Priorities

Priorities

Remember the dull, disappointed feeling you get whenever a capable student does just enough to get by? Apparently not learning anything significant from your carefully architected lesson plans? Ignoring your enthusiasm? Attending in body but not in spirit? As a...

Mental Health

Is it just me, or are students suffering more from stress this semester? In the first five weeks of school this year, I have sent four students to the counseling center. One student is sick on every test day, one student can’t talk himself into getting up and coming...

Reimagining Three Amigos

Reimagining Three Amigos

Three Amigos? I always like it when things work out.  You know, you discover those students who “get it?”   Subject matter clicks with personal soul condition.  Mystery is entered into.  Lives are in the process of being changed.  Education, with all its beauty,...

Are Models That Useful?

In a word - YES! Who doesn’t like to have a moment of investigation and play? Where you can sit and observe, examine and play? Models are show-and-tell in the classroom. They provide us a quick hands-on tool to put theories to the test. Models allow us to question new...

Learning Together

Learning Together

We think of colleges as places where students do all the learning, but, in fact, faculty and staff are constantly learning as well. We learn from our students, we learn from our mistakes, we learn from conferences and professional journals, and we learn from each...

Feedback is Needed

Sometimes people miss deadlines for doing assignments.  I hear many reasons why the assignment was missed, or why the submission was less than stellar.  It seems necessary to review the reasons why the assignment did not meet deadline or quality standards, not to...

Assessment & Grading

Assessment & Grading

It's always tough to start an article with those trigger words. Realizing you are immediately lowering the chances of anyone reading your article. But, this is an important topic. As Assessment Coordinator, I get asked quite frequently, "Aren't my grades assessment?"...