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I love new ideas.
If I’m learning something and gaining a new perspective, I’m unjustifiably happy. The following websites/blogs and books are what you can find me reading in my home office before I start work for the day. If you like education, learning, and living simply- enjoy!
(Non-fiction and memoirs are pretty much it for me, but there are some others scattered in below.)
Websites/Blogs
Community College Success
Ellen Bremen
Presentation Zen
Zen Habits
The Babb Group (this blog has great articles for instructors!)
Books with lasting impact (the following books inspired me to get creative, work harder, adopt a positive mindset, and generally think outside the box- How to Be Like Walt in particular is a book I’ll return to again and again!)
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity by Josh Linkner
Flip: How to Turn Everything You Know on It’s Head and Succeed Beyond Your Wildest Imaginings by Peter Sheahan
How to Be Like Walt by Pat Williams
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
Linchpin by Seth Godin
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor Ph.D.
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
If you’re looking to simplify your life:
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
Simplify: Eliminate Stress and Fatigue through Simple Living by Donna J. Davis
The Effortless Life by Leo Babauta
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
You Can Buy Happiness (and It’s Cheap) by Tammy Strobel
Books for college instructors, and aspiring college instructors
Building Your Adjunct Platform by Michelle Post
Community College Success by Isa Adney
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Brown, Roediger III, and McDaniel
Make Money Teaching Online by Danielle Babb
What the Best College Teachers Do by Ken Bain
Teach Online: 10 Simple Steps to Get Your Resume Noticed and Land the Job by Dr. Carolyn Edwards
The Likeability Factor by Tim Sanders
The New One Minute Manager by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John C. Maxwell
Books specific to communication (and the courses to use them for)
All About Love by bell hooks (rhetoric, gender, and family communication)
Alone Together by Sherry Turkle (mass media and interpersonal communication)
A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink (intro to communication)
Body Language by Julius Fast (nonverbal communication and interpersonal communication)
For Better: How the Surprising Science of Happy Couples Can Help Your Marriage Succeed by Tara Parker-Pope (gender and family communication)
High Impact Communication: How to Build Charisma, Credibility, and Trust by Bert Decker (public speaking)
Presentation Zen Design by Garr Reynolds (public speaking)
Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte (public speaking)
Stage Fright: A Student-Friendly Guide to Managing the Jitters by George Griffin
Stage Fright: 40 Stars Tell You How They Beat America’s #1 Fear by Berry and Edelstein
Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds by Carmine Gallo
Thank You For Smoking by Christopher Buckley (intro to communication and persuasion)
The Naked Presenter by Garr Reynolds (public speaking and business communication)
The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs by Carmine Gallo (public speaking)
Why Communication Fails and What to Do About It: What More Can I Say? by Dianna Booher (business communication and interpersonal communication)
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg (rhetoric)
If you have any other great books/websites/blogs that you think I should add to the list, send a message to the Happy Professor Facebook page– I love getting new suggestions.
~
If you’d like to learn more about how to be a successful college instructor in the online or face-to-face classroom, check out Happy Professor, Happy Professor’s Guide to a Happy Classroom, and Happy Professor’s Guide to Working at Home on Amazon.com.
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