Do you think he will get mad?
“Do you think he’ll get mad if I do them all this way?” A student was holding up a folded sheet of notebook paper for her friend to see. I was walking by the table outside my office area that they were using for homework. My first thought was to snatch the paper...
Lady in the Classroom?
I have grown to become a great fan of a wonderful movie by M. Night Shyamalan entitled “Lady in the Water.” Bizarre. Different. Odd. Unique. These were my first impressions; kind of other worldly if you will. But upon reflection, and given time, I found myself...
Pharmacology Scavenger Hunt Assignment
Teaching fundamentals of nursing, I seldom get the "aha" moment. When I taught the second semester students, I would see the "aha" moment when students were in clinical and what they learned in lecture finally made sense. Instead of just memorizing information, the...
Accessibility: Are You Color Dependent?
When designing your course, writing an article, or developing training material, are you depending on color to convey a concept, denote a recurring item, or flag a requirement? This could be difficult for students that may be color-blind. In most cases it is reds and...
Café scientifique
Week 2: Research shows that science scores in the US are low and a personal relationship to nature is lacking. When improperly used, technology can replace experiences in nature, and a litigious society keeps our young people from having frequent experiences in the...
What Do Students Really Want?
A question of the ages. We can typically answer this question (facetiously) with: “to cancel class”, or “they just want to know what is on the exam.” But in all seriousness, this question has been asked of many students of late. It actually surprises me that students...
My students can’t write! Part 1: Crafting Effective Writing Assignments
Collecting writing assignments can be as scary for instructors as it is for the students handing them in. Often we feel like it is random chance as to whether students complete their writing successfully, but there are many things we can do to support better writing....
Moodle Tip: Extending Time
Do you have a student that needs extended time for testing or needs an extension on a due date for an assignment? No problem! There are two ways you can grant extended time for testing: 1) User overrides set per quiz, or 2) Applying a no time limit role across the...
Podcast Junkie – Is This Working?
I admit it, I am a podcast junkie. In particular I am obsessed with “This American Life” which comes out every Monday morning. For me, it makes Monday my favorite day of the week! Last Monday’s episode was particularly gripping for me as it was about all the...
Encouraging Every Student to Talk
I have a very quiet ENG 99 class this semester. Even still at week three or four, they were very reluctant to speak up in front of the whole class or even in small groups. So I decided to try something that I had learned at a Reading Apprenticeship workshop several of...