GTD on Lynda

Just discovered that Lynda.com—available to all MCC faculty—has an entire course on Getting Things Done!

 If you're curious about David Allen's GTD system (or need a refresher), log on to Lynda.com, enter "getting things done" in the search bar, and you'll find an entire series of videos hosted by The David himself!

http://gettingthingsdone.com/

Book Recommendation

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel.

Image from http://makeitstick.net/

 Lots of good buzz about this one! Maybe a good read for winter break? From the inside cover:

To most of us, learning something “the hard way” implies wasted time and effort. Good teaching, we believe, should be creatively tailored to the different learning styles of students and should use strategies that make learning easier. Make It Stick turns fashionable ideas like these on their head. Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology and other disciplines, the authors offer concrete techniques for becoming more productive learners. 

Grappling with the impediments that make learning challenging leads both to more complex mastery and better retention of what was learned. Many common study habits and practice routines turn out to be counterproductive. Underlining and highlighting, rereading, cramming, and single-minded repetition of new skills create the illusion of mastery, but gains fade quickly. More complex and durable learning comes from testing oneself, introducing certain difficulties in practice, waiting to re-study new material until a little forgetting has set in, and interleaving the practice of one skill or topic with another. In other words, the most productive practices are ones that feel slow and unrewarding and are seldom adopted by learners... 

Speaking most urgently to students, teachers, trainers, and athletes, Make it Stick will appeal to all those interested in the challenge of lifelong learning and self-improvement.

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Easing Back Onto Campus

Clearly, I've taken the summer "off" from campus (since the last post published here was in April...). I've spent the last ten weeks on my own projects, some of which prepared me for class, some of which were just plain fun. But now, looking at my calendar, I realize that I've got to get back on campus and do some work.

But it's hard, right? I think about my Outlook inbox and I want to shrivel into a raisin and drop under the couch.

Image Credit

So I've decided to ease back into some of the administrative tasks I've got to get done before I can get down to the fun stuff of teaching. We've got two weeks until classes begin (holy cow). Here's how to start:

Start checking the Employ-E-Newsletter
If you're like me, you might have been auto-deleting these daily e-newsletters through June and most of July. But  now is the time to give those a glance for the information you'll need before the new school year, information about MCC facilities, new procedures, and new opportunities.

Open Your Outlook Inbox
Notice that I haven't told you to "read" any of your email -- right now, I just want you to open it. Then walk away and get a cup of coffee.

Delete Your Unnecessary Emails
Okay, now, look over the emails you've gotten since June 1. ("look over" -- don't "read") Delete anything that you don't need: emails from textbook buyers, from textbook publishers, from that weird company you used to order custom pencils for the student group you advise. Good job! Now, get a donut to go with your coffee.

Prioritize Your Remaining Emails
Some of the emails left in your inbox are important, so put them in an order to read and respond. You might put them into folders, you might even decide to answer a few that look time-sensitive. But don't check them all. Julie Morgenstern, time management professional and author of Never Check Email in the Morning, likens an email-reading-and-responding streak, especially first thing in the day, to not only a time-waster, but to an addiction. Don't get addicted to answering email; get addicted to something good, like donuts. Now, go get a second donut and a refill on your coffee.
(hear from Morgenstern talking about work-life balance on WBEZ's Morning Shift program)

Start Folders for Your New Classes
I have a file folder for each class I teach each semester, and in each folder are three sub-folders marked Handouts, To-Read, and Hand-Back. I carry these folders to classes with me, and they help me feel organized, even though most of my assignments are given and submitted via Canvas. You might have something similar, or you might have something different -- an electronic system, a notebook, a series of color-coded kazoos. Whatever it is, start to get it together.

Photo Credit: Milestone Music Therapy

Finish Your Syllabus
You might have started updating your Fall 2015 syllabus in a fit of productivity on May 19. And then it sat there, open on your computer, for the next eight weeks. Hey, me too! Well, it's time to get it done, so open those documents and get to work. Don't forget that Labor Day is September 7, Professional Development Day is October 13, and Thanksgiving is November 26.

Get Excited for Fall Faculty Development Day
Our Fall 2015 FD Day is Thursday, August 13, and it's going to be terrific. So look for the invitation letter (please read it!) and program in your Outlook inbox this week.

