10 Top Ways for Professors to Plan for the Spring Semester

The spring semesters are always filled with the promise of surpassing your goals for the fall semester. Will this spring be different for you? What do you plan to do differently?

Here are some tried and true items that I have to complete before I begin teaching classes.

1 - Look at the syllabus from last spring to see which aspects I would like to change for this semester.

2 - Update the dates on the syllabus.

3 - Figure out HOW I would like to communicate with the students this semester - Google Plus, Twitter, or Facebook (or all three)?

4 - Add the students's names to my Gradekeeper App for attendance and participation purposes.

5 - Update the Blackboard course structure to reflect the goals for this year's course. For example, if I would like for the students to achieve the learning outcomes for the course in a different way, I need to update the discussion questions, Twitter chat questions, etc.

6 - Contact individuals in the communication and social media industries for Twitter chat engagements to enable students to communicate with professionals working in the industry.

7 - Modify the syllabus on Google Documents. I always place my syllabus on Google documents to make sure it is easy to modify for the following semesters. Also, my students do not have to worry about purchasing and/or downloading any software to interact with different aspects of the course.

8 - Contact the students to introduce myself!

9 - Rest before the semester begins!

10 - Prep my office! I need a great ambiance before the semester starts!

Last, but not least... BREATHE!!! It will be a great semester!

Here's my post from the beginning of last semester!

http://www.millennialprofessor.com/2014/08/7-easy-ways-for-professors-to-prepare.html

Sincerely - @drjtedwardsTSU