Thoughts on a new session

Tomorrow the first summer session starts at DACC. I will be teaching a couple of classes but I am only going to talk about one today. The class is Applied Calculus for Business and Management Sciences. As I get ready for any new semester or session I like to think about my overall semester goals. You would think they might be the same every semester but there always is some variation. This class will have 13 students and we meet four days a week for 5 weeks.

One of the students took Intermediate Algrbra from me in the fall. He's a nontraditional student, retired police officer, sits front row, and asks questions when he has them. Another student emailed and asked if she can bring her 10 year old to the first two classes as her childcare fell through. She planned ahead, I like that. I plan to remind my students, this session and all future semesters, that child care is not a reason to skip class. Generally if you ask first your professor will allow you to bring your kid unless school rules or material for that day prohibit their attendance. I've had to take my kids to class also, life happens. My daughter sat quietly and took notes, telling me later that she thought it was cool that she was learning the same stuff as my college students. My son won't stay quiet. He answers questions before my students have a chance. He doesn't come with me anymore.

Enough of the side stories, back to the main topic: goals for this class. My umbrella goal is to show these students that they are capable. That's it, simple right? Capable of what you might ask. Showing them that they are capable learners is more important to me than being mathematically capable. Hopefully by learning to be capable learners it will translate to being more than capable at math and many other subjects as well. None of these students are math or science majors, most do not even enjoy math. If I can help them to learn how to learn, the world is open.