Learning Through Teaching

Dreaming in class

2012-02-05T10:25:00.000-06:00

I wish I could take credit for it, but I think I just blundered into it. Regardless of the genesis, what's happening in the classroom is the stuff that dreams are made of.* The week before classes started, the new president of our state university system presented to our faculty his call for innovation**--specifically, in the form of on-line education within our state's higher-education

Tripping through the classroom of life

2012-01-21T08:24:00.000-06:00

This semester is my second time to teach a course in innovation and creativity. Though many things are different about the course this time around (more on that in a subsequent post), Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind remains required reading. The chapter about story and the power of narrative is one of my favorites. I do love a good story...and a good story teller. Often, the good story

Take aim

2012-01-20T09:49:00.001-06:00

There's a lot here to absorb, but it's probably worth spending some time to do so...starting with Stowe Boyd, where I first saw it.

True blue?

2012-01-18T11:42:00.001-06:00

We waited for the house to open, offered our tickets to gain admission, and found our seats. We were there to see Blue Man Group. We came to hear good music, to laugh, to revel in the innovative combination of technology and entertainment. We came to see a Blue Man (or three) up close. As we settled into our seats, I was intrigued by the language projected at the front of the

Whining trumps change far too often

2012-01-16T09:39:00.000-06:00

My patron saint may very well be Our Lady of Perpetual Planning. I adjust, update, edit, tweak and otherwise "improve" my course materials (syllabus, course calendar, daily plans, teaching notes, resources...pretty much everything) before every semester and right up to the day before classes start. Classes start tomorrow, so you can pretty well guess what I'm doing. Incorporating change into

My cup runneth over...

2012-01-08T14:01:00.000-06:00

Though it pains me to admit, I have not yet finished The Digital Divide. I have, however, traveled to visit family, celebrated a holiday or two, knitted on the year-and-counting afghan, celebrated my daughter's birthday, moved to a new office, conducted meetings, continued planning for two courses this semester, read other books and worked on a remodeling project. In between, I've taken to

Pandemic consumption

2011-12-16T07:32:00.002-06:00

I have a weakness for English majors. A case in point is Mark Bauerlein, professor of English at Emory University, and editor of The Digital Divide: Arguments for and Against Facebook, Google, Texting, and the Age of Social Networking. In the eight-page introduction alone, I found several gems: In wondering about 6,901 comments posted in response to a 2,500-word newspaper piece, Bauerlein

Things fall apart

2011-12-07T11:09:00.001-06:00

Poets craft distillates of our existence and experience. Take Yeats, for example, who wrote in his The Second Coming that "(t)hings fall apart; the centre cannot hold." Though Yeats was writing in the aftermath of the war that could only be described later as World War I and he was, arguably, deeply affected by what he had experienced, his observation transcends space and time. Things do fall

Seeing the forest...and the trees

2011-11-30T10:55:00.001-06:00

We call them Instructor and Course Evaluations and I just received the latest ones. I tell students that I separate the feedback forms (we are in the midst of a transition to electronic feedback, so this is the last time I'll be able to use this process) into three groups based upon the pattern of responses to the 21 computer-scored statements on the front. The three groups I use are (1) Walks

Iatrogenesis

2011-11-22T14:24:00.001-06:00

Though I generally try to take both the high road and the optimistic perspective, it's harder some days than others. As I begin my personal transition from several months of full-time project management back to teaching next semester, I am struck by the stark contrast between academia and what we'll just call The Real World. The contrast is not just in my own line of sight, but also in the

Made in America

2011-10-30T11:03:00.000-05:00

In the midst of the usual morning madness to get us both out the door and to our respective destinations on time, my teenager asks "Is WD-40 an American company?" Since the non sequitur is a common occurrence in our conversations, I offer "I'm not really sure; why don't you Google it?" without missing a beat. And, since focused pursuit of the information in question is also a common occurrence,

I know his name now

2011-10-18T19:22:00.001-05:00

Recently Chris, a former student of mine, posted this on his Facebook page (which I quote here with his permission): When Steve Jobs passed away everyone was bawling because a billionaire died. A man who evaded taxes, denied fathering his daughter, cheated others out of organ transplants, basically sued for or stole most of his ideas and did very little philanthropically with his

