Teaching Excellence

What's in a name?  Everything if it's yours!
Xeturah Woodley is CNM's Distance Learning director, and she also teaches sociology and psychology. Here, she offers a strategy for student success in both online and face-to-face classes:

"This may seem like a logical thing to do, but learning and calling students by their name is critical to having them engage in both traditional classroom settings and in online courses." 

"In my traditional face-to-face courses, I bring construction paper, markers, glue sticks, glitter and stickers to class.  I ask students to create a table-top name plate out of the construction paper (half-sheets that they will fold in half to stand up). They can use whatever color paper and marker they want, but they have to adorn the name plate in some way.  They then have to keep that name plate up every week until I learn their name. 

"By the end of the second week, all the nameplates are gone and, at every opportunity, I use their names when answering questions or asking for input. 

"In my online classes, every email message or discussion posting I make to any of the students includes their name.  For example, rather than replying back with just my answer to a question from them, I always start the message with “Hi __(student’s name)__” .  This “humanizes” and personalizes the interaction. 

"No, I can’t promise I’ll remember them two years after they’ve taken my course, but I do my best!"

If you'd like to contact Xeturah, you can email her at xwoodley@cnm.edu or call her at 224-3316.

Please share with your CNM colleagues what you do in the classroom to help students succeed and keep coming back class after class.  Submit your ideas on the 4 Student Success website.

It's a start!
"Getting off to a good start in a class is a real challenge...A source of the difficulty is identified by Peter Elbow, who in his superb collection of essays on teaching, Embracing Contraries (1986), observes that we have two primary and conflicting roles as professors—gatekeeper and coach."

"As gatekeepers, we must set standards high enough to certify that our students who graduate are qualified to enter their intended professions and the broader community of scholars.

"But as coaches, we must help our students surpass the hurdles we set for them as gatekeepers. Being a professor means walking a tightrope between these two roles. The key to success is to maintain a good balance."

On this webpage, find lots of ideas for getting your classes off to a good start here at the beginning of the term.

7-Second Survey Last week, 22 instructors replied to this question--"Which activities do you typically plan for the first day of the term?"--on the 7-second survey.  View a chart that shows how they responded. Also, view a list of "other activities" they generated. This week's anonymous survey of CNM faculty seeks to learn what you'd like to know about or from your fellow CNM instructors. Do you encourage students to see you during your office hours?  If so, how do you get them to do so?  Check all that apply: Require all students to visit you in your office at least once per term Give extra credit for it Require students who fail an exam or some other assignment to see you for extra help during office hours Other--explain briefly below:   I don't require or reward students for visiting me during office hours   Any last comments? f

At-your-desk learning
Learn

Microsoft Expression Studio: Try it for yourself
If you currently use Microsoft FrontPage to make webpages, you'll be distressed to know that it's going away.  MS FrontPage is being replaced by Microsoft Expression Studio.

Here's how--in glowing terms--Microsoft describes MS Expression Studio:

"A suite of tools for creative designers that gives you the freedom to bring your vision to reality and boosts developer collaboration in the delivery of rich user experiences for the Web, Windows Vista applications and beyond. Expression Studio is now an essential part of the overall workflow for adding compelling user interfaces to the underlying power of the Microsoft technology platform."

Wow!  To see how close Expression Studio comes to achieving these aims, you can download a 60-day trial version and try it for yourself.

Productivity Primer  
"Do you have lots of great ideas for projects but never get around to starting them?  Do you have a host of old projects that you got so far with and then ran out of steam?"

To learn about this simple idea and how to use it, read the "How to Get Any Project Up and Running" article.

Joke of the Week

Q: Why do husbands forget their mistakes?

A: Well, there's no use in two people remembering the same thing.

Meet Timothy Ligon, Organizational Learning's newest staff member

Timothy Ligon came on board as the new Technical Support Technician (TST) in Organizational Learning's Technology Education Center (TEC), S-21, Main Campus, as of May 14.

Timothy's first love is photography.  "While in Vet Nam, I dedicated my life to photography," he says.  And ever since then, he has been taking pictures.

Timothy worked in photo finishing for 30 years and has his own photography company, Happy Trailz Productions.

But "when wet photo labs turned into digital labs, I turned to CNM to alter my career. I graduated in April, 07 with an Associate of Applied Science, specializing in Multimedia. I love the Arts, I love taking pictures, and I love computers."

Timothy says that "the only thing better than being at CNM was being in the delivery room taking pictures of my daughter being born, while helping my wife deliver."

Timothy's job duties for Organizational Learning include managing and maintaining hardware and software on the computers and equipment in the Technology Education Center and the Academic Distance Learning and Make-up Testing Center, and the Organizational Learning conference room, S-17, Main Campus.

You can contact Timothy at at tligon@cnm.edu

About Organizational Learning The Organizational Learning Division's mission is to create professional development pathways for college employees that support the strategic mission of CNM and contribute in meaningful ways to college personnel’s lifelong learning and job enrichment. For more information about Organizational Learning or any of its events, contact
	Jean Montaño Admin. Coordinator	224-4400 jmontano@ cnm.edu
	Greg Casaus Director	224-4244 gcasaus@ cnm.edu
	Timothy Ligon Tech Support	tligon@ cnm.edu
	Kayleigh Carabajal Executive Director	224-4401 kcarabajal@ cnm.edu

This newsletter is produced by Nancy King, for the Organizational Learning Division.

News & previews

Skip Downing brings lauded On Course workshop to CNM June 6-8
Exciting news for CNM faculty, Student Services staff, and administrators:  Skip Downing, renowned educator, writer, and international consultant in the field of faculty development and student success strategies, will be presenting his acclaimed workshop at CNM next month.

The three-day workshop will run from 8:30am-5:00pm, Wednesday through Friday, June 6-8, at the Workforce Training Center.  Register on the Organizational Learning Summer Calendar & Registration form.

The workshop will be particularly valuable for

• Instructors and coordinators of student success courses
• Faculty from all academic disciplines
• Counselors, retention specialists, TRIO personnel, and student support services staff
•  Administrators who seek a comprehensive program for improving retention and student success across the curriculum

The On Course workshop, as described on the On Course website, is "designed to inform, inspire, and rejuvenate college and university educators across the curriculum."  The strategies presented during the workshop "appeal to a variety of learning styles, and they motivate students to take greater responsibility for their education and their lives."

During the highly interactive workshop, participants will glean "dozens of learner-centered strategies for helping your students succeed in college and in life. These strategies represent best practices from innovators in higher education, psychology, business, sports, and personal effectiveness." Above all, participants can expect to "learn proven learner-centered strategies for empowering students to become active, responsible learners!"

According to Downing's website, colleges and universities that have adopted his On Course textbook—from whence come the strategies for the On Course workshops—have been “shown to have a positive impact on student academic success and retention."  Downing offers "compelling results reported by some of the colleges and universities using the On Course text and instructional strategies." 

Registration for the workshop has been capped at 50 seats, so register soon.  For further information, contact Jean Montaño at jmontano@cnm.edu.

Preview of events for the week of May 21-26
The following events are taking place at CNM from May 21-26.  Register on this webpage.

 

►Ergonomic Training
Wed, May 23	1:00- 2:00pm	Main, Room TBD*
►Defensive Driving Recertification
Fri, May 25	TBD*	TBD*
►Passport for Faculty
Fri, May 25	9:00- 11:00am	Main, Room TBD*

Preview of events for the week of May 29-June 2
The following events are taking place at CNM during the week of May 29-June 2.  Register on this webpage.

*TBD = To be determined

Quotation 

"We now accept the fact that  learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn."
~Peter Drucker, American educator and writer