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Daily Practice – Tools of the Trade

By Bonni Stachowiak | January 13, 2020 | | XFacebookLinkedInEmail

Tools

I was inspired by Bryan Alexander’s post on his Daily Practice: Tools of the Trade. If you aren't already familiar with Bryan, he is a higher education futurist who has quite an influence in our industry. He also wrote a kind post at the start of the new year about his recent visit on Teaching in Higher Ed:

Discussing the Future of Higher Ed with Bonni Stachowiak, A Podcaster Who Knows the Web

I enjoyed reading his appreciation for all the aspects of producing the show, such as taking the time creating show notes for each episode, transcripts, quote graphics, and then some. I had no idea that the transcript of his episode wound up being 17 pages. Amazing!

Back to Bryan's post about the tools he uses in his work. Here’s a treetop view of what I use to get my work done and facilitate other aspects of my life.

Writing

Two forms of writing require two different sets of tools:

  1. Longer-form writing (books, book chapters) – Microsoft Word. Despite all the bad-mouthing people do about Word, it is still the most fully-featured tool I know of for longer-form writing. A close second would be Scrivener on the Mac, but I just haven’t wanted to commit to the learning curve, since I know Microsoft Word like the back of my hand.
  2. Shorter-form writing (articles, blogs, etc.) – I often start writing in plain text using Ulysses. I write using a style called Markdown, which has text-based symbols to indicate where formatting belongs. 

Speaking

When I speak at a conference or am hired for a keynote or workshop, the following combination of tools helps me streamline the tasks – to free me up for the creative thinking end of things:

  1. Recent episodes, topics I present on, and how to get in touch – WordPress – Beaver Builder.
  2. List of all past and upcoming speaking engagements – WordPress, Beaver Builder, and a wonderful web designer. Naomi completely streamlined how I curate all my speaking resources.
  3. Cover slide in various sizes – Canva (pro version allows for magic resizing)
  4. Slide design – inspired regularly by Nancy Duarte, use a combination of Microsoft PowerPoint and Canva for slide designs
  5. Brainstorming and open loops for upcoming talks – Evernote
  6. Planned interaction (polling) for during talks – Glisser
  7. Resources page (sample) – WordPress page with Pretty Link (easier/shorter link for people to type in)
  8. Travel coordination – I’ve outlined my approaches on episode 261 with Dave Stachowiak and in a blog post.

Teaching

I had better be careful with this one, or I could write a few books on the topic. I’ll narrow myself down to the first nine tools of the trade that come to mind:

  1. PollEverywhere – One of my favorite tools for in-class retrieval practice. I poll students with questions that either have a correct answer, or ask for their perceptions/opinions. They answer on their smart phones. We get to interact far more than times when I lecture without some kind of approach like this. I typically have them be anonymous to invite even more participation.
  2. Quizlet Live – Once you have a set of flashcards on Quizlet – you can play a game in class with students where they have to collaborate together to come up with the right matches/answers. It is lively and engaging. Here’s a post where I talk about my experiences with Quizlet Live more.
  3. Canvas – This is the LMS we use at my institution. It is the best one I’ve ever used, coming from having used Blackboard (still do, sometimes), Moodle, and WebCT in the past. I like how easy it is to integrate other tools inside of Canvas. For example, if I want to connect Quizlet with Canvas, that’s something I can do without having to possess admin rights in Canvas. There are a lot of conversations happening regarding who owns student data within Canvas right now that are outside the scope of this list of tools.
  4. Canvas Studio – This service makes videos interactive, while still offering the “protection” that the walls of the LMS can provide. For example, if I want to add a YouTube video within studio, students can interact with me and with each other, without having to deal with all the messiness that online commenting invites. You can also upload your own videos and essentially have your own YouTube-like channel with videos you can use across the LMS (and beyond).
  5. PowerPoint – As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been inspired for years by Nancy Duarte – especially her book Slideology. Another person who has made an impact on my design approaches most recently is Oliver Caviglioli.
  6. Pinboard – having a place to store digital bookmarks is essential to me for keeping examples I use current in my classes and continually engaging with my personal knowledge management system (PKM). Here’s an example of all the bookmarks I have tagged (categorized) related to my technology and leadership doctoral class I teach as an adjunct a couple of times a year: EDD 703. I also keep track of things I want to share with the Teaching in Higher Ed community. Topics like ungrading that I continue to want to learn more about are saved on Pinboard, as well.
  7. AcuityScheduling – I’ve written for EdSurge about how we can get people to join us for office hours. One approach is to make it super easy for students, using an automated scheduling tool like AcuityScheduling. I especially like it because I can use it for “regular” office hours, but it also integrates with Zoom and I can have people book online appointments using Acuity, too.
  8. Zoom – speaking of Zoom – it is the absolute best online meeting service I have ever used. And I’ve been using them since the 1990s… It’s not even a close competition with the rest of these kinds of online conferencing tools.
  9. Meeting Owl Pro – Integrating flawlessly with Zoom (plug and play) is the Meeting Owl Pro. It is a 360 degree, smart video conference camera that allows virtual guests to see everyone in the meeting room who is with you. And hear everyone in the room. The Meeting Owl Pro is definitely my best find of 2019.

