XL for VXXX+

When I first met my students in September, I expected that no one would have a final mark below 80%—and I had two good reasons for my expectations:

1. My students are smart and hard-working.
2. While challenging, our course work is systematic and straightforward.

Alas, not every student has yet met my expectations. But with about 40 days left before the semester’s end, there’s certainly enough time for every student to improve significantly.
Of course, such improvement will require a plan; continuing as before is unlikely to yield different results.

Today, I encouraged students to form pods with their classmates—or with students in my other classes—and to formulate a Pod Action Plan for reaching VXXX+ in XL. With the help of their podmates; the online textbook; our class website, wiki, and discussion forum; telephonic and e-mail conversations with classmates; e-mail with me; and with a concentrated and sustained effort over the upcoming Christmas holidays, there’s every reason to believe that all of my students can meet my September expectations.