Some days are like living in a blender

2011-10-06T10:46:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, it was Frank Deford on NPR, quoting former University of California, Berkeley chancellor Clark Kerr: The three purposes of the University? To provide sex for the students, sports for the alumni, and parking for the faculty.Today, it was finding a forgotten electronic bookmark to Max Ehrmann's Desiderata and wondering how, in my youth, I missed this: Take kindly to the counsel of the

First things first

2011-09-28T12:40:00.002-05:00

My reading lately includes ethics texts (for a January course), daily thoughts on gratitude, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and Facebook (with some Celia Rivenbark for balance). In the midst of this (and other) reading, there have been recurring references to Anna Quindlen's writing and life. The most recent example is a Quindlen quote from this morning: The ultimate act of bravery doesn't

Women who work

2011-09-14T13:49:00.002-05:00

It's called synchronicity. My choice to read women authors is followed by a link from a former student (who took my strategy class) to research into what makes teams smarter. According to research from Carnegie Mellon University and the MIT Sloan School of Management, women are an important part of successful teams: It's a preliminary finding--and not a conventional one. The standard argument

Trash talk

2011-09-07T12:38:00.000-05:00

New trash cans today! Though this may not reflect well on the academy, it is our reality today. We have new trash cans in our offices. They're small. And they are small for a reason. The goal is to get us to think before we trash. And if we needed an example of how easily we can miss the important for the, shall we say, less important, this is the day. From an email sent by a staff

Women who write

2011-09-06T15:51:00.000-05:00

In my high school and college years, I spent a great deal of time arguing the similarities between men and women, going so far as to attribute the vast majority of gender differences to nurture. The nature versus nurture discussion continues and what we know for sure is that we don't really know. The most sweeping conclusion that can be drawn is "humans are not hard-wired." I've learned some

A lot to learn

2011-08-17T13:44:00.000-05:00

This fall, my friend Julie is teaching high school English for the first time as a 'real' teacher and she is unabashedly excited. Her students will have what every student deserves--a teacher doing what she/he loves. Julie returned to school after becoming a mom; several semesters of coursework and student teaching later, she received her Master of Arts in Teaching. When I saw Julie the week

Can those who do also teach?

2011-08-15T12:15:00.000-05:00

It's another semester where I am not teaching and I find myself wondering why it is that I miss the classroom so much during these semesters 'off.' Classes start a week from today and I already miss updating the syllabus, making revisions to course plans, and wondering (as I do each semester) how many of the names I'll actually be able to attach to the faces. The specifics don't matter as much,

Do it yourself

2011-07-31T07:53:00.002-05:00

I'm reasonably sure that shower heads are not supposed to fall off when adjusted. In fact, I'm absolutely positive that this is a malfunction suggesting the (somewhat urgent, perhaps) need for replacement of the shower head. And can I make a link to education and teaching? You bet I can. I will be making a trip to the nearest DIY ('do it yourself' store) to purchase a replacement shower head

You just can't plan these things...

2011-07-27T20:10:00.001-05:00

Today, in a completely unexpected encounter, I found myself talking about the Capstone course to an executive at a large retail company. In the midst of a discussion about sustainability, I went off (or on and on, depending upon perspective) about the shift I had observed in students who took the Capstone course this summer. I found myself explaining that I'd taken a risk (which is not a

Endings are beginnings

2011-07-16T12:14:00.000-05:00

I just walked out of the classroom, down the stairs, and across the courtyard to the building where I office. It was the final session of the summer for the Managerial M.B.A. program for full-time professionals. It's the end of their two-year program. I don't know how they do it, these students with jobs and families, many of whom commute from other cities for the Saturday classes. It's not

I'm all thumbs

2011-07-07T16:33:00.002-05:00

A recent CNN article has been on my mind lately, as it's likely that sitting at my computer to work, sitting in my car to commute or travel, and sitting for more than 3-4 hours a day is deleterious to my health. The simple truth is that I sit too much and it's bad for me. Or, as The Cat in the Hat might say, I sit, sit, sit and don't like it one bit (with apology to Dr. Seuss). It's been on my

Saturday's child has to work for a living

2011-06-13T19:59:00.003-05:00

There are defining phrases, songs, books, poems, etc. that provide almost-instant identification of age cohorts. Princess Phone ("It's little...It's lovely...It lights"), to my peers, means the pink phone all teenage girls wanted. Parents didn't really have princess phones and no self-respecting male would even use one. For my students, it means...well, nothing. No point of reference

