I was re-reading Parker Palmer’s Courage to Teach last week. What a classic! If you haven’t ver read this book, it does deserve to be on that must-do-before-I-die list. It is such a good book. Actually it is so good, I ended up being just a bit depressed. This weekend I finished the book I’ve been working on for the last three years and it is so not as good as the Courage to Teach. Perhaps I will be able to write something that significant in my next life.

In previous articles I’ve offered effective teaching strategies for building student engagement by setting the tone with the syllabus and first classes. Today we move to the general classroom atmosphere. The following suggestions will help you build an atmosphere of constant engagement, passion and learning.

If you were asked to describe community colleges, the word “entrepreneurial” probably wouldn’t be one of the first things to come to mind. That may be changing. As the traditional avenues for funding decrease and expenses increase, community colleges are turning to innovative fundraising strategies to support everything from student scholarships to program development.

Love or hate it, group work can create powerful learning experiences for students. From understanding course content to developing problem solving, teamwork and communication skills, group work is an effective teaching strategy whose lessons may endure well beyond the end of a course. So why is it that so many students (and some faculty) hate it?

“What we do in the same class can be soon forgotten by one student, yet have a profound impact on another.” (p.2) Joel Foisy, a math professor, says this might well be his “biggest” teaching lesson. He has another insight along the same lines: “Any given class is really many different classes—one for each student involved.” (p. 8)

In yesterday’s post I provided tips on how to use the syllabus to build student engagement. In this article I offer some suggestions on how to get students involved in the first few classes to ensure a more engaging course throughout the semester.

To develop a vibrant, productive and memorable course, professors must continually work on building student engagement. Engaged students are enthusiastic, active participants in their own learning.

Student evaluation results from last semester usually get distributed about this time at a lot of places. I thought a few reminders might be in order. This particular set is brought to you courtesy of the IDEA Center (Individual Development and Assessment Center) at Kansas State University. This center is one of the largest providers of a national student rating system. They have been in business for years and are highly respected by both ratings researchers and practitioners.

Lately I’ve been wondering if there’s a set of initial assumptions made about teaching and learning that inhibit instructional growth and development. Here is list of a few of these assumptions, and why I think they make teaching excellence less attainable.