Author: Elizabeth

This article first appeared in the Teaching Professor on December 13, 2017. © Magna Publications. All rights reserved. 

Teachers and students can give each other priceless gifts. “Professor Jones changed my life!” The comment is usually followed by the story of a teacher in love with content, students, and learning. How many times have I told the story of my advisor who was the first person to suggest I could be a college professor? We love to hear and tell these stories because they are remarkable and inspiring. A student and a teacher connect during one small segment of the student’s life, yet through that tiny window of time can blow a gust strong enough to change the direction of that life.

And students gift us with stories that bear witness to life-changing encounters with teachers. I recently read Fred Heppner’s description of the three teachers who changed his life.

If you have taught before, then you are familiar with the grumpy time of the semester. This is when the semester starts to feel long. It is usually about two-thirds to three-quarters of the way through the semester when we (and our students) start to feel a little grumpier. We believe there is value in acknowledging this eventuality, naming it, and then proactively and intentionally devising plans for what to do when we get into the grumpy time of the semester. Generally speaking, we advocate for the infusion of empathy (one’s ability to take on the cognitive and emotional perspective of others; e.g., Elliot et al., 2011) into all parts of our courses (see Saucier et al., 2022 for a discussion of the empathetic course design perspective). This ranges from our syllabi to our course structures and policies, to our assignments and assessments. We work hard to proactively and intentionally

Thumbnails with a taco?. A 3-2-1 activity. A trip around the world?. Scratch-offs for test-taking. If you’re interested in new teaching techniques, creative ideas, fostering a classroom community, and more, register for the Teaching Professor Online Conference. No need to leave the comfort of your home, couch, or desk—you can attend and access all of the available sessions until December 31, 2022 as many times as you want. With nine carefully chosen topic areas, you’ll have the opportunity to refresh, reenergize, and invigorate your teaching. If you’re curious what you might learn, take a glimpse into a few sessions below!

How the Metaverse Can Improve Student Engagement and Learning: Using AR and VR in the Classroom

How can you use simple Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) tools in your own course? In this session, Juanita Wallace explains how you can transport your students into an entirely different

How to Create a Portfolio to Land Your Dream Instructional Design Job—Infographic

Benefits of Creating a Digital Portfolio

Crafting a resume is time-consuming enough. Do you need to create a portfolio on top of that? The short answer is YES!

Here are some other amazing benefits to building a portfolio you can submit to complement your resume for an instructional design job:

• Provides evidence you can do what your resume says you can do
• Builds your credibility with recruiters and potential employers
• Gives you a leg up on your competition
• Tracks your accomplishments in personal and professional projects
• Attracts attention, especially if you don’t have formal instructional design experience

Getting Started on an Instructional Design Portfolio

I know this might seem like a lot of work, especially if you’re starting your portfolio from scratch. I’m not going to pretend like portfolio-building is easy- it’s not! It’s definitely not

Instructional Strategies—Infographic

In addition to literacy strategies, approaches to assessment, and grouping strategies (among many others), knowing the right teaching strategy for the right academic situation may not be a matter of expertise or training, but memory: out of sight, out of mind, yes?

While this infographic doesn’t offer definitions and explanations for each strategy (it’s an infographic, not a book).  Also, many great strategies are missing (e.g., 3-2-1, exit slip, project-based learning, accountable talk, ask a question, etc.).  However, it does work well as a kind of reminder for what’s possible, even offering categories for each strategy, from progress monitoring (think-pair-share, KWL charts), to Note-Taking (graphic organizers).

There are 87 instructional strategies listed below, but several are repeated across categories, so let’s call it ’50+’ strategies.

Enjoy!