- Aug 14, 2019
- 2 min read

Happy Teaching: August 2019

Welcome to Happy Teaching, a subscription-based newsletter from Effective & Efficient Teaching. This month:

Request for preferred newsletter and member’s only webinars topics
Tips for getting into the swing of this fall’s course prep
Course planning resources
Info and dates for upcoming member’s only webinars, events, and online courses

Before we jump into this month’s content—please complete this poll to suggest topics you want covered in future newsletters and live member only webinars (participation is anonymous).

Last month I was reveling in the glow of summer time living and academic productivity. This month I am actively preparing my Fall courses. I am excited about the possibilities of the upcoming term. Yet I am also nervous as I watch my time and focus shift more towards teaching tasks at the expense of other academic priorities. Luckily, I prepare my courses to maximize student learning and make the most efficient use of my time so I know this shift is temporary.

Have you begun your course prep yet? Hope to do so efficiently while being an effective teacher? Here are a few ways to ease into the preparation for your Fall courses while making the best use of your valuable time to help keep your life in balance. Start by setting aside only 1 hour for each of the below tasks: Spend the first 15 minutes brainstorming without editing & the remaining 45 minutes working out the details.

Jumpstart writing or revising syllabus?

List the course goals {e .g. Student knowledge? Skills?}
Create an abbreviated syllabus/course outline based on those goals {e.g. Goals, readings, major assignments}

Choosing or revising student assignments?

List the planned course assignments
Write how they each address or help students reach the course goals
Revise the course assignments list by removing those not connected to course goals or that are unnecessarily redundant
Estimate the course workload

Reducing student grading frustration and your grading time (before the course starts)?

Again work on each of the above tasks for only an hour. No setting aside hours and hours of time. That is a one way ticket to disappearing time quick sand, rabbit holes, and whammies. ☺ Trust me--you will be amazed at how much you can get done in a short amount of time.