Student Friendships: Worth the risk?

Student Friendships: Worth the risk?

Ryein was a student worker in the library.  He was a non-traditional student, army reservist from a troubled family but had a heart of gold.  We came from two different worlds but somehow we became friends during our evening shift together. He helped me to remember...
I don’t understand what you don’t understand

I don’t understand what you don’t understand

“I don’t understand what you don’t understand.” A conversation was occurring in the classroom as I walked in.  A student was attempting to help another with a drawing in the text.  It was not clear to one, and the other thought it was obvious.  It reminded me of a...
The National Debt

The National Debt

I have been having my MTH 120 students ponder the $17 trillion national debt. They have been using formulas for simple interest, compound interest, and debt repayment along with dimensional analysis to answer a variety of questions about the debt. Simple Interest I =...
Introducing Metacognition into Student Reading

Introducing Metacognition into Student Reading

What did you find challenging about last night’s reading? What did you do when you struggled with the reading? What helped make this reading easier? What new strategies did you try with this reading that you haven’t used before? These types of questions ask students...

Applying Ordinary Teaching for an Extra-ordinary Learning Time

In this second post of a series using the different categories of significant learning outcomes (SLO) as a basis for sharing how some teaching strategies and best practices came to be, the ordinary actions of teaching and learning are worth exploring for their...
Darn Serious Learning

Darn Serious Learning

Lately, there seems to be a force that is developing on campus. Because of the on going projects that have been popping up on campus looking at poverty, homelessness, food drives, and clothing drives,  I think the biggest subject that is being raised is ‘awareness’.  ...