Author Archives: Julie Dodd
Michelle Obama rally at University of Florida — Big events can be great learning experiences for students
Michelle Obama will be leading a rally on the University of Florida campus in a few minutes. Less than 30 minutes before the schedule time for her speech, the line to get into the rally extended from the O’Connell Center doors down the street and wrapped through the parking lot. At the front of the […]
6 tips for handling the challenges caused by students adding your course
One of the unexpected challenges of teaching at the college level is add/drop. Add/drop is the official time students have to add or drop a course. This time period typically lasts for a few days or a week at the beginning of each semester. For students, the challenge is often financial. Adding a class past […]
3 tips for creating a syllabus
One of the most important homework projects for faculty is happening right now, before the start of school. Developing course syllabi. Here are three tips for creating a syllabus that will be a foundation for success for the semester for both you and for your students. Tip 1 – Start by determining your course goals […]
Washington Post’s Titanic fact error shows importance of fact checking
Poynter reported that fifth graders who had been studying the Titanic disaster discovered a fact error a Washington Post reporter made in writing a story about the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking. The students wrote a letter explaining that the date the Titanic hit the iceberg was a different day than when the Titanic […]
3 kinds of job interviews to be prepared for
A key part of getting a job is being successful in interviews. Often we envision the interview as being one-on-one with the person making the hiring decision. And that is how some interviews work. However, you need to be prepared for several other kinds of interview. 1. Being interviewed by a screener This kind of […]
3 insights from BuzzFeed on preparing for jobs in social news
As a faculty member who always is on the quest to help my college media students be better prepared to enter the job market, I’m very interested in what the media job market is. What the jobs are for college grads? (Many of the current media jobs didn’t exist even a few years ago, like […]
5 tips for using Twitter
Twitter is a topic of discussion in quite a few forums beyond Twitter itself. News organizations attribute to sources who have posted tweets. People of all ages report learning of news events first not from TV or online news but from Twitter. On Twitter, you can follow politicians (@BarackObama and @MittRomney), athletes (@TimTebow or @Candace_Parker) […]
What should be guidelines for ‘appropriate’ attire for college students?
What should students wear? That question was raised by a recent story in the New York Times about students at Stuyvesant High School who were protesting the school’s dress code. The students complained that the dress code was too restrictive, especially in hot months when the school’s air conditioning wasn’t dependable. Having taught in classrooms […]
Specialized skills can help you get a job
A recent hike to LeConte Lodge, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, illustrated the specialized skills that jobs can involve. At dinner one night, three of the people at my table were visiting the lodge as part of an environmental impact assessment. The three had to hike about 11 miles roundtrip to Mt. LeConte, […]
2 ways your university’s alumni association can help you find a job
“I was wondering if you have any career advice on how I can get my foot in the door somewhere or how to find any job openings.” That was part of an email I recently received from a graduate student I’d worked with who graduated last weekend. My concise answer: Join your university’s alumni association. […]
Julie Dodd 