*** Hi there! I feel as if I’ve been away from my blog for a while, and I actually have, although it’s been entirely unintentional. Today, I wanted to explain why, especially as I wanted to write about the past week, which has been somewhat momentous for my family. My son started his freshman year… Read More Goodbyes. Gripping Pain. And a Giveaway.
*** This concept of a child going away to study at a university shouldn’t really phase me at all, right? I’m a college professor. I have been for years now. I’m the one smiling at other parents during Open Houses as I say all the right things to them about how their student will love… Read More Coping With Your First Child Heading Off To College: A Mother’s Lament
Graduation Tomorrow All the standard thoughts apply today. “Time Flies.” “How did this happen?” “How is this even possible that time has marched by so swiftly?” Let me start with advice to young parents: treasure every moment with your children, because I was once like you thinking high school graduation was light… Read More A Parent’s Thoughts on the Eve of High School Graduation & The Ellicott City Flood
You may want to tell your college students to put their laptops away during class lectures. It appears the “old way” of taking handwritten notes in class trumps typing notes into your laptop. If you’d like to know why, a study by researchers Pam A. Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel M. Oppenheimer of the University… Read More Tell Your College Students to Pull Out the Old Pen and Paper, Studies Find
*** I’m typically not one to dwell in malaise and melancholy, but this morning, I’m feeling a little bit of it. It’s July 10, and vacation is over for our family. We had a great time, enjoyed spectacular weather, got to visit Charleston then spend time on the beach in Hilton Head. We ate at… Read More Monday Melancholy
*** Yesterday, students at Stevenson University celebrated their graduation at our ceremonies in Maryland. As a professor in the department of Business Communication, I was thrilled to see our graduates walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. They worked hard the last four years, and it paid off. As for my colleagues and me,… Read More 8 Things Teachers Enjoy During Summer Break
The second a child comes into your life, you know at some point, you will have to let go. They are babies, and they need you as infants, but not too long after, they find their own two feet can take them places, and they start walking, exploring and discovering. Even as toddlers, they are… Read More Holding On and Letting Go of Your Children
* As a college educator, I can certainly tell you with certainty that procrastination doesn’t pay. I see it every day—sometimes getting started on the task is actually more difficult for some than executing the task itself. The truth is, people think procrastination is about managing time. However, it’s much more complex than that. People underestimate… Read More Procrastination Doesn’t Pay
As part of the final in Magazine Writing, I asked my students to reflect on certain aspects of the course, including the readings, their writing, and the lessons learned, as well as their ability to construct a well-written response to a writing prompt. This year’s students were asked to reflect on writer Markus Zusak’s wonderful… Read More What Failure Taught Me, With a Nod To Author Markus Zusak
While there are many trite (and incorrectly structured) phrases that people use constantly, i.e. phrases like “It is what it is” and “I could care less,” whereby the first just sounds silly and the latter actually means you care, there is another phrase that I’d like to see stripped from our sentence constructs. The phrase… Read More Why We Should Stop Using the Phrase “In the Real World”
One the eve of the beginning of the spring semester, I thought I’d share something that I’ve seen as the downfall of a lot of college students with regard to their academics. It’s not something earth-shattering, but it is something that is real. The good news is it’s something that can be rectified if taken… Read More The Biggest Mistake Some College Students Make
In a little over a week, I’ll be back on campus teaching my fall college courses. Some people may dread the thought of work, but not me. I always look forward to the fall and going back to school, to using my brain, to being in the classroom, and to seeing young, eager minds ready… Read More In Summer, The Song Sings Itself
