Today is the start of the Winter quarter at DePaul, and after an extra-long break this year I have more energy than I did at the start of the Fall quarter in September. Being the start of a new calendar year as well as a new quarter, I find myself looking for ways to improve things, and a recent interaction with a colleague has shown me an area for growth.
A colleague emailed broadly about a workshop for a service role, and when I received the email I didn’t recall having volunteered for the activity. I emailed her asking about it, and her reply was a bit stinging. As it turns out, I had volunteered for the activity almost four years ago, and I’m sure from her perspective my not remembering having volunteered was bordering on incompetence. I thanked her for the information and signed up for the session, since you can always learn something new no matter how long you’ve been serving in a role.
In reflecting on the exchange I realized that I’ve had similar interactions with students many, many times. Students often email me asking for information that I believe they should remember, and I often feel that their not remembering is a poor reflection on them as a student. Having now been on the other side of a similar interaction makes me realize very clearly that they may have lots of reasons for the lack of memory, none of which have anything to do with their competence. So I resolve (since it is that time of year) to remove any hint of shaming in my responses to them. Providing them with the information is my job, and anything else isn’t likely to be helpful for them.
asettle
Technology education and me 