I read an article in the New York Times this week called "Kids, Would you Please Start Fighting?" and I was struck by the thesis of the piece, especially as it relates to argument writing courses. The author discusses how argument is the genesis for creativity, and...
My first teaching job was at a public high school outside Chicago, and every week I had to submit that week’s daily lesson plans to my department chair. These plans included objectives and activities for each of my classes each day. I did this for the first two years...
Experiential learning is the latest pursuit across disciplines for the college. Have you implemented or entertained any thoughts on how or what you will do to support this agenda? Experiential learning has existed in the skilled trades courses since inception so I...
I just read a New Yorker article about the Sackler family who own the pharmaceutical company that makes Oxycontin. It is a shocking story of how the company, by marketing directly and aggressively to doctors, almost singlehandedly caused the current crisis of opioid...
This week in my mythology class we discussed Oedipus the King, the famous ancient Greek tragedy about a man (a king) who discovers that he accidentally, unknowingly killed his father, slept with his mother, and had offspring who were also his siblings. The day of that...
In this post, I will discuss the results of using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to analyze the interview data in my study and the conclusions about students and the adoption and use of distance technology-enhanced learning. The...
Last week at a conference I learned the term “Beginner’s Mind.” I had never heard that term before but it comes from Zen Buddhism. It is the idea that as we become more expert at something, we stop seeing possibilities. We close our mind to new ways of seeing and...
The most interesting thing about doing NVC in Michigan is how many people want to say they’re sorry as part of the NVC process. However, NVC doesn’t require that you say you’re sorry, especially when you haven’t done anything wrong. So, here’s a scenario to...
8:30 pm is the time I typically stop doing ‘work-related’ stuff. This isn’t just grading, but this is often the monster load of it. I find myself researching topics related to class content, reading updates that are related to my field, answering the never-ending...