Faculty Focus Live

Latest Episodes:

The First Day of Class: Fostering a Zest for Learning with a Sense of Empathy Jul 12, 2023

Show notes

The first day of class is filled with emotions. Whether or not you feel confident, calm, and collected, doesn’t mean your students are feeling the same way. So how do you use the first day to foster a zest for learning? How do you make sure they know you care? How can you decrease their stress they may be feeling?

In today’s episode, we’ll cover some teacher-tested activities for the first day of class and how you can make slight tweaks to make meaningful strides in relieving student mental health concerns and stress on the first day. By setting the stage on day one, your students will be invested, interested, and ready for your class!
Recommended resources:

This episode is sponsored by the Teaching Professor Online Conference. Learn teaching practices you need to help your students succeed in the comfort of your own space!

Supporting First-Year Students in their Educational Journey Jun 21, 2023

Show notes

Do you remember your first year as a college student? Were you nervous, scared, excited, lonely, happy, sad? Maybe you felt all of these emotions, which is a lot for anyone to take on. Add to that figuring out your class schedule, where things are on your campus, the dialogue of instructors using words you’ve never heard before.
Today, we’re going to focus on how you can continue to support first-year students in their educational journey. We’ll talk about being purposeful in your course design from studying habits to evaluations, and then we’ll talk about discussion board labs for first-year students to help them engage in discussion and increase their confidence in their abilities. Lastly, we encourage you to ask your students: What’s working well and what do we need to change? What do we need to improve upon? How can we continue to better meet what you need? These questions and tactics can help your first-year students become more successful and confident.
Recommended resources:

What If You Had a Higher Ed Magic Wand? Jun 06, 2023

Show notes

Today we’re going to talk about student mental health, infusing applicable humor into the classroom, emotion science, and collective effervescence.

By implementing temperature checks and reflections, you can assess how your students are feeling. Include a mental health check question like, What did you do to take care of yourself this week? And then at the end of the reflection, ask your students, Is there anything else you’d like to share?
You’ll be asked to consider the question, If you held the higher ed magic wand, where would you start to create a humor climate? What would you do? What would your colleague do?

Additionally, we’ll cover emotion science. That is, when we feel bad, we can't learn as effectively. And when we feel good, it benefits our learning. Lastly, we’ll go over collective effervescence, which represents the synchrony we feel when we are together and in communication with one another. Flower Darby explains, "We want to extend this sense of belonging to our students, no matter who they are, no matter their personality, their preferences, their identities. We want all of our students to feel like they belong so that they can thrive in our classes."
Recommended resources (Please note, the resources used in this specific episode are from last year's Teaching Professor Online Conference. For similar and new content, register for this year's Teaching Professor Online Conference):

Navigating the Emotional Costs of Teaching with a Resilient Mindset, Grit, and Stress Management May 24, 2023

Show notes

In today's episode, we will explore the topics of resiliency, stress management, wellbeing, and grit. Stress definitely has a significant impact on our wellbeing and overall mindset, so we'll discuss work-related stressor strategies including the benefits of a 10-year journal and the concept of "eating the frog" in the morning. We will offer valuable insights on fostering resilience and utilizing tools like appreciative inquiry, growth mindset, and grit in overcoming teaching challenges. By implementing these concepts into our teaching practices and daily lives, we can cultivate more happiness and better navigate the emotional costs of daily stressors.
Recommended Resources:

FREE 20-Minute Mentor: What Can I Do to Manage and Reduce Academic Job Stress? (Special offer ends Friday, June 2, 2023)
20-Minute Mentor: How Can I Apply a Resilient Mindset to My Teaching Practice?
Magna Online Course: The Wellbeing Elixir
Wellbeing Webinars (different wellbeing topics each month for only $25!)

Don’t forget! Expand your love of teaching at the Teaching Professor Annual Conference in New Orleans, June 9-11, 2023. Give yourself something to look forward to at the end of your school year: a conference to network, learn, and refocus on why you got into teaching in the first place!

