Classroom Climate

Mingling before Class

The worst time for me in a workshop or presentation are those five or 10 minutes before the start time when the faculty participants are arriving. My stomach is in knots. I’m wishing I were at home. I know I haven’t prepared enough. Somebody is

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Creating Global Moments in Local Classrooms

Creating Global Moments in Local Classrooms

Creating global learning environments has become an important goal for many institutions. Faculty are being encouraged to create environments conducive to learning for both native speakers and non-native speakers. They can cultivate those environments by designing course assignments and class activities that use the strengths

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Teaching as Storytelling

When learning is presented as a story, students are more likely to understand the material as relevant to their lives. I incorporate the person in teaching and learning, making flexible but structured space for students to consider their relationships to ideas, texts, and other people.

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‘Prof, I Need an Extension …’

Student excuses—don’t you feel as though you’ve heard them all? “My Dad’s in the hospital.” “I’ve been sick with the flu.” “My computer hard drive has crashed.” How often do students offer truthful excuses? “The assignment turned out to be way harder than I anticipated

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The Silent Professor

As college faculty, we put tremendous pressure on ourselves to talk. We want to cover the course content and thoroughly explain our assignments. We want to sound smart, share what we know, and communicate convincingly about the work of our disciplines. Our students assume we

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Could It Be Fear?

Students have been known to do annoying things in class: they come late and leave early; they talk to each other but won’t answer teacher’s questions; they look at the teacher but with emotionless faces. Behaviors like these and others can get under a teacher’s

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Technology Policies: Are Some Better than Others?

Students now arrive in our classrooms with a wide array of electronic devices. They also arrive used to being able to use those devices wherever and whenever they please. Should that include the classroom? The research is pretty conclusive that most students don’t multitask well

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What to Do about Those Absent Students

I have had students who missed class ask if they can stop by during office hours to “catch up” on what they missed. Some of my classes are scheduled for three-hour blocks; we meet once a week. With all my other academic obligations, I rarely

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The Teaching Professor Conference 2024

June 7-9, 2024 • New Orleans

Connect with Fellow Educators at The Teaching Professor Conference!