It's a lot like life

2011-06-08T14:45:00.002-05:00

One of my early lessons as a student of taekwondo has stood me well, both inside and outside the kwan (school). As I was struggling to learn the traditions, patterns, and language of the kwan, I looked around me for cues and models, noticing black belts in the same row, taking the same lesson, going through the same patterns. When I asked one of the black belts (who appeared both competent and

Food for the soul

2011-06-01T12:43:00.001-05:00

I'm in the midst of another (new) course and find myself richer for the experiences I had and the risks I took with the phenomenal students in the Spring. In Innovation and Creativity, for example, the final assignment was one of four options: Provide a course review (what I have learned, what was most/least beneficial, what I will use, etc.). Write a personal assessment (my Myers-Briggs type,

Renaissance, renewal, and roaming

2011-05-19T22:56:00.001-05:00

I turned in grades this week for the spring semester, which means the semester officially ended. My summer class begins on Saturday. It's the circle of academia. The students who took Innovation and Creativity taught me as much as I (may have) taught them. Their willingness to engage in the course, in the assignments, and in dialog with me was affirmation that I am where I need to be--in an

Accounts receivable or accounts paid?

2011-05-04T23:12:00.003-05:00

This is the last week of classes for the spring semester. Students have mostly checked out, instructors are wondering why they assigned all the work that requires grading, and everyone is counting the days until the semester is over. In the graduate-level Innovation and Creativity class, groups are making presentations about innovations within the industry they chose. Today, a group of six, all

Standing firm, awash in ambiguity

2011-04-28T09:24:00.003-05:00

I'm beginning to get more questions about what my daughter wants to study in college. The questions, you'll notice, assume that she will go. They also assume she knows now (well before her senior year in high school) what she wants to study. And right below the surface is another assumption--that there is a direct correlation between college major and profession or career. And yet, from a

Learning can be painful for the instructor

2011-04-12T22:34:00.000-05:00

In the final stretch of the academic semester, the interest always builds. Not in the content of the course, however, but in The Grade and what it will take to get The Grade by the end of the semester. It's perilously close to the end of my first semester to teach innovation and creativity. I am not happy with the method I established at the beginning of the semester for determining grades

Perspective and meaning

2011-04-06T16:09:00.003-05:00

This week, in the course on innovation and creativity, we talked about meaning, which is the sixth of Daniel Pink's essential aptitudes for success and fulfillment. Viktor Frankl's work was used to introduce the final chapter: The search for meaning is a drive that exists in all of us--and a combination of external circumstances and internal will can bring it to the surface.I found myself

Knot in my thread

2011-04-01T20:05:00.001-05:00

Some of the lessons are academic; others are about life. Some are for the students; others seem to be for me. Today is a case (or two) in point. My first summer session will be spent with students who are employed full time, earning an MBA through the executive program, and using the business simulation to apply strategy concepts they've studied this semester. I will have very bright students

Both sides of the coin

2011-04-01T12:21:00.000-05:00

Perhaps the corollary to taking a risk for the fun and/or the learning is that success is often met with anger and suspicion. Human nature lives on both sides of the coin. The team that took the big risk yesterday reaped a big win. The first email from a student on another team arrived 30 minutes after the simulation results were posted; that email simply requested a meeting about "some

A really good story, regardless of the ending

2011-03-31T18:41:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of the semester, I wrote about student frustration as a valuable learning opportunity in our business simulation. Today, one team hit the jackpot. I watched in utter fascination as four students who have been struggling with their decisions--and, therefore, the performance of their company--stayed beyond the three-hours scheduled for our class...because they wanted to stay.

We have come to equate erudite and obscure with competent and intelligent.