Collaborating

I tend to mostly meet people where they are, when it comes to collaboration. Here are a few of the ways I collaborate on projects with others:

  1. Microsoft Teams – I set up a Team for each major project and department I lead. We can track who has committed to what actions using Microsoft Planner (within Teams). Sharepoint lets us sync the files we share with our local computers. If I put a file in that folder on my computer, it automatically syncs it back over to SharePoint/Teams.
  2. Dropbox Paper – This collaborative writing space is the best I have ever used. I can share a link to a Dropbox Paper file and others can collaborate – without needing to have a Dropbox or other account.
  3. Google Docs – My monthly EdSurge Office Hours advice column gets edited using Google Docs, thanks to the wonderful Jeff Young.

Getting Stuff Done

I not only could write an entire book about this topic – I have. Consider pre-ordering your copy of The Productive Online and Offline Professor to learn more about how I set goals, manage my tasks and calendar, keep track of projects and items I have delegated, and how I avoid crashing and burning (by not having backups of my computer data, or having secure passwords).

Learning

I follow the practice of Personal Knowledge Mastery (PKM) in my commitment to lifelong learning. Harold Jarche is the person I’ve learned the most about PKM from… He was a guest on episode 213 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.

Here are some posts where I share more about PKM:

  1. My updated PKM system
  2. Practicing curation
  3. Cataloging course resources using PKM

Link: All of the podcast episodes on the topic of PKM

Communicating

I focus on enabling communication tools to work for me, instead of me working for them. That means I keep as few of notifications as I can (while still being accessible to our kids’ school, for example).

Email

  1. SaneBox – This service helps me keep my email from taking up more time than it deserves. It works on Gmail, Office 365, iCloud, or any email address.
  2. Mail – I use the regular mail client on my Mac.
  3. I avoid using email as a task manager and commit to achieving inbox zero once a day. Learn more about my approach way back on Episode 56. Discover even more about email management in my forthcoming book.

More email advice from an email emergency I experienced (how to organize folders, etc.)

Other communication tools

  1. Remind – An easy way to stay connected with my students, even when class isn’t in session. I can preschedule reminders about offsite visits, connect one-on-one with students – without sharing my personal cell number, and easily send photos, files, and other messages to an entire class.
  2. Disconnecting from the attention economy – Episode with Mike Truong – Teaching in the digital age.
  3. The kind of faculty to communicate with most often via my column on EdSurge.

I just finished reading Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. He recommends tangible practices we can use to help us get the most out of what digital tools have to offer, while leaving the rest behind. I highly recommend this book.

Your Turn

I would enjoy hearing what tools of the trade you are finding most essential these days…

 

Photo cred: Philip Swinburn on Unsplash

Filed Under: Productivity

Answers to 11 Questions

By Bonni Stachowiak | January 6, 2020 | | XFacebookLinkedInEmail

Question mark spray painted

Recently, Katie Linder recommended on her blog that we answer 11 questions, which were inspired by Tim Ferris. They come from his book Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World*. Here are Katie’s answers to the 11 questions, which I found so fun to read.

My Answers to 11 Questions

I thought I would try to tackle the questions for this week’s blog.

What is the book (or books) you’ve given most as a gift, and why? Or what are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?

The book I’ve given most as a gift is Richard N. Bolles’s What Color is Your Parachute?* The reason I find it to be a valuable gift is that it gives graduating seniors a structure to use to stay focused on job hunting. While they are in school, we tell them when papers are due and when the exams are scheduled.

