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Goodbyes. Gripping Pain. And a Giveaway.
*** Hi there! I feel as if I’ve been away from my blog for a while, and I actually have, although it’s been entirely unintentional. Today, I wanted to explain why, especially as I wanted to write about the past week, which has been somewhat momentous for my family. My son started his freshman year at a university, and it’s not the one where I teach. The preparation, though, was all that you’d expect. The day before he left, we were frantically getting everything together, making sure he had all he needed. We washed clothes and ran to Target. We created a checklist and began ticking things off. We organized…
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Coping With Your First Child Heading Off To College: A Mother’s Lament
*** This concept of a child going away to study at a university shouldn’t really phase me at all, right? I’m a college professor. I have been for years now. I’m the one smiling at other parents during Open Houses as I say all the right things to them about how their student will love college; how they will grow and flourish; and how they will have the time of their lives. This should be easy for me as I have a son who will start his freshman year at a university in Pennsylvania in a few weeks. I’ve been in this profession since 1993, long enough to know that…
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A Parent’s Thoughts on the Eve of High School Graduation & The Ellicott City Flood
Graduation Tomorrow All the standard thoughts apply today. “Time Flies.” “How did this happen?” “How is this even possible that time has marched by so swiftly?” Let me start with advice to young parents: treasure every moment with your children, because I was once like you thinking high school graduation was light years away. Now, it’s tomorrow. I’m so proud of Matt. He’s truly found his way in high school. From being the co-captain of the golf team (County Champs!), to his work as the VP of DECA with his best buddy, Luke, (and a trip to compete in California out of it), to his academic achievements in the Business, Innovation…
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Tell Your College Students to Pull Out the Old Pen and Paper, Studies Find
You may want to tell your college students to put their laptops away during class lectures. It appears the “old way” of taking handwritten notes in class trumps typing notes into your laptop. If you’d like to know why, a study by researchers Pam A. Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel M. Oppenheimer of the University of California, Los Angeles, found that taking notes by hand wins out for several reasons. Taking notes by hand offers you the opportunity to write key points as you listen, which engages active listening in students. Students are more selective and write down main ideas, and they highlight and circle things that seem to be…
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Monday Melancholy
*** I’m typically not one to dwell in malaise and melancholy, but this morning, I’m feeling a little bit of it. It’s July 10, and vacation is over for our family. We had a great time, enjoyed spectacular weather, got to visit Charleston then spend time on the beach in Hilton Head. We ate at fantastic restaurants, the boys played golf, the girls rode bikes and relaxed on the beach, we hit a jazz club, played putt putt, and ate way too much ice cream. I really shouldn’t be complaining. But my son turned 17 yesterday, and now I feel like all I’m doing is counting down the days until…
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8 Things Teachers Enjoy During Summer Break
*** Yesterday, students at Stevenson University celebrated their graduation at our ceremonies in Maryland. As a professor in the department of Business Communication, I was thrilled to see our graduates walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. They worked hard the last four years, and it paid off. As for my colleagues and me, that means we are done teaching until August (unless some are teaching a summer course). While we certainly have preparations to make for the Fall 2017 semester (and I will be teaching a newly created course as well that requires a lot of work), we are free to do some things we want to do…
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Holding On and Letting Go of Your Children
The second a child comes into your life, you know at some point, you will have to let go. They are babies, and they need you as infants, but not too long after, they find their own two feet can take them places, and they start walking, exploring and discovering. Even as toddlers, they are beginning their journey away from you. As much as you want to hold on, the truth is, you are already beginning to let go. Think about it. Your toddler turns three or four, and he is ready for pre-school. You let him go. He has to find his way, make friends, create things on his…
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Procrastination Doesn’t Pay
* As a college educator, I can certainly tell you with certainty that procrastination doesn’t pay. I see it every day—sometimes getting started on the task is actually more difficult for some than executing the task itself. The truth is, people think procrastination is about managing time. However, it’s much more complex than that. People underestimate how much time a certain task will take. Another fallacy is that people think procrastination is just about putting off a task. It’s not. It’s also about being late to meetings, events, interviews, or parties; not paying your bills on time; or even something that can be good for you, like taking your paycheck to the bank. These are…
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What Failure Taught Me, With a Nod To Author Markus Zusak
As part of the final in Magazine Writing, I asked my students to reflect on certain aspects of the course, including the readings, their writing, and the lessons learned, as well as their ability to construct a well-written response to a writing prompt. This year’s students were asked to reflect on writer Markus Zusak’s wonderful Ted Talk for Question #1 (Zusak is the author of the acclaimed novel, The Book Thief). I asked them to consider their own failure(s) or something that they are afraid to do that could possibly lead to failure. I got a lot of interesting answers, but most of them discussed how failure has led to…
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Why We Should Stop Using the Phrase “In the Real World”
While there are many trite (and incorrectly structured) phrases that people use constantly, i.e. phrases like “It is what it is” and “I could care less,” whereby the first just sounds silly and the latter actually means you care, there is another phrase that I’d like to see stripped from our sentence constructs. The phrase is this: In the real world… In the real world, your resume should be polished. In the real world, you should secure a job you enjoy getting up for in the morning. In the real world, you’ll be paying more taxes. I hear people say this constantly. It is most commonly said to those in…
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The Biggest Mistake Some College Students Make
One the eve of the beginning of the spring semester, I thought I’d share something that I’ve seen as the downfall of a lot of college students with regard to their academics. It’s not something earth-shattering, but it is something that is real. The good news is it’s something that can be rectified if taken seriously, and it can make their lives infinitely more manageable. The biggest mistake some college students make is that they do not budget their time properly. There are various reasons for the lack of time management. They are living on their own for the first time and are tasting a sense of freedom they’ve never…
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In Summer, The Song Sings Itself
In a little over a week, I’ll be back on campus teaching my fall college courses. Some people may dread the thought of work, but not me. I always look forward to the fall and going back to school, to using my brain, to being in the classroom, and to seeing young, eager minds ready to work. BUT I’VE HAD A WONDERFUL SUMMER. Yes. I have had one of the best summers of my life. I have enjoyed every tick-toc moment of it. Even as I’m writing this, I am sitting on my new back porch working from home, and taking a quick break from researching and writing a textbook…
