| | | |

How to Start the Upcoming Semester on the Right Foot

Every Instructor has certain icebreakers they like to use on the first day of face-to-face classes, and a preferred way of discussing the syllabus with students, I know I do (and old habits are hard to break). However, if you’re up ready for a change, or think you might find yourself with some extra time…

| | |

How to Create Boundaries When Working From Home

There are plenty of things I could work on in my personal and professional life. However, I pride myself on having finally mastered the surprisingly difficult task of working from home (I might regret saying that as soon as Baby joins us in a few months here..). For the most part, I’m organized, efficient, and…

| | | |

What Every Online Instructor Needs to Post in Their Courses

If you teach college courses online, I can guarantee that the following piece (by online instructor and occasional Happy Professor contributor, Chris Berg, Ph.D.) will have you vigorously nodding your head with every word. Do yourself a favor and send the following article to your students as a Canvas or Blackboard Announcement, or even take…

|

Big Ideas

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…

|

5 Reasons You Should Consider Working From Home (and Why I Love It)

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,…

| | |

The Importance of Engaging Students 10 Minutes Before Class Starts

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…

|

5 Reasons to Volunteer When Given the Opportunity

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…

| | |

Discussion Ideas for Family Communication Courses

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…

| | |

How To Facilitate Easy and Effective Discussions in the College Classroom

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…

| | |

Why Students Benefit from Class Discussions & Participation

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…