Student Guide Corner

Last week, in each of my three classes, we were covering some extremely difficult material.    The students came to class well prepared for the most part.    They did a good job of analyzing and discussing the issues.    They came up with reasonable solutions.     They were certainly not perfect but they demonstrated a solid understanding of some truly complicated concepts.    I was proud of them.    They had come a long way. We are now down to the last few days of the semester.    I was extremely happy to see such a good effort here near the end.    Even a grump like me had to be pleased.    Virtually every student in class had demonstrated a real improvement since we began back in August.    They not only knew more financial accounting but, just as importantly to me, they knew more about how to be good students.    At times like these, I am always reminded of a quote ...

A few days ago, this blog moved over 65,500 page views since its inception.    It is amazing how often I receive emails from teachers (around the world) who start out by saying �A friend of mine who teaches at my school told me about your blog.�    Consequently, I like to stop now and then and say Thanks!!! to everyone who passes along a good word about this blog.    If not for you, I would be writing all this stuff to myself.    Whether you agree or disagree, I really appreciate your passing along the blog entries. ** One of the things that I try to do in my classes is talk with my students about my teaching philosophy.   I want them to understand that I do not do things randomly.    I try to have a reason for what I do and I want that reason to be logical.    I think students appreciate being brought into the conversation about their own education.    I think they are more likely to do what the teacher asks i...

Text Help has made a new toolbar available for free for anyone who uses Google Docs and the Chrome Browser . What is now possible is dual highlighted (two colors) text to speech in Google Docs! This is huge, an amazing benefit for our struggling readers, writers and researchers. The Read & Write toolbar offers: Dual highlighted Text to Speech Dictionary Picture Dictionary (with symbol support for cognitive rescaling) Fact Finder (research information) Translator Vocabulary Lists Collect Highlights Watch the video to learn more and see how easy it is to help your students access the toolbar and the empowering features.

Joe�s Top Ten List This past Thursday, I had the great good fortune to lead a 3 � hour discussion of teaching at the New Faculty Seminar put on by the Virginia Community College System.    The VCCS had about 150 folks there who had joined their teaching ranks in the last year or so.    We spent our time together chatting about how to become a better college teacher. Whenever I lead this type of discussion, I always like to give the participants something at the end that will keep the thought process moving forward even after we have parted.    Here is what I typed on Wednesday night and then distributed to these folks after our time together on Thursday. ** One of my favorite class assignments is to ask my students to read a chapter and pick the top 5 or 10 things they found important in the material.    I think that does a lot for them.    It forces them to think more deeply about the subject as they read.    It also r...