As they look toward graduating, they often lack a system to carry them through the transition. It also helps them gain the most leverage with the time they spend in the various job-hunting activities. Spoiler alert – sending out unsolicited resumes won’t produce much fruit, as compared to relying on relationships.

The book that has influenced my leadership approach is Peter Block’s The Empowered Manager*. It also happens to be in second place for the book I have given as a gift most often. I view The Empowered Manager as an anecdote for burnout. Block proposes we have an inter-dependent relationship with our employers and transition from traditional hierarchical models.

I talk about this shift in my work life on Episode 208. I also share about it often on Dave’s (my husband’s) podcast: Coaching for Leaders.

What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)? 

I purchased an annual subscription for the Full Focus Planner from Michael Hyatt*. I bought it prior to recommending it on Teaching in Higher Ed episode 290 and before Dave and I entered into an affiliate relationship sharing about the planners with our podcast communities.

Full Focus PlannerOne of the many practices recommended in the planner is to identify a big three for each day. What are the three things I will focus on completing, beyond everything else that comes up? This has seriously helped me focus, in addition to making sure I am realistic about what a day may entail. For example, when I teach (once a week for three hours) – that is entered as one of my big three. I try to keep the other two wins as smaller items since teaching really does take up a big part of my Mondays.

Here’s another thing I really like about the Full Focus Planner* (well, it is really four planners, since the subscription gets you one planner for each quarter of the year). It is made with care and is such high quality. It has two bookmarks that can be used to save places you want to access frequently. It has an elastic band to keep it closed when you’re not using it. Unlike every other planner, it stays wide open on my desk when I am using it, which I didn’t realize I would appreciate so much until I was able to contrast it to other planners I’ve used.

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours?

It is a story that I don’t like to talk about very much. The transition was such an awful time in my life. I was laid off after 11 years working for the same company. I had earned a steady-and-growing paycheck for more than a decade. Living with unpredictable streams of revenue was challenging for me (it still is).

The reason I decide to talk about it, despite it not always being my favorite story to tell, is that these seasons can bring about shifts in our lives that we eventually find to be even more suited to our strengths and passions. William Bridges wrote a book called Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes*, that is very good on this topic.

For those of you who have read it – let’s just say it was a ride of a lifetime in the neutral zone.

Bridges also has a wonderful leadership book on the topic of change called: Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change*. I have been revisiting it recently, after having been promoted to dean at my institution.

If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it — metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to millions or billions — what would it say and why? It could be a few words or a paragraph. (If helpful, it can be someone else’s quote: Are there any quotes you think of often or live your life by?)

One message I would love to see get out to millions of people would have to do with worry. Dale Carnegie prescribed a method for this in his book: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living*.

It begins with a counter-intuitive step of imagining what the worst thing that could happen is… Once that beast has a name, it is easier to put it into perspective and begin to move to step two.

Next, we prepare to accept that worst thing. When I bought my first house, I was troubled by doing this alone. I thought you were supposed to be married when you made that kind of a purchase. My husband is glad I took the risk back then and also realized how empowering it can be to own your own property as a single person.

My Mom had me brainstorm what the worst thing that could happen if I took the plunge. The big fear was that I might lose my job and wind up needing to live with them for a few years, until I was back on my feet. I never wound up needing to do that, but it truly didn’t seem like such an awful outcome, all things being equal. Preparing to accept the worst allowed me to feel more confident in making the decision to purchase the home.

Finally, Carnegie recommends taking steps to avoid needing to accept that worst outcome. In my case, I could have an emergency fund, which would allow me to carry through difficult financial times, should they come along after committing to a 30-year mortgage.

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living* has a lot of other practical approaches we can use to put worry on the back burner. Even though it was written all those decades ago, Carnegie’s advice still rings true.

What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made? (Could be an investment of money, time, energy, etc.)

The Productive Online and Offline ProfessorI invested a lot of time and money in setting up a productivity system that I can trust.

By that, I mean that I know that things won’t fall through the cracks, unless I am aware of them and decide to renegotiate my commitments and focus on them at a later time.

If you are interested in my approach and the tools I use, consider pre-ordering my forthcoming book:

The Productive Online and Offline Professor*

What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?

I don’t think I have any unusual habits. One thing that amuses people is that I do enjoy the smell of manure. It reminds me of getting to go to horse camp as a young person.

