Teaching in Higher Ed

Productivity

For when you need a break from your Spring break

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FOR WHEN YOU NEED A

It is Spring break at my university, so it is the absolute perfect time to be sick (meant to be read in a voice dripping with sarcasm).

Instead of focusing my writing this week on approaches to help us become more effective teachers or tools to enhance our productivity, I've got some recommendations for those of you who might be looking for a break from all that.

Books

Savvy, by Ingrid Law – Sean Michael Morris recommended this book back on episode #087. It is a delightful book for middle-age kids (and adults who love a captivating story). I'm so glad to know there's more to the story than just this first book.

Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream, by Joshua Davis – My colleague recommended this book and I knew I would enjoy it just from the title. It reminded me a lot of the hope offered in the book The Boy who Harnessed the Wind. Such a great adventure in learning and justice.

Videos

We, the Economy – 20 short films you can't afford to miss – I found these videos while on a bit of a Twitter exploration. Morgan Spurlock is just one of the many talented directors who contributed to these films.

Television

The Mindy Project – I've also been enjoying binge-watching The Mindy Project on Hulu. Her narcissism is fun to watch and we can tell that deep down beneath, she really does care.

TV: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – While I have yet to find any students who watch The Mindy Project, many of them are regular viewers of John Oliver's show on HBO. Technically, most of them don't watch it on HBO and they don't watch the entire show. YouTube has the clips of his 19-minute monologues, including his recent dive into the encryption debate going on  between Apple and the FBI.

That's it for now.

My next work-related book is going to be James Lang's latest book – Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning. He's on the Teaching in Higher Ed Podcast this Thursday, so keep your ears on your podcast player. It's a good one!

 

Leverage the Due App in your teaching and productivity

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LEVERAGE THE DUE APP

I mentioned in a recent episode how much I'm getting out of using the Due App.

When I had Natalie Houston on the show, she inspired me to make more use of timers in my teaching and productivity. Here are some of the places she has written about her use of timers:

As I started to find multiple uses for timers in my life, I ran into a challenge. As soon as the timer went off and I turned off the alarm, the item quickly went out of my head.

Enter the Due App.

I don't have that problem with the Due App. I set a “timer” and it keeps bugging me however often I tell it to… If I get distracted in the moments following a reminder to take care of something, I quickly get my attention pulled back by the next alert.

Here are a few ways I'm using the Due App reminders in my teaching and productivity:

Meeting with students. What I enjoy the most about teaching are the one-on-one conversations I get to have with students. That means that I frequently lose track of time and run the risk of missing something urgent. Now I set up an alert in the Due App for five minutes before our conversation is supposed to end and set it up to buzz me every five minutes after that. You have complete control over how often it will bug you.

Committee meetings. I'm charing a few committees this semester and often have to squeeze the meetings in between my teaching schedule. I set a Due alarm for ten minutes before the meeting is supposed to end and then for each five minutes after that.

Reminders to take / pick up students' exams that are being proctored by the disabilities office. I like to do blind grading for exams. That doesn't work very well if I don't have the students' exams with me who have had their exams administered by another person. I set a Due reminder to nudge me to pick up their exams from the office prior to me leaving the office and heading home. Then, I can be sure to grade their exams along with everyone else's.

As I was researching stuff for this post, I discovered that there are also reusable timers as a feature of the app. They give the example of a Pomodoro timer that you might launch when doing a burst of productivity. Maybe you have a set period of time for each time you brew tea, or start a load of laundry in the washer? You can reuse the timers anytime you want to perform that activity that could use a set duration of time.

There are so many possibilities that I know things are  just getting started.

I just bought the Due App for the Mac and look forward to syncing all my reminders between my Apple Watch, iPhone and Mac.

[reminder]Are there apps you're using in place of a “traditional” timer to keep tasks top of mind for yourself? [/reminder]

Every book in its place

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Dark wood book shelf with old books
Dark wood book shelf with old books

I am starting my initial preparation for a presentation I'll be giving at the 2016 Lilly Conference in Newport Beach, CA in February.

As I went to search for Dan Roam's Show and Tell book, which has a method for outlining presentations, I discovered a book I have been looking for on my shelves for more than a year now. It is unusual for me to lose books, since I have a pretty good system going for cataloging them.

Most organizing experts all have some way of stating that everything should have a place that it belongs. I find whenever I lose things, or start to get messy, it is because I have acquired items that have yet to find a “home” either in my university or home office.

In my delight over my discovery of the lost book, I decided to describe a few of the approaches I use to ensure that my books have a place.

Group physical books by category and label them

Decades ago, my Mom used to work in a bookstore and is pretty much the family librarian. She has twice now helped me categorize my books through two moves. Thank you Mom.

In order to maintain the categories that she set up, I printed labels using my label maker.

IMG_0563

I used an index card, folded down about an inch from the end of the card, with a label with the relevant category attached.

