Dr. J's Blog

Today you may find yourself feeling highly motivated and ready to take on any task, challenge, problem, or responsibility which requires your attention. In contrast, there is a distinct possibility you may also feel the exact opposite, and wish it were the end of the day. Regardless of how you feel, or the conditions you find yourself in, what matters most is your state of mind, which you have an ability to adjust. As you know, this can be easier said than done, especially when you are faced with many challenges.

Without question, our lives have experienced greater challenges than we could have ever imagined, since the beginning of 2020. Now two years later, there is a level of uncertainty as to how and when a new normal may occur, and for many, a sense of pandemic fatigue has...

Consider the last time you were faced with a challenge, something you did not plan for or expect to occur. It could have involved something personal, in which you had one of two choices to make. The first was to accept what was happening to you, quit making any effort to address it, and not allow yourself to feel any sense of hope. The alternative was to find a way of addressing and managing the issue, even if there was little you could do to control it. Which did you choose?

Taking an easy way out always requires the least amount of effort. That's why quitting in the face of a challenge seems easiest at times, whenever you're confronted by demanding circumstances, an unexpected situation, or even moments when you have persistent doubts about how to handle an issue. It's working...

Learning requires focus, and focus requires attention to what is being studied, thought about, formulated, and written. It is a process that occurs with intent and conscious involvement, and cannot be rushed no matter how much any student would like for it to be. Yet as any instructor knows, being enrolled in a class, especially an online class, is rarely the only responsibility a student has in any given week. For many students, classwork is often viewed from the perspective of what can be accomplished in the least amount of time, with the least amount of effort, and with the least interruption of all other required responsibilities. In other words, classwork is not always a top priority.

During pre-pandemic times, many students could balance their lives, careers, family, other...

Do you ever feel so completely overwhelmed by the external circumstances around you it seems almost impossible to remain calm and steady when you need to be present in the classroom? Has 2021 started with a sense of renewal but quickly given you feelings of apprehension and cause for concern?

A new year is under way and you have already felt the emotional pull of the year we all hoped to leave behind, along with the continued drama that fills the news almost every day. As an educator, you have to somehow separate yourself from the emotional reactions you may be experiencing, if you want to have a clear mind and remain focused on your students. But this isn't always easy to do, especially if you continue to pay attention to the news and social media. It can leave you feeling...