I stayed for two weeks and was able to take care of “my own” horse during that time. I have such fond memories of those experiences and am reminded of them whenever I come across that scent.

They built some new houses near where we live that backed up to a horse ranch recently. We do not, by any means, live in a rural area, but there just happen to be some equestrian properties in the town we drive through often to take our kids to school.

I thought it would be so cool to get to take in that smell every day. Fortunately, more practical minds prevailed and we still live in the same place we did before. It was better for a whole host of reasons, not to mention that no one else that I know has that same fondness for manure smells.

In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life?

One of the practices we have really had to hone these past five years around here is having a place for everything. With two kids, ages five and seven, there are always a lot of “things” coming and going. It seems like every weekend, there’s a kids’ birthday party, resulting in some kind of goody bag coming home.

My work generates a lot of paperwork and I strive to convert all of it to electronic form. Whenever I find things getting cluttered, it is almost always because whatever things are sitting out don’t have a place where they belong.

What advice would you give to a smart, driven college student about to enter the “real world”? What advice should they ignore?

I try to avoid using the phrase “real world” when talking to smart, driven college students. I used to say that, but found that it could come across as patronizing, as they tend to perceive that they already are living in the “real world” and for me to think otherwise is insulting.

In general, I find that many recent alums have challenges managing their time and their money upon graduation. Jane Bryant Quinn’s book on Making the Most of Your Money Now* is more than ten years old, but still contains the best advice I’ve ever received about money. As for managing their time, I recommend David Allen’s Getting Things Done*.

Advice they should ignore is to do something they love. Yes, find meaning in your work. But early in our careers, we can have unrealistic expectations about the first few years and what that experience will be like, that it can actually hold us back from experiencing authentic joy in our lives.

More on this can be found on episode 54 in my conversation with Jonathan Malesic (who is far more eloquent on this topic than I’ll ever be).

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?

A lot of bad recommendations stem from not trusting students. When we focus our pedagogy and systems on catching people who might be cheating, or may not be working to their fullest extent or capabilities, we lose the greatest things teaching has to offer.

Here are some reflections on trusting our students on Hybrid Pedagogy by Amy Hasinoff.

In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations, etc.)? What new realizations and/or approaches helped? Any other tips?

My biggest advice on saying no is recognizing that with every no answer you give, you are freeing yourself up to say yes to something more directly related to your priorities, dreams, and sense of meaning.

Greg McKeown’s book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less*, provides lots of practical approaches to use in saying no. I don’t take it quite as far as what he recommends, but have heard his words echoing in my years for long enough to affirm what a difference reading his book made for me in my life.

I would also recommend reading some of Michael Hyatt’s posts on saying no, as they are quite helpful.

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? (If helpful: What questions do you ask yourself?)

I have an app I have been using over the last couple of months called Focus I use to block applications and websites that have the potential to distract me while I’m working. I set it for a certain amount of time (usually 50 minutes) and it redirects me, if my mind starts to wander and so do my mouse and keyboard.

I am also such a big fan of walks. My friend and colleague, Shannon, and I walk together on almost a daily basis. This time helps us have greater energy and focus when we return. Also, it is almost like having short meetings together, daily, to catch up on work stuff. We are in the same department and always have lots to talk about and strategize on.

Your Turn

If you wind up answering the 11 questions, I would love to see your post. Alternatively, feel free to share your answer to just one of the questions with me.

Photo cred: Evan Dennis on Unsplash

* denotes affiliate links

Filed Under: Productivity

Top 19 Episodes in 2019

By Bonni Stachowiak | December 30, 2019 | | XFacebookLinkedInEmail

Sparkler - decorative

It’s been quite a year for Teaching in Higher Ed. We celebrated one million downloads of the podcast with episode 250 and a profile in The Chronicle of Higher Education. In May, EdTech named the podcast (and me) in their list of 30 Higher Education IT Influencers. I was able to share about podcasting in higher education in an interview with PUPN Magazine’s Rachel James Clevenger.

2019 brought another set of expert guests to the podcast. I have learned so much from each person who has joined me on the show and have enjoyed such rich interactions with many members of the listening community throughout the year.

