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

Making the Switch from Teaching Undergraduate Students to Teaching Graduate Students

During the past few years, this millennial's life has been filled with CHANGE! New baby, new job, and NOW a change in teaching. Starting this month, I will teach my first graduate course. In the past, I've taught independent study graduate courses, but I am looking forward to teaching my first full group of graduate students.

This spring, the course will focus on social media technology and how it can be utilized in the work context. I hope to have several guest speakers (bloggers and other individuals from the industry) and to engage with the students in various interactive experiences (it is an online course). I definitely plan to utilize Google Communities and a few Twitter chats.

I definitely think that I would like to incorporate an "applicable" research project to create a finished product (perhaps an e-book), but I am still thinking about the possibilities.

Ideas are much appreciated!

Sincerely - @drjtedwardsTSU

3 Millennial Goals for the New Year: Writing, Dreaming Creatively, and Traveling with Family

Usually, I write long, drawn out New Year's Resolutions, but this year I resolve to only have THREE resolutions!

#1 - Write at least one blog post or at least one page of my manuscripts per day.

#2 - Think beyond the possible. Usually, I am an extremely linear thinker, but I need to think more creatively to solve everyday problems for work and home.

#3 - Travel with my family. My daughter is a toddler and I love to expose her to new and innovative things! Her daycare teaches her a wealth of skills, but I attempt to supplement on the weekends and during the evenings. Follow our adventures here: http://www.weekendscount.com/

Suggestions are appreciated and valued! Please keep me accountable!

Sincerely - @drjtedwardsTSU

Recap of the 2014 #SACSCOC Annual Meeting - Dec. 5th - Dec. 8th

Today, I created several higher education and blogging goals. These goals included: writing posts as soon as possible and posting these posts as soon as I arrive home from a conference, etc.

The #SACSCOC conference was amazing and I was pleased to connect with several individuals from other universities. I stored these business cards in a special part of my Vera bag, because one of my new years resolutions is to keep in contact with higher education connections formed during conferences.

Courtesy of @heatherplez

This SACSCOC conference was held in Nashville, TN and the attendees had several hotel options. I chose the Courtyard Marriott, because it was slightly cheaper than the other options. I traveled via shuttle to the hotel and connected with several SACSCOC attendees (one from Tarrant County College and the other from Savannah State University).

In fact, I was fortunate enough to have breakfast on two separate days with two of the individuals I hope to add to my highered contacts list!

One of the first sessions I attended was the Newcomers session and it featured the President of SACSCOC, Dr. Belle Wheelan. She is an outstanding woman and I always enjoy hearing her speak. Through the session, I learned about several new developments regarding SACSCOC.

After this session, I walked through the hallway and heard my name. One of my colleagues found me and I was pleased to see her familiar face. We exchanged notes and later discovered that we planned to attend the same session for the next conference slot. Surprisingly, I discovered the presenter was my fabulous sorority sister, Dr. Amanda Chesser Drum (yes, she is amazing). I look up to her for a variety of reasons and she always has a smile on her face.

Dr. Drum is from Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi and she serves as the Executive Director of Strategic Engagement Initiatives. She is also charged with assessment and the SACSCOC 5th year reviews. She worked interactively with various departments under student life and other similar student services-focused departments to develop student learning outcomes that coincide with the CAS Standards. I thought this approach was very effective and it helped her developed her university's SACSCOC report. I plan to use the CAS Standards for an internal review process for several areas at the university for which I work in Texas.


Since I learned a wealth of information about section 2.10, I wanted to learn more about the QEP initiatives in the next session. This session was presented by Dr. Wayne Atchley from Tarleton State University and he did a dynamic job presenting his university's "Keeping It R.E.A.L" initiative for engaging students in the following areas: undergraduate research, leadership, study abroad/study away, service learning, and internships.

These individual sessions provided me with a stronger foundation for assessment for this next year. I feel fortunate to have this experience and I cannot wait to research additional innovative and dynamic ways to perform assessment (qualitative and quantitative) on our student learning outcomes.

Also, I followed the backchannel on Twitter for the #SACSCOC conference. Here's a recap of the conference so far:

I learned a wealth of information from the conference and I am fired up for assessment! Also, I wanted to add that I was especially excited that the Convention Center is a LEED certified building! :) This is very exciting to an environmental sustainability-focused millennial!

Sincerely - @drjtedwardsTSU