2011-03-28T10:35:00.003-05:00

It's a note I scribbled on the back of a business card. I don't remember why or when I wrote it, but the note has stayed next to my computer for several weeks. I'm not opposed to big words, complicated theories, or the need for scientific-mathematical accuracy, but I'm frustrated by the tendency to confuse obfuscation with knowledge. Distilling the essence of a thing accurately and precisely

Our childhood stories

2011-03-20T00:36:00.001-05:00

The majority of the 35 graduate students who were asked to write about a children's book--a book which might hold lessons for their professional life--chose to write about their favorite book from childhood. I'm not sure why that surprised me, but it did. And I was equally surprised by how many of their selections are on my own list of favorite books: Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol The

Stay tuned for Dr. Seuss

2011-03-14T21:00:00.007-05:00

The assignment for Wednesday is to read a children's book and write about the lessons to be learned for your profession or career. As an example, I offered what I wrote about Amelia Bedelia when my daughter was in elementary school: Like many of you, I wear two hats. By day, I work for Accenture’s resources operating group out of the Houston office; the rest of the time, I’m the mother of

Defining moments

2011-03-07T21:51:00.000-06:00

"And the next time I teach this course, I'd like to..." was the phrase that clinched it for me. I realized when I heard myself speaking those words that I want a next time...I want to teach this class again...this is where I want to be. It took both that defining moment and every bit of resolve I have to turn down the non-teaching role I was offered last week. To look a person I admire in the

In conclusion...

2011-02-23T09:44:00.002-06:00

It's the right title, the one I decided to use to conclude these ramblings about my teaching and my learning, both major facets of my life. Keeping up with the writing became a self-imposed source of guilt about the (in)frequency, the quality, the value, the meaning...and, ultimately, about the time. Not having the time, not making the time...and it being the right time to move on. And then a

Student frustration is too valuable to waste.

2011-01-19T19:49:00.000-06:00

With this quote from the instructor manual for the business simulation used in undergraduate strategy, we are off and running. The instructor is also frustrated at this point...and my own frustration is too valuable to waste. The premise behind the frustration-learning link is that frustration leads to problem solving and, eventually, to learning. The learning is intended to be the fun part.

No place like home

2010-12-27T12:59:00.003-06:00

It has been a month ("how did that happen?" I ask myself) since I wrote, the first gap of that length since I started a blog. Some of what I've learned: Students absolutely must have the structure imposed by a syllabus, course calendar, and clear assignments. Otherwise, they will do exactly what I've done this semester and put off whatever does not have a deadline and/or cause some pain (to

Not your mother's board games

2010-11-29T20:33:00.000-06:00

As predicted by an astute reader's comment on a previous post, I am currently immersed in Harvard Business Review case studies of innovative companies and how to foster creativity. Most of them are surprisingly good at identifying ways in which creative companies and innovative leaders are different. Reading about others does have benefit; ultimately, however, we have to put the reading aside,

A "new" average

2010-11-23T19:02:00.000-06:00

Sometime this week, I finished Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind...and read (from a different author) this quote: The average citizen must be a good citizen if our republics are to succeed. The stream will not permanently rise higher than the main source; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation. Therefore, it behooves us to do

Perfect moments

2010-11-13T18:11:00.002-06:00

Today I watched a master teacher. He'd met his students for the first time this morning and spent the day with them; the result of their collective work was perfect. As I watched those students, everything in me wanted to freeze the moment, hang onto it, and squeeze the last drop of meaning and awareness for them. It's not that the students weren't enjoying the moment; they were, with every

Linking life, laughter, and learning

2010-11-08T12:01:00.006-06:00

This morning, I've pondered writing the serious academic critique valued in the Academy. And I'm not going to do it. There are far too many (easy) opportunities to find fault with education in general, my academic institution in particular, and, while we're going there, anything and everything. It always seems helpful and instructive to point out what could be better, which, in fact, is the

A jinx on both your classes

2010-10-27T14:09:00.000-05:00

I wrote a few weeks ago about the oxymoronic exhortation to be spontaneous. Closely related is the conundrum of being labeled "creative," a surefire way to create a self-consciousness that rarely co-exists with creativity. Next semester, I have the opportunity to take all of this to new heights by teaching a class entitled Innovation and Creativity for which I will be "perfect" because I am "so

A license to tech

2010-10-15T15:26:00.000-05:00

I touched on related topics recently and the technology-privacy connection keeps bouncing around both in the media and in my head. We are giving our youth access to technology and tools they don't understand and they--our youth--are reaping consequences...consequences which often have public and far-reaching implications. Why are we doing this? And why aren't we more concerned? We are

Just relax...and be spontaneous

2010-10-02T09:14:00.000-05:00

Some of the least helpful advice I've ever been given is in the subject line. It's well-intentioned and may, in fact, be quite sound. But the exhortation to "be spontaneous" strikes me as something of a Catch-22. For me, thinking about spontaneity pretty well guarantees its absence...and it's already far too easy for me to forget (in the midst of what we'll just call Life) that being the best

Calculating the odds that we'll figure this out...

