A couple years back this very writing project produced a book about first year teaching and shared some thoughts about “Things I Wish I Would Have Known” during that first year. One thought I had was that the book could
Category: schooling
Todd Likes Crafts
I loved the wood shop class in high school! We were asked to make all the usual stuff, but I always went a little further with my projects. I was not satisfied with the knotty pine we were given to
Let Me Express Myself
I am going to choose to represent what I am trying to convey in some text, a couple of images, and in a video. Why three things you might ask? Well, I just don’t want to have to type all
A Day at the Improv
The current of the class is driven by the sway and swerve of student questions and interests that are smashed upon the rocks of my authoritative guesses at what they need to know related to the course content and in
Todd Learns to Copy Stuff
As a former poet, I only copied the words of amazing people that were somehow scrambled up in my head. I mean really, what else can a poor poet do? And I learned something recently about copying a Google document,
A Revived Podcast Post I Liked
This post originally appeared on uwbdli.com, a site that no longer exists. This morning, a colleague from Arizona asked for some suggestions for podcasts. A few people answered the call. Lovely friends and colleagues, I need suggestions of academic and/or
That Kind of Faculty Handbook
No, not that kind. Not one of the one of the policy laden, awash in lawyerese filled jargon that you skim through like a privacy notice made so small you cannot actually read it. No, not that kind. Not one
Putting Play Back into PD
I am off the the Online Learning Consortium Innovate Conference in Denver later this month. My presentation for the event is about adding a bit more “play” into the process of faculty development. Over the years, I have attended enough
This Badge of Wrangler of Writing
I cast my 9x9x25 vote for Terry Greene and pin upon him this badge of Wrangler of Writing. Perhaps it can go by his other notable badges. Particularly, the True Friend badge from the infamous Talky Tina. He used his
KitchenAids, Cookies, and the LMS
We have a wonderful cobalt blue KitchenAid mixer. It is well used. And it is well loved. It matches the hand towels in the kitchen, the antique blue vases and glasses, some of the art on the walls and our
More Songs about Buildings and Food
Not only is the Talking Heads album “More Songs About Buildings and Food” one of my all-time favorite collections of music, but it reminds me of many of the challenges I come across in my work with faculty. And administrative
Adrift – Somewhere Between Silly and Serious
I have lost a lot of listeners. My arms waving around wildly as I talk is just too damn distracting. In headshot videos, I blink so often that certainly people watching are just counting all the blinks knowing I am