Todd Zakrajsek speaks about developing metacognition skills in our students. Podcast notes Todd Zakrajsek, Ph.D. Todd speaks at TEDxUNC Metacognition Todd’s two unusually low grades in college Our brain as a smart phone Working out our brains Multitasking Music, sleep, and exercise Defining terms Tools Asleep app on iOS Android white noise app Logitech wireless presenter Help students draw less cognitive energy on exams by giving them a preview of what it will be like to take a test in your class Anytime you’re surprised, stop and think about why you were surprised and what just happened. Next steps Attend one of the Lilly Conferences Read one of Todd’s books The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony with Your Brain Learner-centered Teaching: Putting the Research on Learning into Practice Todd agrees to come back to Teaching in Higher Ed later this year to share about his new book: Teaching for Learning: 101 Intentionally Designed Education Activities to Put Students on the Path to Success Recommendations Bonni recommends: Dropbox’s new commenting feature Todd recommends: f.lux Forest app  

Bonni Stachowiak suggests strategies for ending well. Podcast notes Ending well Guard against student fatigue Sleep deprived Focused on the short term Challenged by their context Thinking a lot about context, especially after speaking with Steve Wheeler on episode #038) Beware the temptation to vent Josh Eyler reminded us of this on episode #016 Research shows it doesn’t help There was that research that said cursing helps, though Recognize their achievements Demonstrate how the learning objectives have been attained Have them articulate the value they have received Administer the course evaluations professionally All sorts of concerns over evaluations Students don’t realize the gaps that occur in the evaluation process in higher ed We wonder if they are in a position to properly evaluate our teaching (recent thread on the POD listserv re: what even to call course evaluations; student experience of teaching (Debra Gilchrist from Pierce College in Lakewood WA, Ed Nuhfer wrote about the importance of separating assessment (various ways to assess student learning) from evaluations of people who strive to facilitate learning. Take more breaks Apple Watch – standing alert Penn state experimenting w/ Apple Watch to measure student learning this Fall Frasier Spiers on presenting with an Apple Watch Set timers Natalie Houston spoke about this on episode #034 Recommendations Bonni recommends: We all love Ella: Celebrating the first lady of song In particular: You are the sunshine of my life: duet with Stevie Wonder… [  ]  Contribute to episode 50 of Teaching in Higher Ed Call and leave a message with a take-away you have from listening to the show and a recommendation for the community. 949-38-LEARN

Aaron Daniel Annas and I converse about how we have calibrated our teaching over time. Podcast Notes Calibrating our Teaching Aaron Daniel Annas Assistant professor of cinema arts Faculty Director of the Vanguard Sundance Program Reflections on year one Bonni reflects on her first year Taking things personally (a good lesson on how to avoid this is to hear Cheating Lessons author, James Lang, on episode #043) Aaron Daniel reflects on his first few semesters You’re not giving someone a grade; they’re earning a grade. Calibrating your teaching Importance of setting expectations Stressing the whys as you raise the level of challenge Realize they aren’t likely to thank you during the process of being challenged Bonni’s post: The Dip Atherton J.S.’s post: Course of a course Essentialism: The disciplined pursuit of less, by Greg McKeown Determining what hours to have direct contact with students should be allowed TextExpander  (Mac) |  Breevy (Windows) Recommendations Aaron Daniel recommends Kindle First, for Amazon prime members Kindle first newsletter for amazon prime members. One free book from their editor pics each month Get in touch with Aaron Daniel on Twitter Closing credits Please consider writing a review or rating the show, to help others discover Teaching in Higher Ed Teaching in Higher ed: on iTunes and on Stitcher Give topic or guest ideas to help strengthen the value of the podcast  

Bonni Stachowiak explores how to care for grieving students. PODCAST NOTES How to care for grieving students Respect confidentiality… to a point Point them toward their resources Avoid assumptions… if you can Be human Don’t lower course requirements; let them earn their degree, not receive it through pity Recognize the pain of the neutral zone (coined by Bridges in his book: Transitions: Making sense of life’s changes) Avoid personalizing dishonesty RECOMMENDATIONS Process your own grief One wonderful book for processing one’s grief and going through transitions is William Bridges’ The Way of Transition: Embracing Life’s Most Difficult Moments. We resist transition not because we can’t accept the change, but because we can’t accept letting go of that piece of ourselves that we have to give up when and because the situation has changed. – William Bridges

Aaron Daniel Annas joins me to talk storytelling on this episode of Teaching in Higher Ed. Podcast Notes Aaron Daniel Annas Assistant professor of cinema arts Faculty Director of the Vanguard Sundance Program Storytelling Who are stories for? How do you distinguish between entertaining our students and educating them? What makes for a good story? What do we do if we aren’t good at telling stories? How do we know if we are good at telling stories? Importance of the relevance to a course Bringing in story in to a class without us necessarily having to be the storyteller Bonni’s storytelling bookmarks on Pinboard Recommendations Bonni recommends: Biola math professor Matthew Weathers’ video of April Fool’s joke Aaron Daniel recommends: Amazon Echo  