2010-09-21T10:35:00.000-05:00

Many of us remember the dark days before ubiquitous calculators, as well as the uproar when they were being incorporated into mainstream education. "If we let them use calculators, they'll never learn math!" was heard throughout the land (or at least that's how it seemed). What was once feared has become an important learning tool, required for many junior high and high school courses...and

Education is the only place where students try so hard not to get what they pay for.

2010-09-09T19:04:00.003-05:00

It's a bit long for a title, but Teddi Fishman nailed it with that comment during her recent presentation to our faculty. Though her topic was academic integrity, she broadened the discourse (as any English professor would, by the way) to inquire whether "cheating" is the problem or a symptom. And somewhere in the time she spent with us, she made the comment in the subject line. I've seen

Our evaluation system is broken

2010-09-02T20:42:00.003-05:00

Being the Secretary of Education has to be a difficult job. But Arne Duncan seems up to the challenge. And, frankly, I'd love to be on the bus when he visits teachers in our state (as well as in seven other states), because he's not afraid to say the things that need to be said. From his August 25 remarks at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, here are my favorite quotes: In just

Flirting with cynicism

2010-08-24T09:35:00.017-05:00

I intended to write about Blackboard--which I will, soon, because it's new, it's awesome, and I'm excited about it--but my thoughts this morning are elsewhere. Perhaps that's due, in part, to starting the day with an email from a friend and former co-worker who wrote "in one of the great upsets of the 21st century, my life long bachelorism ended." What makes this noteworthy is that my friend is

Traveling spirals

2010-08-20T12:13:00.001-05:00

Success is not always traveling in a straight line from where we are to somewhere else. I often warn students that my thought process resembles a spiral, which they may find frustrating. It's not intentional (the frustration or the thought process) and I've come to understand both the value for me and the confusion for others. Revisiting the (almost) same concept, data, or assumption from

Learning through traveling...together

2010-08-13T09:56:00.001-05:00

One of my greatest blessings is having a daughter whose company I enjoy--and who has turned out to be a wonderful travel partner. We've taken road trips since she was too young to remember in order to ride refurbished rail cars, marvel at aquatic creatures, dig our toes into sand, or watch minor league baseball. We've flown across oceans, driven through hail, and walked seemingly endless miles

And we have a completely new world...sort of

2010-08-09T12:46:00.000-05:00

Recently, a friend recommended a book about economics and the global economy. While I was reading that book, my daughter was reading the AP history review text required for this fall (yes, I was making her start early...more on that later). Though she was immersed in the events which led to the establishment of the 13 British colonies and I was reading more recent history, the motives,

Ancient history, scholarship, and deja vu

2010-08-02T19:46:00.002-05:00

I find myself in the oddest--and most unexpected--places, of late, at least as far as my reading material. A student sent me an article from The Journal of Higher Education (and how cool is it that a student reads the Journal?) on the use of technology in teaching; I wound up reading the referenced essay by David Pace on the history and scholarship of teaching and learning history. And that

Maybe we should have left it as it was

2010-07-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

John Basinger recites Milton's Paradise Lost--the entire 60,000 words--from memory. He started memorizing the poem when he was 58. (You can listen here.) I can't decide what fascinates me more, that he started at 58, that he was able to memorize Milton's entire work (I have trouble with my grocery list), or that he learns something new (what he describes as "a delicious possibility") with each

People who know how to cheat will soon be on the front lines of cyber defense.

2010-07-20T12:29:00.000-05:00

The title for this post is a quote from a recent NPR story on cybersecurity. I read the story and a source document from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) with mixed emotion. From the CSIS report: The nation and the world are now critically dependent on the cyber infrastructure that is vulnerable to threats and often under attack in the most real sense of the word.

Sometimes I'd really rather be wrong

2010-07-08T16:26:00.001-05:00

Though I am an advocate of expressing opinions and advocating for position, I am also mindful of the damage that can be done, albeit unwittingly, through the written word. Bright, passionate business students who are eager to make their mark in the world have difficulty understanding why I caution them about what they put in writing...to whom...and when. The temptation to use quick and easy

Who knew work could still be fun?

