The top 4 items must-have items as a work-at-home mom.. Anyone who know me knows that I love efficiency, time-saving tricks, and (of course) results. As a new mom, I feel like the above 3 have become monumentally important, so I thought I’d share what I’ve discovered. Below are 4 very simple, but (I believe)…
The importance of empathy when teaching online students.. It’s that time of year when spring classes have officially started and us instructors are once again trying to bring the best version of ourselves to the classroom and make a difference, especially for those students that may be struggling. I think it’s important to take a…
As college instructors know, winter break typically runs for mid-December to early or mid-January, which means we basically get a month off from teaching, which sounds amazing! However, when teaching online you also have a lot of work to take care of during your ‘break,’ unless you plan accordingly (which is where this blog post…
As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I’m not normally a big fan of jazz music, but for some reason I absolutely love it when I work. I have no idea why that is, but if it helps me enjoy working, and also keeps me productive, I’m all for it. While I’m grading papers or…
It’s hard to convey emotion and create a positive environment when teaching online, but I’ve found one way to give feedback that I feel is effective, encourages students, and makes the online environment a more positive place. I call it The Sandwich Method. Quite simply, you construct assignment feedback in the following way: Something (or…
When my mom friends told me taking care of a newborn would be time consuming, I didn’t realize how much of an understatement that was- that it would take up about 12 hours in a 24 hour day (when you do just the basics- feeding, changing, burping, getting them to bed, dealing with a gassy…
When I tell people that I work from home, a surprising number of people respond with ‘I could never work from home, I’d just eat all day.’ However, I actually find that (1) when you’re focused on working, you’re not usually mindlessly rummaging around the kitchen, so you’re fine. And (2), it’s easier to…
If you teach (and even if you don’t teach), you may have heard of Carol Dweck, author of the book Mindset and a researcher in the field of motivation. I’ve referenced Dweck in the classroom a number of times to encourage struggling students, and just a minute ago the dean of one of the schools…
Recently I was asked by one of the schools I work for to submit an activity I use in my online classes to engage students. Some sort of Discussion board prompt might have been the most obvious activity to submit, but I chose something a little different that I think impacts students in a more…
The nice thing about working from home as an online instructor is that you can create a flexible schedule for yourself and have some much-appreciated freedom. The downside when teaching online is that you have to use and purchase your own resources: laptops, printer, ink, paper, etc. Since I’ve started teaching primary online in the…