It’s easy to slip into routines. Even things that originally seemed novel can become a normal (and not especially exciting) part of your day to day life. For the last year I’ve worked toward creating a life that allows me to basically function on autopilot. It was very deliberate- I wanted to get all my…
I may not write about it on the blog as frequently as I could, but almost daily I tell my husband how much I love working from home and teaching online. It’s fun to get into the classroom once a week and do things traditionally, but if you have the discipline and a solid routine,…
In my first book, Happy Professor, I included a short section about the importance of engaging with your students during the seemingly insignificant (but secretly crucial) 10-15 minutes before class starts. Honestly, I don’t always follow my own advice. Sometimes I have a crisis on my hands at a different school, so I’m dealing with…
Once in a while, when I feel like I could take on more and/or need something new and different in my life, I’ll see out volunteer opportunities. Luckily, I’m occasionally approached by one of the local schools I work for, or a former student, who has me in mind for a small volunteer project and reaches…
This semester I put together what I call a ‘packet’ of discussion topics for my Family Communication course that we, as a class, discussed over the course of the semester. I was really pleased with the way it turned it. As we read about and discussed the concepts in class, we watched relatable videos, tied…
After reading last week’s post, Why Students Benefit from Participation & Class Discussions, a longtime friend and reader of the blog decided to try a new approach to teaching her class and reached out to me for some tips. I was thorough enough that I figured my (very long) response to her would serve as…
This semester I’ve been teaching a Family Communication class that I’ve loved every second of. I taught the class online a few years ago, but the face-to-face version has been a completely different experience, and I’m seeing my students grasp the concepts much more easily this time around- applying the textbook terms to their own…
After looking through some of my blog posts recently, I thought I’d clarify a few things. I’ll admit, teaching college students is not all sunshine and rainbows. There are plenty of frustrating moments and students that know how to push your buttons. However, the students I meet with weekly in the classroom do inspire me…
“Have you ever stopped yourself in the middle of the day to question what you are doing? I often think about how invigorating it is to really think about why we, as social creatures, choose to live our lives the way we do. Why have you chosen to take the actions or engaged in the…
I’m generally pretty good about keeping distractions to a minimum, but sometimes pesky things like fun articles online, pretty Instagram posts/pictures, and music as background noise while taking care of odds and ends, in addition to real life noise/work/’to do’ lists add up and take their toll. Recently, I felt like my head was swimming…