Emerging from a LONG Break (Was It Really A Break)?

Readers,

Whew! The break between the fall and summer semesters has been filled with reading textbooks, gardening, organizing my home, and preparing for summer courses. Usually I write one or two articles over the break, but scholarly activities did not fill my schedule over the break. :( 

Yesterday, was my first day back in the office and I was excited! Most people leave the office for a few weeks and come back to total chaos, which may include a plethora of voice mail messages, e-mail messages, mail in the department mail box, and post-its filled with handwritten notes about an upcoming meeting or concern. Since, I am never really "away" from the office, I felt like I never left. Here's why:

GOOGLE VOICE:

Everyone who calls my office line has the option to send a text message or to call my Google Voice account to contact me when I am away from the office. However, work/life balance is very important and I only accept these calls within a specified time frame during my Monday through Friday schedule. 

EXCHANGE:

I receive and respond to e-mail messages via my iPad. In addition, all of my Blackboard e-mails are forwarded to my university exchange account and this is VERY handy when I am traveling and I do not have a chance to log in to blackboard.

COMMUNICATION WITH MY DEPARTMENT:

I always check-in with my department head at least one time every two weeks to see if anything new is happening in our wonderful department when I am away.

That's it! Monday was an extremely busy day and I had a long committee meeting and a great conference call with one of my state organizations! If I could just fit a workout activity in my summer schedule, I would experience peace! Perhaps yoga? I need to try the morning yoga class, because it is STILL 88 degrees in Texas and it is 8:30 p.m.

This summer WILL be productive! I cannot wait to "meet" the students in my online courses. :)

Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Have You Selected Some Good Books for the Summer? Take a BREAK!

Readers,


I know that many of you are gearing up for the summer and many of us spend A LOT of time teaching, reading, and traveling in June, July, and August. I have a stack of books that I purchased from Barron's Bookstore before they went out of business in Colleyville and most of those books comprise my reading list! 


A Great Website - YourNextRead.com
When I find a book that I really love, I think that I will enter the title of the book on YourNextRead.com. Through this website, you can discover which books are similar to books that you enjoy!

Another Great Website - GoodReads.com
Lats summer, I became very interested in a website titled, Goodreads! This website enables users to rate and write comments about books for which they have an interest. In addition to the ratings, you can sign up for a reviewers list and the publishing companies can send the books to you via mail.

Enjoy your summer! Read some great books! What books do you plan to read this summer?


Oh yeah, I plan to finish reading The Help by the time the movie arrives in this area over the summer. This book is just VERY mentally exhausting! :)


Sincerely,


Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Freebie Friday - Free Dessert from the Cheesecake Factory

Readers,


You need a break! Especially after all of the grading of final examinations and preparing for the next summer session. However, now I am very excited about this freebie for Freebie Friday! For the past three years, I decided to give up all desserts and after Lent this, I gave in to my "sweet habit" again. So, I cannot wait to use this coupon for a free dessert from Cheesecake Factory (for every $30.00 you spend).


Find the coupon here - http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/celebrate/email75.htm.

Yes, more sweets equal more exercise! :) 


Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Ads in Gmail and your personal data - Gmail Help

Readers,


As an avid Gmail user, I am disappointed that we will have color ads in our Gmail accounts now. It's funny, but if you do not read the Google blog or examine other blogs (like Lifehacker), you will not know what is happening to your account. :) Here's a recent article from Lifehacker focused on Gmail ads, "Ads in Gmail and your personal data - Gmail Help". 

What do you think about this new "change"? Happy? Sad? This change actually makes me wonder about the fate of Google Documents? Will they stay or will they go?


Sincerely,

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Wandering Wednesday's - Professor Josh's Blog

Readers,


This week's Wandering Wednesday is focused on Professor Josh's Blog! Professor job works at Valencia Community College as an Instructional Designer. On his blog, he writes about teaching in Central Florida, education, random information, tech tricks and tips, travel, and teaching. He integrates his blog with Twitter and he features the tweets on his blog. :)

Recently, he posted a video from a recent conference presentation titled, "#SMCEDU Millennials, Social Media, and Education: Connecting With Your Students Webinar". Here's the link to the Webinar - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5uhsCkt2WE&feature=youtu.be.


Follow Professor Josh on Twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/professorjosh


Sincerely,

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Should the Workplace Adapt to the Millennial Generation?

Readers,


Last semester, I wrote a paper focused on college students' perceptions of work-life balance in their future professions. In this paper, the students stated their opinions regarding work-life balance and many of the students felt that their lives outside of work were more important than their life inside of the workplace. Research indicates that past generations (baby boomers, etc.) feel that their lives inside of the workplace were more important than life outside of the workplace.


Since an increasing number of millennials are currently working and/or preparing to enter the workplace, employers are starting to adapt their human resource policies to this new generation. Last year, one of the most widely read authors on the millennial generation, Dr. Neil Howe, released a book titled, "Millennials in the Workplace".

Although I have not had the pleasure of reading this book (I just added this book to my summer reading list), I strongly believe that this book would help organizational leaders and professors who teach human resources, communication, and sociology courses. 


I understand that some people do not believe that workplace environments should change their policies and procedures to adapt to the new population, but some workplaces are adopting flex-time polices to meet the needs of their millennial employees.

What do you think? Should employers adapt to this new generation? Should the millennial generation adapt to the workplace? Should the process involve both parties adapting to each other?


Sincerely,


Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.