Top downloaded 19 episodes in 2019

19 | Episode 250 | One in a Million | Bonni and Dave Stachowiak

18 | Episode 244 | Create Online Mashups that Ignite Curiosity | Michael Britt

17 | Episode 248 | Surveying Social and Open Learning | Debbie Baff

16 | Episode 245 | The Fullness of Our Humanity as Teaching and Student | Terri Jett

15 | Episode 259 | Intentional and Transparent Assessment | Natasha Jankowski

14 | Episode 272 | Inclusified Teaching Evaluation | Viji Sathy and Kelly Hogan

13 | Episode 247 | Reclaiming the Narrative on the Value of Higher Education | Eddie Watson

12 | Episode 255 | AHSIE Conference Reflections | Bonni Stachowiak

11 | Episode 269 | Removing Learning Barriers with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) | Jennifer Pusateri

10 | Episode 249 | Mindset, Metacognition, and Math | Silvia Heubach

09 | Episode 271 | The Missing Course | David Gooblar

08 | Episode 273 | Engaging Learners in Large Classes | Bonni Stachowiak

07 | Episode 251 | Annotating the Marginal Syllabus | Remi Kalir

06 | Episode 252 | Ownership, Equity, and Agency in Faculty Development | Maha Bali and Autumm Caines

05 | Episode 253 | Spaces and Places (and Nudges) | José Bowen

04 | Episode 256 | Creating Wicked Students | Paul Hanstedt

03 | Episode 263 | Recipes for Effective Teaching | Elizabeth Barkley

02 | Episode 254 | Stop Talking, Start Influencing | Jared Horvath

01 | Episode 258 | Paying the Price | Sara Goldrick-Rab

2020 Focus

As I think about what to focus on for Teaching in Higher Ed in 2020, here are three top-of-mind ideas:

Experiment with ways to extend the reach of the podcast

I can’t write too much about this yet, as we are in the early stages of planning. Let’s just say that 2020 will mean that Teaching in Higher Ed goes on the road at least once – to join an event I have always wanted to attend.

I received an invitation I just couldn’t pass up, so we are starting to make plans for how to record remotely and capture some powerful stories and pedagogies. I will share more as we finalize our plans.

Continue to connect with a diverse group of expert guests

In 2019, we had two significant partnerships that helped us do this even more than in past years:

  1. The California State University partnered with us on a series of episodes on faculty innovation and leadership.
  2. ACUE continued providing us with recommended guests on a monthly basis, as they had done in prior years.
  3. Members of the Teaching in Higher Ed community used the online form to recommend guests, and also provided suggestions via the Teaching in Higher Ed Slack Group. We also have a Trello board which I open up to completionists – who have listened to every episode of the podcast – for them to make more targeted suggestions. 

As I look through the back catalog of episodes, it is exciting to see that we addressed a rich array of topics throughout the year and contributed to the broader conversation about pedagogy in a higher education context. 

Continue to find ways to defer the cost of producing the podcast

Producing Teaching in Higher Ed has proven to be a costly endeavor. We now own professional podcasting equipment both for our home studio, as well as the one I've set up at my work – so I have more flexibility in when I can conduct interviews. There are web hosting fees, podcast editing, podcast production, and transcript costs. We work on finding creative ways to defer some of these costs, to make the podcast more sustainable over the long haul. 

These methods currently include:

  1. Doing paid speaking events to the tune of around 4-5 times per year – find out more on my speaking page. You can also check out the resource pages for all my prior speaking events via the all-speaking page. 
  2. Taking on paid sponsorships that align with products and services I would otherwise recommend word-of-mouth – find out more on the sponsorships page. I am projecting that we will have 2-3 sponsorships per month in 2020, though I would love to increase this even more to have a sponsor for each episode that airs.
  3. Using affiliate links for the books and other products that get recommended on the various episodes. If you’re interested in seeing some of these items, they are consolidated on the recommendations page.
  4. ACUE has started sponsoring the transcripts for each episode, which has helped us be able to continue to provide these resources without having to take the costs on, ourselves.

I have been considering starting a Patreon page for a couple of years now, but haven’t ever taken the plunge. I have enjoyed supporting two people who use Patreon to support their work: Alan Levine and Audrey Watters. Even though my donations are quite minimal, it feels good to know I’m contributing to the larger picture of them being able to continue doing what they do. I may launch a Patreon page in 2020, but am going to hold off for a bit to focus more on the bigger priorities for the start of the year.

Thanks for reading down to the end of this post. If you have a favorite episode from 2019 (or any year, really), I would love to hear about it.

