Life of E's

One of my Life of E’s members asked about sabbaticals and breaks. She writes: Last summer, for the first time ever (that didn't involve a surgical procedure!), I took two weeks off and did not darken the door of my office. For two weeks after that, I did a lot of things around my house [...]

Tags: college, policies, professor, proposal, research, sabbatical, taking a break, taking a vacation, taking leave, Teaching, time off, university

When you serve as a student's formal or informal advisor, you make a difference in his/her life. To be able to serve well – and not put yourself over the edge in terms of time and energy invested, here are five ways to save yourself time, energy, and stress when advising. Have forms that you [...]

Tags: academics, accessible, advising, college, faq page, forms, graduate, plan, prepare, professor, questions, schedule, students, undergraduate, university

Depending on your particular institution, advising of students may be a small portion or a significant part of your responsibilities. Adapt the following five tips to fit your situation so that advising is a productive experience for you and your students. Request that students come to their appointments with a list of questions to which [...]

Tags: academic, advising, appointments, college, expectations, FaceBook, notes, planning, Productivity, professor, questions, schedule, students, timeliness, tips, university

Acronyms are great ways to organize ideas you want students to learn – and to help them remember what you are teaching. If you work with student leaders – or potential student leaders, here is the acronym LEADERSHIP with key ideas of what leaders do.   Leaders are Learners   Knowledge is doubling every one [...]

Tags: academics, acronym, college, ethical, leadership, Professors, student leaders

Students can feel nameless and faceless in college classrooms. Some students believe that is what they want and others believe that this is "just how college is."   No one truly wants to be nameless and faceless – and students in colleges and universities certainly do not. In a semester-long learning situation, students are far [...]

Tags: college, connect with students, help students learn, learning names, Professors, students, university

No event demonstrates your success as a teacher more than does your first major examination or assignment. If you have taught for any length of time, you know that the first exam or major assignment is often the most critical milepost in students’ deciding to remain in a course through its conclusion. Therefore, it is [...]

Tags: college, exams, Professors, students, Teaching

No one ever plans to be sick. No one ever thinks he or she will need to cancel class, appointments, or other commitments. But… it happens. Here are ten productive ways to be ready “just in case.” When you record an appointment in your planner (either paper or electronic), include the person’s email address and [...]

Tags: class, college, feeling sick, Professors, Teaching

See if this question sounds like something you might ask: I have decided that if I am going to keep doing my job (I work at a local college), I need to get some additional help – and it needs to be more than just a student worker who I have to train each semester. [...]

Tags: assistant, college, grant writing, Professors, teachers

Clarifying one’s understanding of new concepts is a necessary — and powerful — part of the learning process. In many classrooms, ensuring the time and learning experiences that would give students the chance to solidify and apply their new learning has gone by the wayside due to fear about high-stakes testing. In fact, we have [...]

Tags: college, Professors, prompts, students, writers, writing

Although most faculty use many high tech innovations in the classroom, let’s not forget the necessity for some of the basic accoutrements. After a couple of years of hearing frequent requests for some basic office supplies and also recognizing that there were times I wished I had some sticky notes or whiteboard markers in a [...]

Tags: college, Professors, Teaching, Toolkit