Recently the Associated Press (AP) made a decision to include its allowed vocabulary a word that had served as a type of shibboleth between those who considered themselves grammar patricians and those with a more proletariat sense of grammar. AP style now allows writers to use the word "hopefully" in their reporting. Although this might appear to be a minor change from a somewhat stuffy organization, the point is that grammar and word usage are fluid in nature and continually changing.

Given…

Noel Tichy (2004) argues that all leaders must have a "teachable point of view." In other words, a philosophy of what it means to lead. In my opinion, because we as teachers are leaders; we too need our own philosophy. One way to construct or uncover our "teachable points of view" is by asking our selves what our purpose in life is and then applying it to our work. Below is an adapted post I originally wrote here (http://happinessapplied.blogspot.com/2010/04/life-planning-and-our-calling.html)…

Being an online instructor affords a good amount of autonomy within the classroom. With such autonomy, however, comes decision making. We continually face decisions such as, how to manage our classrooms, how to manage our students, what material we present to augment the prescribed curricula, and how we set our priorities. Additionally, we face decisions regarding whether or not to use a universal standard in our grading or use an individualistic matrix according to a student's progress, to…

I constantly wonder what to blog about with teaching.  Infinite choices make it hard for me to choose. As instructors, what do we care about the most that we are not blogging.  I know I want my students to learn life lessons as much as they learn academics. College is more than academics.  Is there anything missing from online teaching that we are able to provide? Colleagues, please share your thoughts with me. I have not written because of this block. Many passions, many thoughts, many…

Understanding  the directions and expectations for assignments presented in a new course syllabus can prove to be confusing, frustrating, and represent significant challenges to students.  It is difficult for students to deliver what is hoped for and expected when what is hoped for and expected is unclear. 

Every time I welcome and engage a new class, I contemplate ways for how I can make it easier for students to understand the syllabus and what will be expected of them from assignment to…

Recently, I was sitting in class where the facilitator was lecturing about the importance of building trust with those we lead in our organizations. The teacher pointed out that Stephen M.R. Covey says that Trust is Competence plus Character, and that leaders can expect things only to work well in trust filled environments (Covey, 2008). As I believe that teaching is a direct form of leadership, I started thinking "how can I build trust in my online classes?" I came up with a few obvious and a…

Organizational have often used various positioning strategies to determine their relative strength in their respective marketplaces. One such strategy is to measure an organizations strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This strategy is commonly referred to in the business realm as SWOT. The SWOT schema focuses on two primary categories: internal and external. The strength and weakness aspects of this matrix are internal measures focusing on an organizations capability. The threat…

Recently, I went on a trip to Washington DC and had the chance to tour the Pentagon. Amazingly, this building, that was the largest in the world when it was built, was completed in 18 months! This really got me thinking- "If the Pentagon could be built in 18 months, why does it take forever to finish a freeway?" And more personally "Why do I take forever to get tasks completed?"

The answer, I believe, and the one that may be helpful for us as teachers, is encapsulated in what is known as…

I have never been a fan of student writing models.  To me, they were a banner of mediocrity that prompts a student writer to think, "Oh, that's all we have to do?"  Why set a bar for a student? Would not John Steinbeck trump any student's essay in beginning English composition?

Such lofty thoughts quickly dissipated as I recently hunkered down in my own classes, in the role of a student. The instructor has posted a model assignment in each lesson. With a sigh of relief and confidence to move…