Photo cred: Jamie Street on Unsplash

Filed Under: Resources

Celebrating the Decade

By Bonni Stachowiak | November 27, 2019 | | XFacebookLinkedInEmail

Confetti

I have enjoyed seeing various members of the higher education community write about what has happened in their lives over the course of this last decade. I'm inspired to share some of what has transpired in my life these past ten years.

ACADEMIC PROMOTION. I received tenure early in the decade, as well as promotion to associate professor. As we near the end of this ten-year period, I'm applying for full professor. Those of us who submitted our portfolios won't find out until 2020 the results of our applications.

Stachowiak kids

CHILDREN. After more seasons than I feel like counting, we finally were able to have our first child in 2012 – and then two years later, had a second. Our children are one of the absolute joys of my life.

Sample episodes of Teaching in Higher Ed

PODCAST. In June of 2014, I started the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, thanks to a lot of nudging from Dave. Nothing has shaped my teaching more than these opportunities to speak to amazing educators from around the world.

LOSSES.  Three of my colleagues passed away from cancer during this period. I can still feel the weight of the grief ever-present in our community. Mary Wilson (librarian) introduced me to writers and thinkers who helped me be able to better integrate my politics with my religious beliefs. Sheri Benvenuti had such a powerful blend of humor, grace, and strength. Elizabeth Leonard had a tremendous capacity to find interdisciplinary ways to extend her research on women who had been incarcerated for defending themselves against abusive husbands. She wouldn't hold back in sharing her perspectives on things, but would transition the conversations back to action with her use of the word: nevertheless… Yes, these are the challenges we face, but nevertheless… Then, we would get back to the work.

CHANGE OF FOCUS. I took on an administrative faculty role a few years back: director of teaching excellence and digital pedagogy. Leadership at the time had wanted me to become the institution's director of online learning, but I wasn't interested in a role that targeted only one way of facilitating learning. However, when I shared a broader vision for what role I would like to play at the institution, they decided to change the focus.

Stachowiak family with Canvas Panda mascot

PARTNERSHIP. Dave and I have had our relationship continued to grow and evolve. I love watching him as a parent and how well he cares for our kids. I also enjoy that even after almost 15 years of marriage, I still look forward to talking with him about things we're passionate about. Some of those conversations even get recorded on his podcast – Coaching for Leaders Q&A episodes.

Speaking engagement at Sam Houston State University

SPEAKING. I started doing more keynote speaking and workshops in 2017. I'm thankful for each organization that has trusted me to come in and share stories and inspiration toward better teaching. I even drove through a snowstorm in Nebraska and learned that there are not-one-but-two convention centers in Miami.

EdSurge Column Graphic

WRITING. I also was paid for the first time to write something. EdSurge launched my monthly advice column in 2018. Toward Better Teaching: Office Hours with Bonni Stachowiak helps me connect what I've learned through hosting the podcast and in my own higher ed teaching these past 15 years with my goal of serving others and giving back. I'm also thankful for the opportunity to be guided through all of this by the ever-capable Jeffrey R. Young, senior editor at EdSurge.

PROMOTION. In August of 2019, I became the dean of teaching and learning at Vanguard University. I continue to lead our Institute for Faculty Development, but I am also overseeing the people who lead our library, student success initiatives, and academic resource center. We are just starting to dream together about possibilities, but I can say that there are great things in store as we work to serve our students and faculty even better than we do today.

BOOK. It looks like it probably isn't quite going to happen in this decade, but in early 2020, The Productive Online and Offline Professor will be released. The work that we do as professors is essential, yet there can often be the sense that there just isn't enough time to do all we want to accomplish. This book seeks to identify those areas where we can identify our priorities and focus on the most essential areas to focus on. I also share ways to save time on the seemingly small stuff, to give us greater freedom to be more fully present for our students and other people who are important to us.

Please consider pre-ordering your copy today, so it gets to you right away once it gets released early in the year.


Thanks for joining me in revisiting this past decade with me.

These past few months have brought some fun speaking engagements and presentation opportunities. Here are just a few links to resources from those talks that may be of interest to you:

  • Leverage Social Media to Extend and Express Your Teaching and Learning Center's Values, Katie Linder + Bonni Stachowiak at the POD Annual Conference
  • Igniting Our Collective Imagination at Sam Houston State University's Teaching and Learning Conference
  • Productive Productivity at Sam Houston State University's Teaching and Learning Conference

If any of you have tweeted, blogged, or otherwise shared about what has transpired for you over the last decade, I would love to read your reflections.

