What I want my students to know

Here's what's most important: I have a motto of sorts, which I try to live by and which I would like you to try to observe, at least in our classroom. It is short and simple.

Be where you are and do what you're doing.

Of course, simple and easy are not the same thing and this isn't the easiest principle to live by, but it works for me. I've rarely found myself in a stressful situation that could not be improved by my asking myself. "Where am I and what am I doing?"

So in math class, what that means is be present. Don't be doing other stuff or thinking about your other classes or obligations. Do math class when you're in math class. It will simplify your life and reduce your stress.

Never doubt that I'm on your side. Your job is to learn, and my job is to motivate you and help you. I might push you and prod you and test you, but my only purpose is to help you learn and grow.

I cherish the time I get to spend with you. I truly love my job, and classroom time is pretty much my favorite time of day. I do not enjoy making up or grading tests any more than you like taking them, but it's part of my toolkit to push you along.

A classroom is a two-way interaction, at least my classroom is. The more your participate, the more you buy into what we're trying to do, the better your experience and that of your classmates will be. Don't worry about sounding dumb, you won't. And don't worry about embarrassing or upsetting me, you won't. I will try to answer every question I'm asked in every class.

Because the interaction is essential to the success of the class, nobody is allowed to comment on what any student says except me. This is simply a matter of showing respect to a peer. No insults, no sarcasm, and no praise either. You never know if you've hurt someone's feelings until you've done it, and you can't ever unsay it.

I will try to not waste your time, either in class or with too much homework. I will be completely honest with you about the practical application (or lack thereof) of the particular work we are doing at any time. So you have to trust my judgement about the wisdom of working with material that may not seem valuable or interesting.

I need you to be honest with me and with yourself. Don't try to tell either one of us that you're busting your butt when you're not. It isn't really that hard to tell; I'm pretty observant. And along those lines, I promise I will try to always listen to you and be fully present when I do so. I expect the same from you, both with me and, more importantly, with your peers.

Students think this is kind of funny, but I'm not really a math person. I'm teaching math because I like to teach and math is something that makes sense to me. And math is a useful thing in the world; life is better if you can do some math. But I spend very little time aside from class and class prep thinking about math.

Finally, try to have fun. There's no such thing as boring material. The material is what it is, the boring part comes from how you approach it. Don't expect everything to be awesome. There are lots of great things that inspire absolutely no awe whatsoever. You just have to look carefully and think about what you're doing.

(I may edit or amend this, because I'm writing a parallel thing for parents and I want them to be complementary).