Devote a space near your primary working desk for books you're using this semester

I tend to read the majority of my books these days via either my iPad or my Kindle. The big exception to that is that I tend to read hardcopy textbooks. I use them more than any other books during a given semester.

IMG_0559

It makes it simple having them all grouped together within arm's reach of where I do the majority of my focused work.

Weed out old books once a year and consider donating them

On a recent episode of Very Bad Wizards, the hosts spoke about their powerful experiences in teaching prison inmates.

One need they mentioned was for textbooks for inmates. This isn't something I have done before, but through a bit of searching found the Prison Book Program and Books Through Bars as a couple of organizations that may help facilitate your giving.

There's also a listing by the Prison Book Program website for other prison book programs, in case none of the options above serve in your area. Again, I can't vouch for these organizations and welcome any feedback you have in the comments section.

Another idea for donating books is to consider giving to Books for Africa.

Consider transitioning to ebooks

As I mentioned previously, most of my new reading takes place via my iPad or my Kindle. It is great to have all my highlights in one place and have the ability to search annotations that I've made previously.

When reading electronic books, there's no longer a physical book that needs to be stored. You can let whatever service you use keep all your books organized and avoid spending more than a year looking for that one missing book, like me.

I also enjoy using Goodreads to catalog books that I've read and even to share with the grandparents the books that our kids own.

[reminder]What methods do you use to keep your books organized?[/reminder]

 

 

It's that time in the semester

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stress

I'm in the midst of the most challenging part of my semester.

It's called the dip.

I just finished grading 95 research papers (industry analyses), launched a doctoral class I teach a couple of times a year, and am gearing up for a couple of experiential learning activities for my sales class that require considerable coordination.

While I type this blog, I yearn for a nap.

I also know, however, that things aren't anywhere near as bad as they have been in the past, because I follow a set of principles that keep me sane during times like this.

Capture

It is easy to get overwhelmed with all the stuff we have to do. However, it is also easy to get overwhelmed at all the stuff we are trying to hold in our head that needs doing.

I take the time out to do a daily “mind dump” of what has my attention… of all the stuff I feel like I'm forgetting. When I'm confident that the system I have built has identified everything that needs to get done, I can prioritize where to start and what comes after that.

Track

Any time I think of something (or someone) that I'm waiting on, I make a note of that. In my case, I use OmniFocus, which has this as a built-in part of their applications. However, any list-making tool can have a waiting-for list easily incorporated into it.

Rest

This one is easier for me than for others I know. I just am dreadful at sleep deprivation, so I can't function when I'm exhausted.

As my day is coming to a close, I look at the following day's calendars and figure out the minimum things that have to get done in order to not drop the ball on anything important and then I go to sleep.

Reflect

The temptation is for me to lose perspective at this time of the semester. It helps to keep letters from former students nearby, as well as pictures of my family in spots where I'll see them often.

There's a reason I teach. If I allow stress to overtake my entire perspective, I stop being effective at what I do. I'm no longer good at teaching, I'm not fully present for my family, and I'm not enjoying all the good stuff that comes my way on a daily basis.

What things do you do to keep your stress in check during the challenging times of the semester? 

It’s that time in the semester

By | | | XFacebookLinkedInEmail

stress

I'm in the midst of the most challenging part of my semester.

It's called the dip.

I just finished grading 95 research papers (industry analyses), launched a doctoral class I teach a couple of times a year, and am gearing up for a couple of experiential learning activities for my sales class that require considerable coordination.

While I type this blog, I yearn for a nap.

I also know, however, that things aren't anywhere near as bad as they have been in the past, because I follow a set of principles that keep me sane during times like this.

Capture

It is easy to get overwhelmed with all the stuff we have to do. However, it is also easy to get overwhelmed at all the stuff we are trying to hold in our head that needs doing.

I take the time out to do a daily “mind dump” of what has my attention… of all the stuff I feel like I'm forgetting. When I'm confident that the system I have built has identified everything that needs to get done, I can prioritize where to start and what comes after that.

Track

Any time I think of something (or someone) that I'm waiting on, I make a note of that. In my case, I use OmniFocus, which has this as a built-in part of their applications. However, any list-making tool can have a waiting-for list easily incorporated into it.

Rest

This one is easier for me than for others I know. I just am dreadful at sleep deprivation, so I can't function when I'm exhausted.

As my day is coming to a close, I look at the following day's calendars and figure out the minimum things that have to get done in order to not drop the ball on anything important and then I go to sleep.

Reflect

The temptation is for me to lose perspective at this time of the semester. It helps to keep letters from former students nearby, as well as pictures of my family in spots where I'll see them often.

There's a reason I teach. If I allow stress to overtake my entire perspective, I stop being effective at what I do. I'm no longer good at teaching, I'm not fully present for my family, and I'm not enjoying all the good stuff that comes my way on a daily basis.

What things do you do to keep your stress in check during the challenging times of the semester?