Playful Pedagogy: Connecting Students to the Content with Creativity May 10, 2023

Show notes

Here’s to having a little fun in class. Here’s to using creativity to connect with students and connect students to the content. Here’s to playing games in the classroom. Your lecture doesn’t have to snooze students to sleep😴. Today, we’re going to talk about how to foster creativity and connection in the classroom; we’ll talk about how to use tools such as AutoDraw, Pixlr, and ThingLink to strengthen student engagement; and lastly, we’ll talk about specific games you can use to engage students with the content and with you.
Recommended Resources:

Finding Purpose in Your Profession: Teaching Tips for More Career Satisfaction Apr 26, 2023

Show notes

Every now and then it’s important to take a step back to self-reflect and listen to advice from other educators. With an exhausting past few years, here’s your reminder that your purpose as an educator is so impactful and so important. Today, we’ll talk about mindful teaching and how you can use the acronym HEARTS to be mindful of your presence as an instructor. And then, Ken Alford will talk about his 40-year teaching career, the best advice he’s received, and how you can experience more career satisfaction and effectiveness. We hope you can take these tips and techniques as a reminder that you are not alone – we are rooting for you.
Recommended Resources:

Friend or Foe? Using Artificial Intelligence to Empower Your Teaching Apr 12, 2023

Show notes

There’s been a lot of chat about ChatGPT and artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of higher education. From concerns about academic integrity to prohibiting this all-knowing AI, but today, I want us to see AI from a different perspective.
What if you could use AI at your university to help students experiencing food insecurity and connect them with resources? What if you could use AI for your syllabus and lesson plan ideation? What if you could minimize the temptation to cheat? In this episode, Jeremy Caplan, Flower Darby, and Liz Norell discuss how educators can embark on this new technological journey. Additionally, we'll meet Reggie, Ocean County College's virtual chatbot who can communicate with students and better meet their needs.
Remember, both of these Magna Online Seminars are 20% off with coupon code PODCAST20. You don't want to miss out on these full, one-hour discussions!
Recommended Resources:

Excuse Me, Will This be on the Exam? How to Get Students to Learn the Content, Not Just Memorize Mar 29, 2023

Show notes

Have you ever been asked this question by a student: Will this be on the exam? Do I need to know this?
In today’s episode, Maryellen Weimer will offer evidence-based study strategies that you can implement into your course to help prepare students for exams. Rather than cramming the night before, you can encourage students to take more responsibility in their review techniques and redesign exams to promote learning.
Recommended resources:

What Does Community Mean in the Classroom? Sharing Stories, Swift Trust, and a Sense of Togetherness Mar 15, 2023

Show notes

We’re going to talk about community, swift trust, and storytelling. Whether you teach an online or in-person class, you want your students to feel as if they are entering a community where they are welcome, safe, and can share ideas among each other. You want to establish common interests and a sense of togetherness because they are going to be solving problems together, they’ll be investigating and exploring topics, they’ll share knowledge and maybe even challenge each other respectfully. So, today we’ll talk about ideas to foster a sense of community, how swift trust can be applied in an educational setting, and finally, how a storytelling activity with a sticky note or penny can inspire students to share their own stories.
Recommended Resources:

Don't forget! Expand your love❤️ of teaching at the Teaching Professor Annual Conference in New Orleans, June 9-11, 2023. Give yourself something to look forward to at the end of your school year: a conference to network, learn, and refocus on why you got into teaching in the first place!

Let's Talk About Racial Justice, Food Studies, and Moving DEI Work Forward Mar 01, 2023

Show notes

Today, we're going to talk about racial justice, the relationship between food and culture, and a type of plan-do-check-act cycle for diversity, equity, and inclusion work.
To start, Santos Felipe Ramos explains how food is so intertwined with culture that it makes for an effective method of inquiry into racial identity and racial disparities, in his seminar, Understanding Racial Justice Through Food Studies. Additionally, Stephanie Delaney offers a multi-step process for narrowing DEI work from a huge multi-generational project into something obtainable each week.
Recommended Resources:

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