbs. To finish the exercise, the reader adds two transitional phrases. Students will be amazed at the power of the paragraph after the makeover. The makeover also serves as a community editing experience.

Submitted by Melanie Francis, Laramie County Community College, WY







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