 

Filed Under: Productivity

What to Do Instead of Asking for Questions

By Bonni Stachowiak | November 15, 2019 | | XFacebookLinkedInEmail

Packed suitcase

I tend to still feel nervous when I travel. When I was in my twenties, I took a trip to London. Somehow, in the fog of the morning packing, I had left all of my nylons (back when they were often considered essential business wear for women) and every single pair of underwear for the trip, sitting on my bed in my apartment.

As most of you who have travelled will realize right away, the story has a happy ending. As Dave tries to gently remind me, even all these years later, “They have stores where you’re going. You know you can always buy things.”

It was a bit more difficult procuring my items back then, however. I first had to discover that I would need to learn that what I was actually searching for was referred to in that region as knickers and tights. The new language helped a lot. Plus, I got to discover the amazing place that Herrod’s is… and buy some items that I never would have found back home.

When students first come on our campuses, they have a whole set of vocabulary to learn, as well. Especially for those who are the first in their families to attend college, there will be strange social norms to adapt to and words to discover related both to their academic disciplines and higher education in general.

Three of my colleagues and I are in the process of earning a Hispanic Serving Institute teaching certificate from ESCALA. The founder of ESCALA, Melissa Salazar, was on episode 264 to provide us with an overview of the various ways to serve our Hispanic students. On November 27, Janue Johnson, who I met at the ESCALA training will join me to share about our respective experiences and ongoing learning.

One of the activities we did following the training was to video ourselves teaching and use a teaching self observation instrument to denote what was happening in the class at the time. We indicate who was talking during each two minutes of the recording. During those short durations, we attempt to categorize what is happening. Are non-rhetorical questions being asked? Are students discussing a topic?

While there are always things I want to improve each time I observe my teaching, I did walk away from the analysis feeling good at the fact that it was fairly even between who was talking: me or the students, with a slight bit more of the words being said by the students.

It pleased me that they seemed so comfortable to ask me what I meant by something, or to probe for me to share more. We were debriefing a speaker event that we had attended the week prior. Everyone had something to share, something that was made evident as I listened to the conversation pop back and forth between us and as noted on the classroom observation instrument that each student had made at least one substantive comment during the discussion.

I was meeting with a couple of students the other day who are planning a series of events. I inquired as to whether or not they have thought about serving refreshments. One of them stopped to tell me that she wasn’t familiar with the word refreshments. It was just like my early years of professional work when someone said they were going to have some libations… I enjoyed how easy it was for her to stop me to clarify the meaning and thought about how much more learning happens when we are comfortable enough to ask.

Some people try to create that same type of comfort level for people get clarification on a term or concept whenever they need it by periodically stopping to ask if anyone has any questions. In my experience, this technique doesn’t work very well. It’s only in the immediate moments of misunderstanding that we have the greatest opportunities for people to inquire. If I wait to ask who has questions, I have probably missed the moment that someone actually did want to ask something.

Instead, I work to reduce the power distance in my classes. Sometimes that can mean re-arranging the chairs into a more conversational structure, with no real front of the class. It can mean leaving room for silence and other voices besides mine. Much of the time, it means not taking myself too seriously, but placing that focus on the students and the learning.

I don’t get it right every time. Just like when I pack for trips, I still forget things. I’m sitting in my hotel room in Pittsburgh at the POD conference realizing that while I have my winter jacket here, I neglected to bring any long sleeved shirts or any kind of a sweatshirt.

When we mess things up, it’s time to get creative. Our students appreciate our transparency and what these experiences teach them about handling failure. And when we’re in a cold hotel room with just a bulky winter coat to protect us from the cold, marble top of the room’s desk, we can always wear the hotel room’s robe over our clothes and thank goodness for those long sleeves.


While it probably hardly seems like the right time for me to be dolling out advice, here are a few travel-related resources:

  • Episode 261 on Productive Travel
  • Pack it Up blog post (I still really recommend the Pack Point app)
  • Tools for Travel (This is one of those posts that has gold in the comments section – thanks especially to Robert Talbert. Also, I started paying for the pro version of TripIt and have found it to be totally worth it.)

Photo credit: Brandless on Unsplash

Filed Under: Teaching

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