As someone who is employed in higher education, there is no greater delight for me than to be a witness to the moment when who God created a person to be sparks a lifetime calling to a vocation. To be clear, this is not a frequent occurrence in my life of a Defining Moment; rather, …
Category: College Teaching
Rocky Road
Admit it, when you saw the title, you began thinking of ice cream! Unfortunately, the only connection this post might have to ice cream would be if you happened, this past week, to witness my personal pity party being celebrated on my back porch with a bowl of caramel delight from Kroger. Of course, it …
The First 48
If you have ever tuned in to watch the television show entitled The First 48 on the A&E Network, you have been a witness to the importance that the first 48 hours play in a criminal investigation, and I offer that just as a crime investigation often hinges on those precious first hours, how a student experiences the first hours enrolled in …
Gift of Failure
Regular visitors to this blog will be familiar with the concept of controlled floundering and the continuum that ranges from flourishing to failure; however, if this reading is your first visit to the blog, I encourage you to examine those ideas to provide a framework for this post on the Gift of Failure. Although Lahey’s …
Leaders Who Flourish
When attempting to flourish in any capacity, it’s important to know the person God created us to be and this can be accomplished by pursuing a Habit of Awareness. Learning about ourselves and others opens our eyes to see the talents, gifts, and strengths that each person possesses along with the unique situations where various …
Educators Who Flourish
Without delving into deep research on the topic, most sources I found seemed to agree that public school teachers are either leaving their school or leaving teaching altogether at a rate of 13.8 percent; and with a decrease around 27.4 percent in the number of people completing a teacher education preparation program, our schools and …
Continuous Partial Attention
Heeding the advice of authors Koulopoulos and Keldsen in The Gen Z Effect, I am making an intentional choice to be a part of Gen Z although I was not born into it. If we are to bridge the generational gaps in the modern, multigenerational organizational culture, some effort from all members will need to …
What's Your Word?
For readers who may not presently be engaged on any social media sites, you may be unfamiliar with the trending pop-up advertisements inquiring, “What’s Your Word?” The basic premise is that a customer can purchase a bracelet, necklace, key chain or other novelty where a special word is engraved onto a metal ring, then the …
Nothing But Crickets
Have you ever stood in front of a group of people, whether as the sage on the stage in a college classroom, as a small group leader, or as the supervisor in a business meeting and experienced that sinking feeling when you ask a question and no one says a word? That awkward silence continues, …
Skillful Teaching
In the Logos at Union University located on the second floor in the east end of the beautiful domed building is an area where the Center for Faculty Development places materials that might be of interest to our faculty. The only downside to visiting this space is that when my intention is to locate one …
Flourishing @ Life 