- Teach a semester's worth of information in 6 weeks
- Inspire students with a semester's worth of thoughts in 6 weeks
- Prepare ourselves for the upcoming semester
And the list goes on.
The question is, what do students want to accomplish and how can we help them?
In my experience, students taking Summer classes are trying to accomplish one of two things.
1) They are going to be seniors in the Fall and need a certain amount of credits to graduate at the end of the upcoming academic year.
2) They have been dreading a certain class and hope that it will be easier if they take it over 6 weeks instead of 16 weeks.
Is it easier though? Not likely. And herein lies the problem.
What students don't realize is that Summer classes are quite condensed but the requirements are the same. This leads to an intensive 6 weeks, during which they must work harder than they might work during a regular semester. Instead, many of my students approach the class as if the rules and requirements are more lax because it's hot outside. How can we combat this misinformation? By teaching.
Let your students know from the start that this is an intensive class. Keep them for the entire class time, even if you are hot and tired and you just want to lay on your couch in the air conditioning watching the Olympics and drinking cold water. Hold actual office hours. Offer extra help. Offer helpful feedback. Think only of your students during class time, not conference proposals or academic papers or any of the other tasks you meant to accomplish during the Summer. Simply, treat your Summer classes like any other class.
So, as your Summer classes wind down, remember that many of these students expect a certain grade and may need that grade for a certain reason (for instance, they need to get into a specific program), so their complaints after entering your final grades may be plentiful. Be patient. Remember what it felt like to flounder for a B when you really got a C. And most importantly, give it your all.
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