Happy Finals Prep-Week! - The Mini-Mental Vacation (Professors and TV Series)

http://blog.hootmag.org/

Readers,

During finals prep week, I allow myself to do SOMETHING to veg out for a few minutes each day! This rest enables me to focus on other activities that comprise my daily mini-mental vacation! Every semester the mini-mental vacation is always focused on a different activity. Past semesters focused on television series (thank Netflix)! I admit, I love Bones, Law and Order, Criminal Minds, and Mad Men! Yes, I have reached the semi-middle-aged threshold that looks forward to the 5pm and 10pm news! 

This year, I focused my efforts on Pinterest (because I do not have time for anything else). :) Next week, I will focus on how college professors can use Pinterest in their classrooms.

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

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

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

Happy Finals Prep-Week/Wandering Wednesdays - Frugal Scholar: Lessons from a Lifetime of Frugality

http://blog.hootmag.org/

Readers,

During this time of year, I am always searching for good deals for Christmas and for the month of January (which is always an economically LEAN month for our household). I am always reading frugal mommy blogs and frugal couple blogs to gain ideas and insight into how our household can save money. Here's my hidden secret, I also spend money on my "mobile classroom" at the beginning of each semester (even throughout the semester). The items that I purchase include the following: post-it notes, markers, in-class incentives, kraft bags for in class activities, books, etc.). 

Now, I am super excited to feature the following frugal professor blog (one of the first that I have ever seen). Introducing the Frugal Scholar Blog - http://frugalscholar.blogspot.com/. This author (who does not identify herself) describes herself as a, "pathologically frugal professor, wife, and mother".

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sado27/4917385326/

I will definitely follow her blog via Blogger and I cannot wait to discover which subject she teaches and for which university she is employed.

Her recent posts in the months of November/December include:

Pre-Finals Week/Wandering Wednesdays - More Specials I Will Not Avail Myself Of: Black Friday and Beyond

Cheap Gifts for Your College Student, Adult Child, or Yourself: Rice Cooker and Slow Cooker

Gifts for Teachers: FRUGAL Gifts for Teachers, that is

Enjoy!

J. Edwards

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

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

Happy Finals Prep-Week! - The Long-Semester To Do List

http://blog.hootmag.org/

Readers,

I am very excited about next week...finals week! While preparing for finals week, I have to persist through my end-of-the-semester to do list. This list usually includes:

- Saving several blackboard data files in PDF format.

- Clean my office "pantry" (a clear Rubbermaid box with snacks) and refrigerator.

- Finish grading extra credit assignments.

- Distribute pre-finals grades to students.

- Return library books and other "borrowed" items.

- Save blackboard courses and place data back into the course repository.

- Plan the Communication Department's Winter Party.

What is on your end-of-the-semester to do list?

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

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

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

Social Media Conference (#SMC2011) - Weekly Planning Meeting Healthy Snack List - Popcorn Indiana, Kroger, Sprouts, Ozarka Water

Readers,

This weekend, I was able to gain a few extra hours of sleep (this is the rest that I lost during ECW2011). I am so thankful for wonderful faculty, interns, and an amazing conference! 

Throughout the semester, the interns requested to plan the end of the year party and I kindly obliged, because I used a lot of my personal funds to purchase snacks for each of the meetings. However, I do have to point out Ms. Mulhern and Dr. Maben's generosity during some of the meetings this semester! They were amazing!

Later, I discovered that this party had a distinct theme. ;) I will post more about this themed party later. :)

Usually, I shopped at Kroger (Granbury, TX) or Sprouts (Fort Worth, TX) the night before the meeting to make sure that I had fresh snacks and healthy foods to bring to each of the TSMRI meetings.

   

Usually, our weekly snacks consisted of the following:

- Popcorn Indiana - Cinnamon Sugar Popcorn (This was a FAVORITE among of the 15 members of TSMRI.) - http://www.popcornindiana.com/

*In fact, I called the Popcorn Indiana company to see if they would be interested in providing samples or coupons for the Social Media Conference next year!

- Crunch Pak - Apple Slices (http://www.crunchpak.com/)

- Oreos

- Ozarka Water (http://www.ozarkawater.com/)

*We always had a gallon of cold Ozarka Water on our meeting table. 

- Vegetable Trays

- Fruit Trays

- Cupcakes

Overall, we were FULL by the end of each meeting and we remained relatively healthy throughout the semester.

I hope that we are able to gain meeting sponsors and event sponsors throughout the year! Does anyone want to function as a food sponsor for the Texas Social Media Research Institute or the Social Media Conference 2011? :)

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

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

Social Media Conference 2011 (#SMC2011) - A Wonderful Event Sponsored by the Texas Social Media Research Institute (TSMRI) (Conference Recap)

Readers,

Today was the BIG day! Here are several highlights and wonderful pictures from the event:

- #SMC2011 Registration began EARLY in the morning!

- We had an amazing presentation from Ms. Rossi-Scott, a lawyer who specializes in school law (she is based in Fort Worth/Arlington).

- We awarded TWO iPod Touch devices to conference attendees!

- Our university president, Dr. Dottavio welcomed conference attendees during our dessert reception!

- The Stephenville mayor, Ms. Nancy Hunter, welcomed conference attendees!

Here's our wonderful team!

Here is the registration form for the event!

http://www.tinyurl.com/SocialMediaConference2011Reg/

We have an amazing group of interns and faculty who are dedicated to this great event! More information about this event will be posted soon! :)

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

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

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

Social Media Conference 2011 (#SMC2011) - Tomorrow is the BIG Day!

Readers,

Tomorrow is the BIG day! One of my colleagues is traveling from New Orleans, LA to Stephenville, TX to attend the Social Media Conference and I am SUPER excited to see her! Dr. Lora Helvie-Mason is amazing! I cannot wait to HEAR her presentation!

Here are the final documents for the conference:

Conference Session Titles and Abstracts - LINK

Final Conference Schedule at a Glance (HTML Format) - LINK

Final Conference Schedule at a Glance (PDF Format) - LINK

PS - I cannot WAIT to sleep more than four hours on Saturday! This week has been rewarding, but very exhausting!

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

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

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

Social Media Conference 2011 (#SMC2011) - How We Marketed/Promoted the Event

Readers,

I thought that this would be a great time to share our marketing methods for the conference. 

- Our wonderful Marketing and Communications Department (Tarleton State University) posted an article focused on our conference. - LINK

- A great article was written about the conference by our campus newspaper, the J-Tac. - LINK

- Flyers were distributed across campus

- We were featured on the downtown marquee!

- Every student, faculty, and staff received e-mails from TSMRI in August, September, October, and November reminding them to register for the conference!

- We posted the conference on a WEALTH of social media, information sciences, and communication studies websites.

- We used social media (i.e. - Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, etc.) to communicate with potential attendees and sponsors!

Do you have any suggestions for next year? We would like to make the conference BIGGER and BETTER next November! :)


Sincerely,

J. Edwards

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

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41