Okay, now get started! Don't do it all at once: give yourself a bit of time each day for the rest of this week, and you'll start to feel ready. And don't forget the donuts!

Adding Lynda.com to Canvas

If you're interested in adding Lynda.com as a resource to your Canvas courses, check out this short and easy video tutorial:

And for more information about what Lynda.com really does and how it can enhance your curriculum, attend Pete Lilly's workshop, What is Lynda.com? on Friday, April 10 (11 - 11:30 a.m. in A210). Register now!

Meditation and Mental Health

Are you feeling like you need a bit of quiet reflection in your day?

Join us for a workshop on Meditation and Mental Health--a collaboration of the student organization Psi Beta, MCC's Health & Wellness department, and the Office of Professional Development: 

Meditation and Mental Health

Thursday, March 12, 2015

2:30 - 3:50 p.m.

Luecht Conference Center, MCC

This will be an interactive workshop from the perspective of positive psychology. Learn more about the mind-body relationship, and how individuals can develop strategies to cope with stress, anxiety, and depression more effectively through the use of meditation.

Susan Hannan, M.A. (MCC Instructor of Psychology), and Bhante Sujatha, who is an abbot at the Blue Lotus Temple in Woodstock will lead the workshop. The session will end with a meditation led by Bhante Sujatha.

Bhante Sujatha, abbot at the Blue Lotus Temple in Woodstock

Infobite: Database Citation Feature

This is part of the Infobite Series: Bites of Information from the MCC Library:

Many of the library subscription databases have a citation feature that will cite in MLA, APA, and, frequently, other styles. While these citations are not always perfect, they’re pretty good and quite a time saver.

In the EBSCO databases, you can find a citation through several functions in the right hand frame: the Print, E-mail, and Cite functions. In ProQuest, click on Cite above the article. Look around in other databases to find their citation features!

For more info on citing, see our Citing Sources page that is attached to all of our Research Guides.

Are you interested in having an MCC librarian talk to your class about information literacy? Contact them now!

The McHenry County College Library--Visit Us Today!

Career Services Has a New Tool

Contributed by Evette Thompson from MCC Career Services:
 

Career Services has a new tool called InterviewStream, which can be utilized in classrooms and/or the comfort of your own home. 

This new tool is available for students, faculty, and staff. The benefits of InterviewStream are the helpful interview tips for posture, how to correctly answer questions, becoming familiar with video interviewing, and the ability to critique yourself afterwards. This useful tool is compatible with phones, tables, and computers as long as there is a webcam attached.



InterviewStream would be an excellent tool if your class is conducting mock interviews or is practicing presentation styles--it would also be great if you want to brush up on your own techniques if you're anticipating an interview for a professional organization, conference presentation, or something else.

Check it out now: http://www.mchenry.edu/interview/index.asp

Spring 2015 Faculty Development Day

Thursday, January 15, is our Spring Faculty Development Day, the day we welcome all MCC faculty members back to campus before classes start.

We frequently organize the day with break-out sessions for smaller groups of faculty to focus on something that interests them and that can help them in the classroom. But while planning for this spring, we decided to shake up that way of approaching faculty development and let faculty members define their own goals and identify what projects they felt would be most important to work on. All we needed to do was give them the freedom and time to work.

The idea came to use through Laura Middaugh, one of the terrific members of our Faculty Development Team. She showed us this video and had us pay special attention to the discussion about Atlassian Software that begins around minute 5:30:

We loved it, checked in with department chairs across campus, and they loved it, too.

We explained the idea to our entire faculty membership in October and gave them a few weeks to brainstorm and then let us know what types of projects they'd be working on. Faculty members could work on whatever they wanted, with whomever they wanted, however they wanted. Their only guidelines were that at the end of the day they needed to submit a report-out form and then get together for a dinner with colleagues to chat about their projects and celebrate the day's innovation.

In November we got some excellent teasers for projects like mental health awareness, applied technologies adjunct orientation, occupational therapy assistant (OTA) simulation exercises, and political economy across disciplines. And now we've got the entire list of projects, from ACEN Accreditation to Windows 8 and Server 2012.

The full program for our Spring 2015 Faculty Development Day

Now that I know how terrific everyone's projects will be, I might call on them to present at a later workshop or write a guests post here, so keep your eyes peeled!