2010-07-06T14:33:00.002-05:00

During the past week, I've taught myself to use Prezi (you can see my first attempt here), created a web site to use for a high school technology program, and installed Google Chrome (that was actually today). The week before, I finally mastered the web cam I blogged about earlier and actually used the administrator rights for the Facebook page for that same high school technology program. And

Curious about what happens to curiosity

2010-06-30T12:50:00.001-05:00

If curiosity were framed as a competitive advantage in the workplace, business schools would be in serious competition to develop curricula in curiosity. Consider, if you will what might be taught in: Competing for Curiosity How Curious is Your Strategy? Curious Economics Curiosity Killed the Competition Accounting for the Curious Curious Markets I Have Known A Google search on curiosity has

Writing crap

2010-06-24T13:43:00.001-05:00

In the world of online reading, it's hard to know where the road will lead. That happened today when I found Danah Boyd's post about the academic impact of what we--meaning, loosely, academics--write. In a conference presentation to academics focused on research output, Danah (a researcher at Microsoft Research New England and a Fellow at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society),

Are we taking the harder right?

2010-06-22T08:32:00.002-05:00

"Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole can be won." This quote from the USMA Cadet Prayer kept playing in my head after reading student responses to Employers Want 18th-Century Skills. Today, I'll let the student voices stand alone; they really don't need any help from me. Senior finance major. The comments

Educator, teach thyself

2010-06-21T11:24:00.003-05:00

In an article sent to me on Friday with the subject line "chapter you might appreciate...," I learned something...then I learned something else...then I got excited about both of those, did some research, and starting seeing connections: Frank Gehry is arguably one of the two most widely known architects (the other is Frank Lloyd Wright, my personal favorite). While Gehry's buildings don't

I can work with anyone....except her

2010-06-11T15:13:00.006-05:00

I've written before about grades and the unintended consequences of placing too much emphasis on GPA. At our career center (I shudder even to write this), students are instructed to place GPA at the top of their resume. Little wonder, then, that grades loom large here. And yet, employers continue to take a much broader view of potential candidates, as illustrated by CNN's recent Top 10 reasons

Why I love teaching

2010-06-02T18:08:00.001-05:00

There are some days when it just works; today was one of them. And if I could explain why and how it happens, I would. What creates engaged students, willing contributions to class discussion, and startled disbelief that almost 2 1/2 hours have passed? This is why I love teaching. This is also why I despair some days about ever getting it right. It may be a rare combination of subject matter

Feedback

2010-05-26T23:24:00.000-05:00

We tell our students that they need to learn to work as part of a team...they need to learn to give feedback...they need to communicate with their peers about "free riding"...and that they will need these skills in whatever job or career they pursue. They do, they will...and we (meaning the faculty) don't. Having worked in more than one Fortune 100 corporation, I can attest to the general lack

To B or not to B

2010-05-10T22:17:00.005-05:00

With a very small margin for error, I think I can recite every course in which I earned a B in my undergraduate and graduate degrees. Some were lack of diligence (as in I just didn't do quite enough work and/or study, in the inevitable trade-offs most students make), some were genuinely my best effort, and some were a complete surprise, where I thought I'd nailed an A until I discovered the

Just one day?

2010-05-07T13:10:00.000-05:00

Being a mom is the best--and hardest--job I've ever had. In constant pursuit of "getting it right," the best I seem to do most days is muddle through. Just this week, my daughter came to me with questions about friends and how/why relationships change over time. I don't have the answers, despite having officially reached Adulthood many moons ago. You'd think I would have these things

Spiritual beings

2010-04-22T08:21:00.005-05:00

I know students mean "spawn of Satan" and "you are the devil" as terms of endearment for professors; how could it be otherwise? I'm actually far less concerned when students address me with these terms, as I assume some measure of comfort exists and the message being delivered is a variation of the your-class-is-killing-me-but-I-don't-take-it-personally type. Not that it happens all that

Sowing and weeding

2010-04-19T15:28:00.001-05:00

I spent time in the garden this weekend, doing work that keeps my hands busy and allows my mind to wander. Gardening has taught me much, both literally and metaphorically, not the least of which are a respect for rhythms and cycles, an awareness of my place (sometimes small) in any growth process, and patience. There are many things that, I hope, have helped me to be a better teacher now than I

