Category teaching
Cedar Waxwings arrive
When the berries on the holly tree in my yard are ripe, I start looking for the Cedar Waxwings. Some years the Cedar Waxwings don’t come to town. The timing of ripe berries in the trees doesn’t coordinate with the migration of the Cedar Waxwings. Sometimes the Cedar Waxwings do arrive, but you can miss […]
Downsizing your book collection
I love books and reading, but I realized that I needed to downsize my book collection. I’m offering some tips about reducing the number of books that you have.
Insights from photographing Jaguars-Lions NFL game
With the 2018 NFL season getting underway, I’m sharing a post I wrote about photographing the Jaguars-Lions game in 2012 with photographer Daron Dean. I was on the sidelines of EverBank Field in Jacksonville, getting ready for the start of the Jacksonville Jaguars – Detroit Lions NFL game. I was excited and a little nervous. I […]
Teacher Appreciation Week: Top teaching assistants demonstrate teaching strategies
Teacher Appreciation Week reminds us to think about the many wonderful teachers we’ve had and how they have contributed to our academic and personal development. I’m also thinking of what it takes to be one of those memorable teachers. As a member of the University of Florida’s Graduate Student Teacher Awards Committee, I have the […]
Office hours: 10 tips for instructors
Office hours are part of the college instructor’s teaching assignment and can be an important contribution to your teaching effectiveness. If you teach a class of new-to-college students, you’ll need to explain what office hours are – time set aside every week by the instructor to be available to meet with students. Departments or colleges […]
‘Paper Tweet’ provides student questions and feedback
“How do I find out what questions students have about what we’re doing in class? In class, I ask for questions, but only a couple of students – and often the same students – ask questions. I don’t want to wait until the exam or project to find out that students didn’t understand something adequately.” […]
9 years of blogging — rewards and insights
I recently received the blog birthday announcement from Tumblr. My blog is nine years old. I started the blog in 2007 because I decided to include blogging as an assignment in a media writing course that I was teaching at the University of Florida. I thought I’d better start blogging myself to be better prepared […]
3 strategies to improve your teaching in the New Year
The time between semesters gives us as teachers the opportunity to evaluate how well we think our classes went last term and consider what changes we can make to improve our teaching for the upcoming term. Here are three strategies as you make adjustments to your classes as a new term begins. #1 – If […]
5 tips to avoid fake news
The class I was observing started with eight students sharing news stories they’d found that focused on legal issues related to the topics of the course. Each student briefly explained the legal issue — who was involved in the case and what the charges were. But only one said what the source of the news story […]
5 strategies for improving classroom observations
As a faculty member, adjunct or teaching assistant, your teaching is observed by dozens and even hundreds of students in every class you teach. Observations by other teachers does not happen very often. When you are observed by other teachers, those observations are very important. Here are some reasons you would be observed: You’re nominated for a […]
Julie Dodd 