I’ve had the book Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel on my bookshelf for almost 2 years, and I’m just now making a dent in it (I swear I’ll finish it over winter break!). Before I get too far into it, though, I wanted to note a few…
I never intended to put this post on Happy Professor (I wrote it some months ago), but the longer I teach, the more I hear about the private struggles of other instructors (related to office politics on the physical campus, being bullied by students in online courses, or reading heartbreaking student criticism at the end…
“I’ve been teaching part-time since my early twenties, and it really gave me the opportunity and the inspiration to explore other interests, like fashion, acting, traveling, getting an EdD, and starting a website. My favorite part about being an adjunct instructor has always been getting to know different students each semester, and hearing that I…
As promised last week, in this post I’ve provided the materials I created to help prepare my students for their TED-style talks (it also doesn’t hurt to have a few copies of Talk Like TED by Carmine Gallo on hand- I have 3 copies that I bring to the classroom for student use). I’ve also…
The past week has been an eye-opening journey for me and my students. For the first time ever, I incorporated short TED-style speeches into my course curriculum. The only real guidelines I gave my students were to follow the traditional style of TED speakers, and to simply “be awesome, have fun,” as Brene Brown had…
About a year ago, by some stroke of luck, I hit it off with two new part-time college instructors who I met on campus during the Spring 2015 semester. One was an author and speaker, and the other had just chosen a new career path after a stint in the corporate world. The funny thing…
“There I was, coming off a challenging but thoroughly enjoyable corporate career. While the clock was telling me it was time to retire, I knew I was not ready to kick back each day with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. Having served for 30 years in the fast-paced and stressful corporate environment, I…
Recently I was asked by a local college to teach a faculty development workshop for part-time instructors. I eagerly agreed, and the entire event was everything I’d hoped it would be. As a group, we all shared our best kept teaching secrets, and many of those ‘secrets’ had to do with time management, so I…
Let’s talk about adding some spice to the college classroom. No, I’m not talking about a tasty fall treat, although I’m sure I’ll hear plenty of holiday-themed speeches this semester (and I’d bet money someone might even give a speech about Pumpkin Spice Lattes). I’m talking about making changes to my Public Speaking course to…
I’ve been stumbling upon some great reasons to be an adjunct instructor lately. I think, now more than ever, that it’s a viable makeshift career path that can leave teachers with options and flexibility. Here’s why: 1.You have leverage. When you’re finally offered that full-time job, I encourage you to ask if you can keep…