For many of us, our students are first-time college students which means they are first time adults. For many of these students this means this is the first time they are given the chance to choose for themselves. Their whole lives someone has been making all of the...
Faculty & CIE Articles
Never Give Them Zeros for a Grade
You may have seen the headline, “Teacher Fired for Giving Students Zeros for not Turning in Assignments”. Certainly great click-bait from a publisher’s standpoint, but what is this really about. At a conference roundtable I attended many years ago, we discussed this...
Would You Please Start Arguing Part 2 of 4
Welcome back to my serial piece--I’ll pick up where I left off last week, on the idea that it is difficult to abandon old techniques and move toward new ones, argumentatively. Something that exacerbates the comment-section mentality is that we’re experiencing...
Quests are King
Well, at least many students think they are very cool. I have slowly moved my courses to a quest-based assignment system. I have taken my regular assignments and tests and broken them up over the semester so students are doing many small things rather than a few big...
(Free) Affordable Community College for All
Free Affordable Community College for All Making college more affordable is a hot topic right now. Student loan debt is soaring into the trillions of dollars and 4.7 million borrowers are in default on their student loans. We all know that the cost of college today is...
Gradeless – part 2
Greetings in Higher Ed – Increasing Warmth & Sincerity
When was the last time you greeted your class in a warm and sincere way? Have you ever said “I’m glad you’re here today” or “I’m really happy to see you! How was your …
Personal Acquisition and Private Possession
In 1933, John Dewey, wondering how an alien race might see the American educational landscape pondered, “The Utopians believed that the pattern which exists in economic society in our time affected the general habits of thought; that because personal acquisition …
Fall Conference PD
During this fall PD, I had the opportunity to attend some amazing sessions. I especially appreciated learning from my peers in other departments. I discussed a book (The Power of Moments by the Heath Brothers-I recommend it!) with human resources, public relations,...