Bonni Stachowiak shares some ideas about mixing it up in our teaching. Podcast notes Teaching classes repeatedly Advantage of knowing where students typically get stuck Dr. Chrissy Spencer spoke about this when describing her broken-up cases in episode 25, when she just “happens” to have a slide that clarifies a student’s question Reinforcing a difficult concept Advertising response function in my Principles of Marketing class Not all  understand the idea of the law of diminishing returns by the time they get to the course Would be the ideal situation for an interactive online module something like the scenario manager in Excel (under data, what-if, scenario manager) Did the typical think-pair-share Two truths and a tie exercise Using the Attendance2 app to facilitate the random calling on of students Applying learning to something students know well Lessons in PR from our university Standard 2.2 from accreditor (whole must be greater than the parts) Going outside Self assessment on theory X and theory Y What things do you see that I do that are theory X Steps to avoid cheating on exams Latecomers need to call to be marked present for the day What things do you see that I do that are theory Y Self-directed learning during the week Bulls and bears game PollEverywhere quizzes via cell phones in class No anonymity any longer However, I was then able to give them the opportunity to indicate how they would like to be treated as an employee Recommendation Remind app – now has text chat, but with office hours

Bonni and Dave Stachowiak discuss what to do before you act on all you’ve captured. PODCAST NOTES: Episode #32 talked about capture. All the places where we capture what it is we need to do (either because of others’ demands, or freeing up our mind of the “clutter” of stuff that needs doing). Clarify and organize Before we do any of it… we need to: Clarify – process what it means Organize – put it where it belongs For each item we have captured, we ask: What action needs to take place? Follow this GTD guide If it isn’t actionable, are you going to need it in the future for reference? Avoid becoming a digital hoarder How I store files related to class content and specific classes Don’t get carried away with folders, especially email, because as we read more on our mobile devices, pretty long to scroll through. Dropbox debuts file commenting; rolls out “badge” for collaborating on Microsoft documents Evernote/OneNote: another place not to get carried away with folders. Work, personal, reference + any shared notebooks (i.e. bondbox) Actionable tasks Put it into a trusted system, so you can consider it in relation to all your other priorities. goodreads IMDB Dave’s Coaching for Leaders episode #180: Do this for a productive week Only set due dates for things that actually have due dates RECOMMENDATIONS: Bonni recommends: Read/re-read the revised Getting Things Done, by David Allen Buy a set of their guides Check out Scannable app Dave recommends: Ulysses app

Bonni and Dave Stachowiak discuss what to do before you act on all you’ve captured. PODCAST NOTES: Episode #32 talked about capture. All the places where we capture what it is we need to do (either because of others’ demands, or freeing up our mind of the “clutter” of stuff that needs doing). Clarify and organize Before we do any of it… we need to: Clarify – process what it means Organize – put it where it belongs For each item we have captured, we ask: What action needs to take place? Follow this GTD guide If it isn’t actionable, are you going to need it in the future for reference? Avoid becoming a digital hoarder How I store files related to class content and specific classes Don’t get carried away with folders, especially email, because as we read more on our mobile devices, pretty long to scroll through. Dropbox debuts file commenting; rolls out “badge” for collaborating on Microsoft documents Evernote/OneNote: another place not to get carried away with folders. Work, personal, reference + any shared notebooks (i.e. bondbox) Actionable tasks Put it into a trusted system, so you can consider it in relation to all your other priorities. goodreads IMDB Dave’s Coaching for Leaders episode #180: Do this for a productive week Only set due dates for things that actually have due dates RECOMMENDATIONS: Bonni recommends: Read/re-read the revised Getting Things Done, by David Allen Buy a set of their guides Check out Scannable app Dave recommends: Ulysses app

Five faculty members share how they are spending their breaks and what recommendations they have for how to take a break… Podcast notes Ten things to do instead of checking email, by Natalie Houston (guest on episode #034) How to take a break David Pecoraro from the Student Caring podcast Heading to Fresno for son’s swim meet Reading: Building social business, by Mohammed Yunus Christine – teaches part time. Fighting with insurance companies over the break. Dealing with snow days. Nicholas – teaches in Doha, Qatar  (pronunciation of Likert scale) “My spring break is already over, but I spent it learning how to use ScreenFlow so I can help my MA students learn to use Zotero better.” Doug McKee from the Teach Better podcast Two week break from teaching at Yale Microsoft Word in review mode PDF expert 5 on the iPad Screencasting with Quicktime on the Mac (record screen and do light editing) Sandie Morgan from the Ending Human Trafficking podcast Engaging with others in diverse communities to combat human trafficking Expand circles of influence Connect app Recommendations BusyContacts David Allen on the Coaching in Higher Ed podcast Closing credits Please consider rating or reviewing the podcast via your preferred podcast directory. It is the best way to help others discover the show (gotta love algorithms). https://teachinginhighered.com/itunes https://teachinginhighered.com/stitcher

Bonni Stachowiak shares about a few things she’s doing over Spring break to recharge. Spoiler alert: It is mostly all about getting caught up and staying caught up for me. Podcast notes Differing perspectives on Spring break a) give assignments for students to work on over the break b) grade student work c) recharge/refresh for the rest of the semester Efficiency Sign ups Doodle The Best Day Time Trade Google forms Grading Mac Power Users episode 240 TurnItIn iPad app Answering student questions Forum set up just for Q&A (invite students to post questions there) Screenshots (SnagIt) Screencast (Tapes app – beware the 60 minute monthly limit, SnagIt, Screenflow or Camtasia) What about you? Recharge, refresh for Spring break? Leave a message at: 949-38-learn. Recommendations Recharge – Kindle Voyage Closing credits Please call 949-38-LEARN to record a message about your Spring break recommendations and / or ideas beyond what I spoke about on this episode.