The little lies we tell

2010-04-15T10:13:00.001-05:00

The topic was ethics...and how good people persuade themselves (and others) that certain actions aren't really wrong. A compelling speaker who looks like one of us and has spent time in prison for her own fraudulent activities. A well-written article about the very specific ways people in a variety of business settings rationalize their own behavior. A class discussion (one of the rare

Three stories

2010-03-31T14:14:00.004-05:00

She was young, blond, in desert fatigues, wearing her fully packed backpack, and sitting on the floor of what appeared to be a busy suburban airport. It was as though she had knelt to hug the child, then, overcome with emotion, had sunk to the floor, knees bent awkwardly back, heedless of the travelers rushing by. She had both arms wrapped tightly around the waist of her daughter. And she was

Success, defined very loosely

2010-03-25T12:17:00.000-05:00

It wasn't pretty, but I did it. And now that I know which parts I don't do well (which, unfortunately, is most of them), there's always focused practice. Getting into the cool technology rekindled my original enthusiasm for what can be accomplished with this teaching and sharing tool. Students can access a recording where I've been able to combine any of the following: Audio of my voice (

Make it stop watching me

2010-03-24T21:02:00.004-05:00

I know it sounds crazy, but the newly-installed web cam makes me nervous. It's part of (yet) another technology that I volunteered to try. And I can't seem to get past...well, doing nothing. The idea is to provide brief, self-contained educational or informative content (aka lessons) that can be posted to a learning management system, with the option to access the content via a mobile phone.

My daughter left for Greece this morning

2010-03-20T12:18:00.000-05:00

I am my daughter's first and most important teacher; in many ways, she is also mine. I re-discovered baking because she enjoyed being in the kitchen. I read aloud all seven volumes of The Chronicles of Narnia because she hung on every word. I searched for child-friendly versions of Greek and Roman myths so that she could understand them and, through them, make sense of her world. And I have

Score one for the old people

2010-03-15T08:42:00.011-05:00

When we are old enough to have experience, we are often seen as merely old. I am reminded of this frequently. I recently took my daughter (who is 15) to see Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis at The Walton Arts Center. We've been seeing live theater and attending concerts since she was old enough to sit through performances, many of which she doesn't remember. This particular event

What we learn...or don't

2010-03-10T12:30:00.005-06:00

Predictable cycles are standard fare in strategy texts. It matters, for example, whether your industry is primarily a slow-cycle market or a fast-cycle market (affecting the speed with which your competitive advantage is lost). It also matters whether you are on the pendulum swing toward or away from centralized management. And there are others. But the up-close-and-personal cycle I'm seeing

Everything old is, well, all there is

2010-03-01T20:15:00.003-06:00

One of the joys of teaching any subject is watching the "aha moment" when a new concept or piece of information slips almost visibly into place. One assumes a synapse fired, a neural pathway was created (or completed), and the mysterious process of learning just occurred. It's one of the best experiences I know. And the mystery is that the only things worth really knowing haven't changed--ever

Black belts

2010-02-23T19:13:00.010-06:00

Students want to get it right, think it all hinges on a grade, and feel tremendous pressure (some of which is inflicted by professors, parents, and peers) to perform. Today, we talked about competitive rivalry and competitive dynamics, added some Sun Tzu on the Art of War (which you can download here), and dabbled in six sigma vis a vis Deming's Total Quality Management. It's a lot to absorb.

A mind stretched...

2010-02-08T16:41:00.004-06:00

I've wondered what to do with this blog, since the original reason for writing was to chronicle the development of a beta course...and mostly for purposes of transparency. Oddly enough, doing something slightly out of the mainstream is not always well accepted in the halls of the academy. But I've missed the communication (albeit somewhat one-sided), I'm teaching the course again this semester,

So, what now?

2009-12-17T12:46:00.011-06:00

A recent edition of Campus Technology listed 5 Higher Ed Tech Trends to Watch in 2010. According to the technology experts, we can expect to see more interactive and dynamic classrooms, to use more ease-of-access (to both information and people) tools, and to use existing technologies in diverse ways. What's exciting about the list is, well, everything. What's frustrating is that our own

More fun than is probably legal in the classroom

2009-12-03T15:26:00.002-06:00