I’m challenging myself in 2026 to revisit (and read some new) books that I genuinely believe can help students (or anyone) thrive. About once a month, I’ll be sharing an announcement in my online classes highlighting a few key takeaways from a book that’s worth the read (and if you just want to read my…
Here we are at the beginning of another semester! I’m not sure if other online instructors get that familiar ‘back to school’ excitement during the first week, but I’m definitely feeling it. I’m excited to use my new planner, pens, and Post Its, and I’m ready to start ‘meeting’ my students as each college starts…
This school year I was pleasantly surprised to find a Mindulness Tools for Educators course offered to faculty at one of my schools. It was such an enjoyable and eye-opening class, and took just two hours to complete. As someone who is already familiar with meditating (I’m a big fan of walking meditations and the…
Recently I created an assignment for my online speech classes that I think is simple and light, yet at the same time inspiring and valuable. Here it is (short and sweet): Assignment: Journal Entry about Managing Anxiety This assignment has 3 steps: After I created it, I kind of fell in love with it. I’m…
Lately I’ve been going on walks around my little town and listening to my new favorite book on Audible, Mind Your Mindset by Michael Hyatt. I can’t recall how I stumbled upon it, and I’ll be honest, it’s not a particularly exciting book (more like a textbook that has some Malcolm Gladwell elements- but I’m…
When I started adjuncting over a decade ago it was simply because I was passionate about teaching and inspiring students (you know what they say, do what you love and the money will follow). But I don’t believe passions necessarily need to make money. For instance, I have a cheesy dream of writing holiday novels…
I’ll ask the controversial question: What’s the recipe for success as an adjunct instructor? Do you have a plan for being successful as an adjunct instructor? I know I certainly didn’t when I first started out, I was in my early twenties, just going with the flow and not thinking too much about it. I’m…
Being a mom to two tiny kids, who are home all day (and bored a lot of the time) during a pandemic, while I’m also working at home in the same home office as my husband, while also trying to remain an inspired and energetic person is really really hard (and that’s an understatement). No…
At some point in your life you’ll probably be ‘stuck at home’ for some long period/s of time. Whether you’re social distancing due to coronavirus, you have an infant that limits your ability to leave the house, or you’re taking care of a loved one or relative, staying home can be harder than it sounds…
I was going to title this post “How to Work on Stolen Time,” but I wanted to do something more holiday-themed (even though the season just came to a close!) and not so work-focused, so here we go: As my kids get older, my time with my husband becomes rarer, and my job becomes more…