(A one-line write-in from a student… Does this problem ever go away in life? No! The slacking group member is a plague! Students feel helpless and concerned about grades, and they may wonder when to bring a prof in on the problem. Here’s my take…) Ellen, How do you work with a group member who does not put in their work on a group project? Student *********************** I realize the student didn’t ask for all the advice I’m giving, but I’m giving it anyway. What do you say??? Student, I so empathize! As a student, I couldn’t stand group work because I knew I would probably have to manage or do most of it so my own grade...
Read More(No major intro on this one. Student questions will be back soon. In the meantime, here is what I’m thinking about right now…) In my Interpersonal Communication course, my students submit a question-prompted journal fairly early in the term. The first question? “Analyze your communication strengths and weaknesses, based on communication competencies in the textbook.” If other questions go awry, (they usually don’t–interpersonal communication may be hard as hell in real life, but it isn’t rocket science), I can typically count on students answering this one question. Until now. Student’s journal literally had a polar bear in...
Read More**Update 10/4: Due to the incredible conversation thus far on Twitter, I’ve created a Storify (my first one!) to capture the wonderful responses! Check them out–you’ll find the varied perspectives on this topic fascinating! Also, thanks to HigherEdJobs.com for sharing this post on their Facebook page! Critical conversation we’re having!!! (Today’s post is driven by a collegial conversation in the faculty-verse. As usual, all identifying details have been altered. E-mail has changed the nature of the professor’s job, but should it change our jobs this much? What do you think? One more thing: I’m going to be at the Barnes and...
Read More(Here I am already! Returning to school may give me more ideas for blogging than I can keep up with! A quick post because it is timely for me… and important. Critical even. I hope you feel the same. A couple programming notes: Tonight, 9/17, 6 p.m. if you have some time, join me as @YouTern’s guest on Twitter for their #InternPro chat. We’re talking about “School and Career Success: The Art of Interacting with Professors.” Could the topic be any more parallel after you read today’s post? Join the conversation! And tomorrow, 9/18… big day! UW Bookstore! Who’s visiting at 7 p.m.?). I want to preface this post by saying two...
Read MoreI think I’m going to pop an artery by the time I go back to school in late September. I already wrote about five college success tips that you don’t have to take. This was in response to college success advice that concerned me… remember? Now I’m seeing article after article of even more success tips for freshmen (and students in general) that I find incredibly overcomplicated. Why? Because the advice tells students what they should do six ways from Sunday… research this, look up that. The advice so rarely tells students to simply talk to people… to just ask questions! Should I be surprised? This piece in USA Today College about “what makes...
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