Editor’s note: The Teaching Professor is excited to welcome Rebecca A. Glazier (University of Arkansas at Little Rock) as a contributing editor for the next calendar year. Look for her writing every other month.  

WHAT'S NEW

On Not Chatting with Students before Class

Nichole DeWall 

It is a truth universally acknowledged that good professors show up early to talk with students before class. And that even better ones play clips of goat yoga and evoke wonder. But is it time to reconsider these pre-class rituals? Perhaps—for both our students’ sakes and our own. Read More

Setting a Positive Tone Early in an Online Course

Rebecca A. Glazier

There can be a certain inertia to teaching online, especially asynchronously. You and your students never see each other, don’t feel very connected, and by the middle of the semester may have unintentionally begun a slow slide toward phoning it in. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Read More

The Art of Reading the Classroom

Brandy Bagar-Fraley 

This is one of the most critical skills any professor can develop and use at the beginning of a term, and it is both art and craft. Reading the classroom—that is to say, discerning its mood and manner—can make a profound difference in how we engage with the students in that room and calibrate future approaches. Read More

EDITOR'S PICK

What Is Your Why? A First-Day In-Class Activity

Mays Imad  

Here’s a first-day activity with a big purpose. It encourages students to identify and articulate the driving force behind their decision to seek an education and enroll in your course. It promotes self-reflection and the reassessment of personal objectives. It also fosters a sense of community in that the students share their personal motivations and learn what drives their peers. Read More

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