March 19, 2024

THE CHATTY PROFESSOR

Get Your Prof to “Notice You” for the Right Reasons

Many college success guides and blogs include this advice: “Get your professor to notice you.” (I’ve also seen this variation: “Get your professor to like you.”). From a student perspective, getting a prof to notice and like you sound like a good thing, doesn’t it? If a prof “notices you”, maybe you’ll get better grades, or the class will be easier. If the...[Read more...]

Do you have to sound brilliant in order to speak out in class?

Do you sit in class and worry about whether you should or shouldn’t speak up? Do you try to get your words just right in your mind before you’ll raise your hand? Then, by the time you’re ready to speak, the class has moved on to something else and you’ve lost your confidence? It’s not a surprise that as a student, you...[Read more...]

Five Must Do’s Before You Leave Summer School (Includes Grade-Saving Advice!)

A gigantic bravo to you if you are reading this post and nearing the end of your summer term. Going to school in the summer is awesome and challenging all at the same time. The awesome? You racked up some additional credits. The challenging? You had to miss some hours of sunshine, pool, or beach to achieve those credits. Now...[Read more...]

5 Tips for being a strong online student

(Hello, CTB readers! A version of this post recently ran on my own blog, but I asked CTB to reprint it because the information within is timely and important. Although I have taught face-to-face for years, I largely teach hybrid (part online, part F2) or online now due to having two small kids and enjoying the schedule flexibility. I’ve been...[Read more...]

The Don’t-Wait Class for Fall 2011 (Hint: It Can Help the Grades in ALL of Your Other Classes!)

What if I told you that one required core class can help your grades in nearly every single other class you have to take in college? What if I told you that a high percentage of students delay this particular class until graduation nears? “Wha… what?” you might be thinking. “Why would someone do that? A class that can help...[Read more...]

What to Say About That Retake

Hello, Campus Talk Blog community! I am a seasoned professor of over 13 years and an award-winning educator and public speaker. And here I am starting my first blog post by piggybacking on another blog post. That’s right: One that’s been written by somebody else! Let me explain: When I received the opportunity to join the Campus Talk Blog, I,...[Read more...]

Putting Your Term on “Pause”: How to Talk to Your Prof About an Incomplete

My father unexpectedly died just three weeks before I finished a fall semester at my former community college. Instead of finding out what my options were, I simply stopped going to classes and I ultimately failed those classes. Had I gone to see my profs, I could have learned that there may have been another option available for me: The...[Read more...]

Boost Your Marketability from the Second You Step on Campus

As this blog post comes out, we are getting deeper into summer and your first days of college are still the furthest thing from your mind. So, I’ll save some student-prof talk for when we are closer to that time. For now, I’m going to ask you to start thinking about your future career—and I’m going to give you a...[Read more...]

Is Your Professor Holding Up a Stop Sign When You Speak? (Hint: Try an “I”!)

The next time you are in an argument with someone, I want you to do me a favor. Ready? Make a mental tally of how many times the word “you” is thrown around by yourself or your communication partner. (I know what you’re thinking: “Um, Ellen, a little too busy fighting here to think about how I’m doing it!”) Okay....[Read more...]

Know-how class participation points are calculated. Here’s how to ask.

Does your prof give points for participation? If so, do you know how that grade is calculated? I know when I’d see “participation” mentioned in my college syllabi. . . with no clear explanation of how those points happened, I always wondered if the prof made little checks next to my name every time I opened my mouth in class. Or,...[Read more...]