Maintaining a Consistent Presence

Taxes, prom, warmer days, looming graduations, family obligations & personal responsibilities are all waiting in the wings to take a bite out of your already limited time. In this era, though most of us are not manually laboring from sun up to sun down, we seem to have less time in the day to tend to the duties our lives are faced with than our grandparents did fifty years ago. We live in a capitalistic society that makes demands that must be addressed daily, & those demands can make our lives complex & robotic. Yes, we have wonderful inventions that simplify our lives such as automobiles, electric heat, running water & indoor toilets. No more beating clothes on rocks or hauling water for a monthly bath. Inventions were supposed to help humans gain more time for leisure. Though this intention was successful, what would be leisure time turned into more time to devote to work related tasks.

Americans spend more time working & commuting, taking less days off per year than any other industrialized nation. Europeans are fortunate to have a guaranteed two week paid vacation holiday each year. Americans are lucky to use a sick day here & there. So, hard work & the dedication of Americans working toward the American Dream facilitates the cycle of 50+ hour work weeks, stress ladened lives, & plenty of Monday blues. For some the work week creeps by, but for others the days fly by leaving the individual feeling as if there is never enough time in the day to complete all the commitments they have taken on to do.

In Counseling, Psychology & Sociology, the disciplines ask students to consider work satisfaction as an element that factors in how one looks at the quality of their life. In Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Maslow stated that the level of transcendence will bring life satisfaction. Holocaust survivor & psychiatrist Viktor Frankl believed that meaning & purpose are what bring fulfillment to the individual. When we consider the importance of these three simple beliefs & how they apply to life we can sum up their premise to state something like: If you love what you are doing every day, you will easily find the meaning & purpose of your existence, especially if you give some of yourself back to society willingly in hopes that you can help others out in a positive manner. So, the essence in life comes from giving of yourself each day to things that are joyful to be associated with. When I stop to consider the importance of these three simple concepts, it is not hard to understand that their principles ask us to contemplate the ways that we have control in what we do with our life & our time. What better way of addressing all of these tenets by becoming the best instructor we have the capacity to be?

As an instructor we are the vehicle that helps move information & the minds of students. We utilize theory, history, concepts, technology & words to convey what is known so that what is not known can be discovered. Instructors profess the intricate material uniquely associated with the discipline we teach. The knowledge we share with our students ultimately facilitates a reshaping of ideology, premise, & foundational belief. Our presence in the classroom, whether physical or virtual is one of the most important components of facilitating knowledge & growth. When the student finds their instructor is passionate about the topic, they are more willing to invest in learning. By maintaining a consistent presence for the students, the instructor becomes more invested in the self & in the three theories of Maslow, Frankl & the importance of obtaining career satisfaction. What more could you ask for if every morning when your feet hit the ground first thing that you actually loved doing what you do? I will end this with one of the most poignant words of wisdom a favorite professor in grad school once told me, "You are responsible for the way you feel about your situation." So, in essence, you are responsible for taking the path you do in life. In realizing this, you become empowered to make the most of each day for yourself, & for the students you hold in your hands each semester...

When YOU are Feeling Down~

Just when springtime is springing, teasing us with warmer days mixed with blizzards, "Here comes the cold!" you say to yourself with partial dismay. However, you are NOT talking about the snowy white wet stuff falling outside. No. You are talking about the dreaded scratchy feeling starting to creep up in the back of your throat. You quickly assess how long it has been since your last cold or flu and know it is bound to be your turn to deal with a virus. You hope you will not have the flu but only sniffles to contend with. But as the day wears on, you know this is going to be more than a three day cold, you can just feel it.

Based on past colds you know that it takes a few days for them to find their peak. As each hour passes, the next is worse than the last. "Great!" you think as you realize it is Thursday night and students will begin posting most of their threaded responses in the next day that you will have to tend to, and two of your classes are submitting dozens of papers that are due Sunday. Quickly you begin forming a battle plan, so as to be the most efficient as possible as you continually feel sicker by the day. So what battle plan do you have in the wings to help support that one week or two during the semester when it is your turn catch the germy germs?

Most of us deal with a lot of excuses throughout the semester from students who write to tell us of their illnesses, back problems, pregnancy woes, or oldtimers [forgetfulness]. Many teachers like to remain pretty much on the surface with communication between the student and themselves limited to the curriculum. It has been my experience that building a positive rapport with the students facilitates reciprocation if you are the one who needs a little time to recover from being sick. Students who enjoy the class and the teachers presence are more accommodating when the teacher needs extra time to grade assignments, answer emails and attend to the numerous discussions.

If you find yourself feeling under the weather, post a News announcement informing your students that you aren't feeling will, letting them know it might take more time than usual to address their papers. This reminds students that there is a real being on the other end of the communications that is vulnerable to needing extra time like they occasionally need. With the online learning environment, getting to class when you are sick is a lot easier than commuting, but you still need to lessen the stress so that you can bounce back more quickly. Students are much more willing to accommodate our needs when we meet theirs over the course of the semester... ~:o)

Who is that man??

Just for fun: Can anyone identify the man in this photo with me? No cheating by Googling! What is your guess?

Hint: He is one of the greatest contributors to psychology ever, and I am so thrilled to know him!

How Do You Handle Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is a plain and simple method of taking the words or work of others without giving proper credit. When a student uses the work of another without citing, is the use intentional or can it be due to misteaching? Do you award a zero for the grade or bestow the opportunity for a learning experience? There are instructors who give no credit for the work. A zero on a paper worth 100-200 points can easily impact a grade.

When I discover potentially plagiarized content, I spend a lot of time verifying the suspected content to the original work. I pay attention to punctuation, spelling, sentence arrangement etc. to determine if the content was lifted by copying/pasting. I look for the lack of quotation marks, higher level verbiage than expected, different color font [pasted content tends to show up lighter in color] and inconsistent paragraphs that surround the plagiarized piece.

Once identified, I send an email to the student professionally addressing the seriousness of the issue of using another person's work without citing properly. I grade the paper from zero to partial credit. Depending upon the response of the student will determine the direction of the next step. It has been my experience that the student will be willing to make corrections in their paper by adding the appropriate citations, quotation marks and sentence structuring such as Thio (2010) states, "Deviance is seen as ..." I am more in favor of a student learning from their mistakes than the situation turning into a now win situation. After all, convicted criminals receive more than a single chance to do things in life the right way.

It is most important that you do contact your Chair alerting him/her of the situation so that they can become involved as needed. Also, if the student has a history of plagiarizing, talking to your Chair can be helpful of finding an alternative way of handling the student. There are times when a tougher form of punishment is warranted such as academic suspension or expulsion, and you will need fully informed support who understands the issue at hand.

Remember to always remain in control, respectful, professional, and fair. Using email for communication to address the problem provides a way to document the exchange between the student and instructor rather than personal phone calls. Listen to the student. It is not unusual for a student to not use quotes and only list the references in a *Works Cited* page thinking this is the appropriate way to use citations. It might help to upload a sample template into your classroom to show what format you expect to be followed for writing assignments and citing references. This leaves little room for *misunderstandings.*